Literature Review

Literature Review

Asperger’s Syndrome (AS) is a disorder on the Autism Spectrum that cripples a student in social interaction. However, the medical community only began to recognize AS about 20 years ago. Now that students with AS are reaching the age of university enrollment, colleges have to deal with a whole wave of students with a disorder that never needed special attention before(Smith, 2008).

As a result, certain organizations such as the Achieving in Higher Education with Autism and Developmental Disabilities (AHEADD)(Pharma Business Week, 2007) and College Living Experience (Lipka, 2006) have sprung up. These organizations are designed to help college-aged students adapt to the new environment that a 2 or 4-year university requires. These organizations provide social and academic advising to students on a weekly basis, giving students, for a price, extra help that the university services don’t provide.

The problem that arises is that in helping these students, the actual integrity of the college experience can be overlooked. When these organizations push for more and more alternative assignments and other kinds of special accommodations, the student may not be in reality be keeping up with the other students, no matter the grade he receives (Farrell, 2008).

This leads to the problem of having students in college who simply are not ready for university life. If a student in pushed through his 4 years of college by these programs and his parents, the integrity of his college degree and all others with it will have been compromised.

Some students, however, use these programs as simply a jump start toward their education, and only remain in the program for 1-2 years, and after this point are capable of finishing their degrees independently (Lipka, 2006). This seems like the ideal usage of these academic programs.

Another blatant problem with the programs still remains, however. These organizations can cost thousands of dollars per year (Farrell, 2008) (Lipka, 2006), creating a sort of elite class of disabled students within the university. Because these programs are not yet all covered by student loans, students with AS who do not have the money to participate in the programs have no way of having the same opportunity as students with AS from wealthier families (Lipka, 2006).

Bibliography

Farrell, E. (2008). Asperger's Confounds Colleges. . Chronicle of Higher Education , 51 (7), A35-A36.

Lipka, S. (2006). For the Learning Disabled, a Team Approach to College. Chronicle of Higher Education , 53 (17), A36-A37.

Pharma Business Week. (2007, December 10). Asperger's Syndrome; Autism U: As College Application Deadlines Near, Growing Adult Population Focuses on Higher Education. Pharma Business Week , p. 2.

Smith, C. (2008). Support Services for Students with Asperger's Syndrome in Higher Education. Academic Search Complete , 41 (3), 515-531.