Neurodiversity and College: A Parent's Guide for Autistic Students

Study this book before your children study for college!

Sending a child off to college is a daunting experience for most parents, but if your child is neurodivergent, the challenge is magnified.

Even students with excellent academic preparation face difficulties in higher education, primarily related to communication, social skills, and sensory-based issues. This parent-friendly book, written by parents who also are college professionals, takes fear and mystery out of the college experience.

The new edition takes a detailed look at:

• Changes and challenges for parents in college applications
• New and expanding college programs for autistic students
• The role of parents in the transition from being the advocate to supporting their student in self-advocating

“Targeted for parents supporting autistic and neurodivergent individuals heading toward higher education and professionals within the field, this state-of-the-art resource has a plethora of easy to implement, practical solutions for students applying to, attending, and transitioning out of college.

This is the book I wish my parents had as they were guiding me through my education.” — Stephen Shore, EdD, Clinical Associate Professor of Special Education, Adelphi University

Jane Thierfeld Brown is the Director of College Autism Spectrum, former Assistant Clinical Professor at Yale Child Study, Yale Medical School and retired Director of Student Services at the University of Connecticut School of Law. She has worked in Disability Services for 43 years. She holds an EdD from Columbia University, Teachers College and received an honorary Doctorate of Letters from Muhlenberg College in 2020. Dr. Brown consults with many families, students, school districts and institutions of higher education. She has appeared on Good Morning America, CBS News and NPR. Jane has co-authored Students with Asperger’s: A Guide for College Professionals, (2009) Published in Japanese 2017, the first edition of The Parent’s Guide to College for Students on the Autism Spectrum, (2012) and Behavior Management and Self-Regulation (2012) along with many textbook chapters and articles. She received the Ron Blosser Dedicated Service Award from AHEAD in 2019. Dr. Brown is married and has three adult children, two of whom are neurodivergent. They are a Fragile X Family. She lives in Connecticut.

Dr. Lorre Wolf has worked in the disability field for more than 40 years. She received her undergraduate degree from Hampshire College, master’s degree in General Psychology from New York University and a doctorate in Basic and Applied Neurocognition from the City University of New York. She served as Director of Disability Services and ADA/504 Compliance Officer at Boston University for 27 years, where she also held faculty appointments in psychiatry and in rehabilitation sciences. Prior to coming to Boston, she held faculty appointments in psychiatry at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and the Columbia University School of Medicine. Dr. Wolf has taught at the undergraduate and graduate levels and is a national and international presenter on disability topics in higher education. She co-edited the text Adult Attention Deficit Disorder: Brain Mechanisms and Life Outcomes (2001, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences) and was senior co-editor of Adult Learning Disorders: Contemporary Issues (2008, Psychology Press, Taylor and Francis). Dr Wolf also co-authored Students with Asperger’s Syndrome: A Guide for College Personnel (2009; 2017, Japanese translation; second US edition in preparation). She lives outside of Boston.