Asperger's and Autism: Achieving Independence After High School

Last week, we held our 2nd Annual Shark Tank event. We were privileged to have four very knowledgeable and successful individuals from the corporate and entrepreneurial worlds who listened to each of the presentations made by Hill Top students. Each of these judges brought their attention, their enthusiasm, their passion and their encouragement to the judge's table. While each of the judges were thoughtful enough to send us warm and glowing emails about how impressed they were with not only the student presenters but the general student body as well as the community of faculty and parents that took part in the event. However, Al Chiaradonna, who is the Senior VP of Private Banking at SEI Corporation, wrote a piece in his company blog. He shared it with us. The focus of what he wrote is not just about his experience at Hill Top but also about the influence it has had in his revisiting the topic of neurodiversity in the workplace. He essentially challenges his colleagues to loo...

Dear Friends and Colleagues, For those of us who work with bright and creative individuals on the high end of the spectrum, we continually are struck by their achievements and abilities. But often we spend more time thinking about how to help them with their areas of challenge instead of celebrating their strengths. One area that many young adults struggle with, whether neuro-diverse or not, is self-reflection. But a parent of one of Hill Top's alumni wrote a piece for a course he is taking at college. Carter said that he didn't mind using his name and would enjoy being part of the conversation. So, I am sharing this insightful, reflective piece from a young man we all respect immensely. I hope you enjoy this piece as much as I did that was an assignment for an interpretive dance class that Carter enrolled in this semester. Thank you, Carter, for allowing us to share this. TWN Dance Project #2 Theme Essay What my theme is about is longing for reality. By that, I mean t...

Hill Top Prep alumni parents attended meetings held at the Headmaster's residence for the purpose of sharing their thoughts about life after graduation.... it was intended to be just a conversation.  The alumni parents with children who are alumni from the past ten graduating classes and who had responded to Dr. Schindler's survey were the ones we invited to join this conversation. Each conversation was started with the question, "What does independence mean for you, for your child, for your situation?" Several parents spoke of losing the structure and the caring staff from their years at Hill Top when that diploma arrived.  After graduation, the parents were kind of on their own.  Legally, their children were no longer minors and that meant that the parents weren't able to manage their children's lives in as direct a fashion as they had before graduation.  Two parents talked about just trying to get grades from their child's college, or to learn how h...