Asperger's and Autism: Achieving Independence After High School

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...

Burlington is located in northwestern VT A drive up to Burlington, Vermont from Philadelphia is not exactly like a short jaunt over to King of Prussia. But that said, it is beautiful countryside and once there, the people are warm and welcoming, relaxed and engaging. My purpose for the trip was not to just be an hour from the Canadian border but to visit a relatively new program for students on the spectrum who want to attend college but are looking for individualized support with the experience.  Hill Top Prep's own Director of Transition, Amy Gillespie, told me that my sabbatical project wouldn't be complete without meeting these folks at Mansfield Hall .  And, she was spot on!! Setting this visit up couldn't have gone smoother with a few emails back and forth with Jake Weld who handles all of the applications and transitions for prospective families. The two of us hit it off immediately, especially, when he opened the front door of the building before I had bee...

For the past several years I have enjoyed being a member of the Advisory Board at Drexel University for their DASP program ( Drexel Autism Support Program ).  As one of the only members on this Board from outside the university, I enjoy contributing to the conversation with information from our school, our faculty and our families.  It is also time well spent when I learn about research that is going on at the Drexel Autism Institute , hear about new ways that Drexel is working with its neuro-diverse students, and meet really bright, talented and enthusiastic folks who want to create new opportunities for students like those at Hill Top as they head out into the world. One of the board members is Korbin. He is currently a Master's level student at Drexel in the College of Laboratory Animal Science. Not only does he bring the perspective of living on the spectrum to the Advisory Board but he also is the founding President of Drexel's own Neurodragons.  This is an or...