Aspies For Freedom

Look into Marlboro College in Vt (very expensive though) or better yet the new group homes with supervisors- plus- college- programs that are starting to pop up: http://www.berkshirecenter.org/ (also very expensive, but highly touted).

I have my eye on Pine Manor College for women in Boston for my Aspie daughter (all women though).

Also the following schools are specifically for kids with learning disorders (if this applies to your situation) AND have experience I think with Aspies:

An Index of Selected Post-Secondary Programs for
Youth with Learning Disabilities and Related Conditions

College Degree Programs and Independent Living/Vocational/Academic Support Programs

Updated January 2, 2006
Program Name Web Site State Programs or Degrees Available


Chapel Haven
http://www.chapelhaven.org- Connecticut


Anchor to Windward
http://www.anchor-to-windward.com - MA

Landmark College - http://www.landmarkcollege.org -  Vermont

Mount Ida College -
http://www.mountida.edu/- MA

Threshold Program at Lesley University http://www.lesley.edu/threshold/threshold_home.htm -
MA (ILS, Work & Academic Support)





Hope this is helpful. Let us know where he goes and how he does, ok? Good luck!

Ellen in SC

Thats tiny for a uni. The only way you are going to get smaller is going for somewhere very specialised.

Living on campus is a necessity, not a luxury

My dad thought luxury, maybe because he did not live too far from Northland College while attending.

Mom thought otherwise, socially disabled firstborn needing all the lessons he could get even if they hurt, thought commuting from 22 miles out was sheltering me from life, not helping me grow up

Remember that there is the possibility of emotional crisis and that professional attention may be required

One triggering event might be what sociologists of religion call "love bombing" (a religious recruitment tactic characterized by personalized friendship, when exercized by a member of the alternate gender by an Aspergian unused to interaction from that gender, it can be mistaken for more than it is, cause a mess on her end, and cause a mess on his end and the family's when he figures out what breaking up is and what they figure out what love bombing is).

Prime Directive, anyone?  Non-interference in domestic affairs?  God forbid someone gets hurt or commits suicide over it.

I would greatly recommend that personalized welcomes to a religious fellowship be restricted to within the same gender, because of the potential of harm when dealing with vulnerable populations.  (Also, and the rare possibility that Aspergians have been implicated in acts of overt violence: Cho, Virginia Tech?)

God forbid there is a crisis on Mom and Dad's hands, take it to a psychologist, don't let your college student's GPA and spirit tank for about 2 to 3 semesters until it recovers.  I narrowly recovered and graduated.  My GPA tells the story: falling from 3.6 to 1.2 and 1.8 and recovering to 3.8 and 4.0 says only one thing: what killed this guy for a year?

The best friends you might have on campus are the most mature students there, usually your residence staff, the students selected and paid to govern other on-campus students.  I tried to be one at Marshall University when I was a grad student.  They are investigating the inner workings of maturity and conflict resolution and things like that.  Before Marshall, at Shepherd University, most of my best friends were residence staff.

I had a Cuban Missile Crisis moment when I had recovered as a college senior and had to make a new start, socially and philosophically, in order to graduate.  Instead of being backed up militarily by the U.S. Navy I was backed up socially and emotionally by nearly every friend I thought wasn't a Christian.  I went from sorta-Christian to wanna-be Buddhist-humanist and evicted all but three Christian fellowship friends, including many who had really done nothing wrong, but the original love bombng crisis had really escalated way out of control to almost they-are-all-out-to-get-me-now.    

Well, I did graduate.

I even got saved later, so it wasn't like I died and went to Hell.

But....
1.  Live on campus
2.  Nearby
3.  Be close enough for the inevitable social conflicts of college
    a. since we Aspergians are practically all male, we are Teflon, and ladies don't stick to us
    b. we will be abused by dorm mates, often
    c. keep good relations, wait until job hunting after graduation :-(
4.  In the event of a genuine emotional crisis, don't wait to get professional psychological attention, and consider wthdrawing from school on medical leave for depression or suicidal inclination.  (You wouldn't expect the John C. Stennis to keep on station after the Backfire bombers hit it in the Sum of All Fears, would you?  It would be in repairs in dry dock!  Maybe I should have been!)

5.  And--- don't cross the gender line when witnessing.  Thank you.

Don't forget small teacher-student ratio I benefitted from that too especially when we had to rescue my graduation.

Oh yeah, I forgot.... they do look for people who are "rejects", right?   Love bombing isn't just for cults any more, it gets applied by good old fashioned Baptist-oriented campus fellowships.  

Yes, she was attractive.  I think a genuine friendship grew out of a love bombing sortie, I think was her first motivation.  I think I did overreact a little, unused to women showing any interest in me at all.  She did understand.  It was her bf that did not understand. She only dumped me to keep him off my back.  He dumped her later for good.  I know her husband and kids.  He is sweet.

Quite a damaging breakdown.... just like the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Stennis hit by Russian Backfire bombers in Sum of All Fears (did you see that?).  The ship was just barely afloat, listing, and on fire.  "Captain thinks he can save the ship, but flight ops are definitely out."  I should have been in dry dock at home not taking 18 hour courseloads (and flunking 6 of them in Fall 1990).  Movie is also parallel because it gets two friendly countries to consider a nuclear war until CIA hero convinces Russian premier Nemekov.... "On my order, Russian strategic forces are standing down."

Certainly Mom put a lid (literally) on the overeating a hell of a lot better before college than during college.  I know a married lady friend of mine about two weeks back said my college eating habits were disgusting, kind of like in "not now I have a headache"

It is normal to share a dorm in a U.S. residence hall.  Had I stayed home I would have shared a 10 x 10 bedroom with my brother though, the bungalow was only 28 by 20 feet, easy to get on one another's nerves.

Hey, do guys stick to lady Aspies?

Nobody thinks anything of sending a frosh off to college to live in a dorm.  Is that a bad idea for a significant percentage of them (especially those with Asperger?)?

Maybe it was the undiagnosed sleep apnea.... but I've had this recurring pattern of having NO roommates in college, grad school, and even vocational rehabilitation.......

1.  College
     Spring Semester 1989: partial
      Spring Semester 1990: partial
       Spring Semester 1991: entire
        Spring Semester 1992: entire

2.   Graduate School
        Spring Semester 1995: entire
         Spring Semester 1996: entire

3.    Maryland Rehabilitation Center
       Roommate only for about a week during the full six months

I think the CPAP works, say my hosts when I travel to WV

Come to think of it, college dorms are bullying places like high schools, and you don't get to go home at the end of the day it is like a boarding school.

Comfort eating makes sense.

No wonder Mrs. ______ 19 years later said I was a formidable eater.

It's not like she talked like that.  She talked like a big sister or a social worker might, it wasn't a good idea, it was bad for me..... I didn't really understand how badly women hated things like poor table manners and overweight until she let on just before last Thanksgiving.  (If she did say anything about that back then I did not understand it then)

But after Thanksgiving I was an angel for between one and two months.

It can be a challenge to socialize and eat on a deadline and get to class.

I think the logistics are a little hard to explain..... or mabe I was socializing just too damn much for an Aspie.

I had a candy bar and soda before History 102 class.  I ended up being like Beavis, the Great Cornholio, having a sugar high, the professor was not impressed.