Success on the Spectrum:
Strategies for Helping Students
Navigate the Campus
Lee Burdette Williams
Director of Collegiate Partnerships
Jasmine Lamb
Director, Burlington Campus
NASPA Annual Meeting, March 24, 2015
Agenda
Introductions
 Some background on ASD/Asperger’s
 Challenges on campus
 Strategies
 Next steps

Mansfield Hall
Residential and academic support
program for college students at local
campuses
 ASD/Asperger’s are common
diagnoses
 Two locations: Burlington, VT and
Madison, WI

Why serve these students?
Economic motivations (institutions
and beyond)
 Political motivations (activism and
legislation are pushing us forward)
 Moral (we have always led our
institutions in making our campuses
more inclusive, and we must do it now
as well)

Understanding ASD/AS
Increase in reported cases (“1 in 68”CDC)
 No two students are the same
 Common IQ profile: high language,
low processing
 Students with other disorders may
present in some similar ways

The Autism
Spectrum
The Autism
Spectrum
High-Functioning Autism
The Autism
Spectrum
High-Functioning Autism
“Asperger’s Syndrome”
High-Functioning
Autism
Mansfield Hall
On campus
High-Functioning
Autism
Mansfield Hall
On campus
Common Traits

Social/Physical
◦ Lacking “theory of
mind”
◦ Difficulty reading
social cues and
facial expressions
◦ Sensory sensitivity
◦ Hygiene issues
◦ Repetitive motions
◦ Motor deficits

Language/Academic
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
Rigid thinking
Slow processing
Talking too fast
Odd prosody
Difficulty with
metaphor,
abstractions
◦ Low tolerance for
ambiguity, “gray
areas”
Common Traits

Social/Physical
◦ Lacking “theory of
mind”
◦ Difficulty reading
social cues and
facial expressions
◦ Sensory sensitivity
◦ Hygiene issues
◦ Repetitive motions
◦ Motor deficits

Language/Academic
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
Rigid thinking
Slow processing
Talking too fast
Odd prosody
Difficulty with
metaphor,
abstractions
◦ Low tolerance for
ambiguity, “gray
areas”
Common Traits

Social/Physical
◦ Lacking “theory of
mind”
◦ Difficulty reading
social cues and
facial expressions
◦ Sensory sensitivity
◦ Hygiene issues
◦ Repetitive motions
◦ Motor deficits

Language/Academic
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
Rigid thinking
Slow processing
Talking too fast
Odd prosody
Difficulty with
metaphor,
abstractions
◦ Low tolerance for
ambiguity, “gray
areas”
Executive Function Deficits:
(sometimes co-occurring, sometimes
not)
Organizational and planning abilities
 Working (short-term) memory
 Inhibition and impulse control
 Self-reflection and self-monitoring
 Time management and prioritizing
 Using new strategies

Executive Function Deficits:
(sometimes co-occurring, sometimes
not)
Organizational and planning abilities
 Working (short-term) memory
 Inhibition and impulse control
 Self-reflection and self-monitoring
 Time management and prioritizing
 Using new strategies

How do these challenges show
up on campus?






Roommate difficulties
Student organization interactions
Classroom behavior concerns
Marginalizing due to lack of
understanding
Extensive use of campus services
(advising, counseling, disability services)
Lack of use of campus services
Very important when working
with ASD/AS students:
It is not a disorder of motivation.
 It is a brain-based, hard-wired way of
interpreting the world.
 Stress exacerbates traits and related
difficulties.
 Transitions take longer.

Person? Environment?
Strategies
Be direct! Don’t sugarcoat or soften
the message.
 Provide “rules of engagement.”
 Be patient in conversation and in effort
(remember: transitions take longer).
 Don’t dismiss environmental-based
requests (to accommodate sensory
issues).

Strategies
Training across multiple function areas
 Normalize, don’t problematize
 Suggest to both ASD students and the
staff who work with them:

◦ TRY DIFFERENTLY, NOT HARDER!
Why serve these students?
Economic motivations (institutions and
beyond)
 Political motivations (activism and
legislation are pushing us forward)
 Moral (we have always led our
institutions in making our campuses
more inclusive, and we must do it now
as well)

Next steps

Bring the conversation back to your
campus
We recommend:
Students with Asperger’s: A Guide for
College Personnel (2009)
by Lorraine E. Wolf,
Jane Thierfeld
Brown & Ruth Bork
Next steps
Bring the conversation back to your
campus
 Seek assistance from your colleagues
in disability services
 Contact us! We want to work with you
to change the conversation:

◦ Training and workshops
◦ Resources and consultation
Jasmine Lamb
Director, Burlington Campus
[email protected]
Lee Burdette Williams
Director of Collegiate Partnerships
[email protected]
Mansfieldhall.org