Geordie
Geordie
Kevin Rinaldi was so silent as a child that his mother studied sign language in case he never talked.
She didn't expect he would ever go to college. But the boy who was diagnosed with autism at 3 and didn't speak in sentences until he was 6 earned As and Bs as a freshman last year at California Lutheran University. He edged into the social life at the Thousand Oaks university, too, living with roommates and joining a club.
When it was time to move back to campus this month after a slow summer at home, he was more than ready. "It got a little boring," Rinaldi said after staking out a bed near the window in his dormitory room. "I'm looking forward to the classes."
The 19-year-old man is part of a wave of college-going students with autism disorders showing up at college campuses. Or as he puts it: "It feels good knowing there's a lot of me."
GROWING NUMBERS
Around the nation, their numbers are growing at state universities, private colleges and community colleges. Locally, at least 50 have registered this year at Ventura College, 18 at CSU Channel Islands and 10 at CLU.
Total numbers are unknown because the only figures come from college offices where disabled students can register for assistance. But those enrollments are easily double what they were five years ago, and officials believe many more are on campus who don't disclose they have autism or Asperger syndrome, which is included on the spectrum of autism disorders. Some consider Asperger's a separate disorder, while others believe it's high-functioning autism.
The trend has spawned books for students and parents, and business for private coaches who advise autistic students on how to navigate college life. Rutgers University, the Rochester Institute of Technology and CSU Channel Islands, among others, have developed special programs to help these students succeed.
It's a dramatic change from the 1960s, when many autistic people were more likely to be locked in institutions in California. The college trend is driven not only by the growing number of diagnosed people, but by early intervention programs, educators said.
"Behavioral therapy at an early age has really opened doors," said Ventura College teacher Steve Turner, who has worked with autistic people in various settings since the 1980s.
Autism is still a barrier to success in both college and the workplace, according to a national study published in May by the American Academy of Pediatrics. About 35 percent had attended college in the six years after high school, based on interviews with parents, guardians and young adults. Employment rates were higher at 55 percent, but still worse than any other group studied, including people with an intellectual disability, which formerly was called mental retardation.
Graduation rates for this new generation of students with autism are unknown. Research now underway should help answer that question, said Jane Thierfeld Brown, who has cowritten a guide for parents.
Brown, who has noticed the trend for 15 years, said the numbers are definitely growing.
Diverse needs
Their range of abilities is diverse, and many need help in adapting to a college environment, educators say.
They may struggle to work in groups, handle the noise from a fire alarm pulled in the middle of the night or deal with a change in the syllabus they have memorized. Students afraid of talking to a girl might be accused of stalking if they lurk outside a classroom or send repeated text messages, according to Brown's book, "The Parent's Guide to College for Students on the Autism Spectrum."
Often, they don't speak up in class or strike up conversations. Some struggle with expressions such as "What's up?", literally looking to the ceiling. Sarcasm may elude them.
Rinaldi's parents said he eased into college pretty smoothly, starting out in summer school when there were fewer people on campus.
Kevin didn't make any panicky calls to his parents' home in West Hills.
"That was mostly me," said his dad, Scott Rinaldi, an electrician. "Are you sure you can do this? I was a nervous wreck."
Kevin's mother, graphic artist Linda Rinaldi, said it took an array of interventions to get him to the point he is today. He needed speech and occupational therapy, special education and a reading program that helped him distinguish sounds. An aide helped him with social skills.
He was good at math, so she persuaded school officials to put him in regular math and science classes in middle school. By high school, he attended regular classes for the entire day, graduating with a B average from El Camino Real High School in Woodland Hills. He became an Eagle Scout.
Kevin Rinaldi said no subjects were really hard, but that autism sometimes slowed the rate at which he learned skills.
"Once I get them, I get them," he said.
Once autistic students get to college, they must meet the same standards in class as other students. But they may qualify for assistance, such as extended time to take tests, help with note-taking and special housing arrangements.
CSU Channel Islands, for example, allows students to move in a week early, avoiding the din on regular move-in day. Some students have problems with sensory overload, preferring to live in single rooms or at home.
Steven Kapp, a 26-year-old doctoral student at UCLA, decided to switch dorms.
"A lot of the students were in Greek houses and partying and running around," said the man with Asperger syndrome, who is eyeing a career as a professor or research scientist. "I went to a more studious dorm."
Inside the classroom, faculty members see a spectrum of students and behavior. Rinaldi said he's not prone to any outbursts, but does find it hard to speak up in class.
"Usually I try to lay low," he said.
CLASS BEHAVIORS
Others may monopolize the class discussion with as many as 15 questions, burst out in anger, or stiffen when the teacher gets close to them.
These issues usually can be resolved simply, educators said.
At CSU Channel Islands, disability resource counselor Valeri Cirino-Paez helped a student stop asking repeated questions in class by keying on his love of cats.
She advised him to doodle a picture of a cat every time another student posed a question. When he had drawn five of the felines, it was OK for him to ask a question again.
Christine O'Neill, a reading instructor at Ventura College, gives students the option of doing work privately if a group project overwhelms them.
"I think twice about doing group work because I know it gets noisy," she said. "It's very hard on them when things seem to be chaotic."
She said autistic students tend to be withdrawn but that they are passing her course.
Researcher Edlyn Vallejo Pe?a, who is studying 35 families with children attending area colleges, sees the biggest gaps outside the classroom.
"A lot do well academically," said the assistant professor at CLU. "What they need is the social and communications piece."
Students in the study tended to commute to campus either by bus or in their parents' cars, but rarely drove themselves.
Most lacked friends, Pe?a said. They went home after class, studied and played video games, she said. Most of the known students at both CLU and CSU Channel Islands, however, live on campus.
Pe?a said social interaction is not just an issue for friendships, but internships and jobs.
One hopeful sign is that many are majoring in the marketable fields of science, math, engineering and technology, Pe?a said.
Rinaldi said he picked computer science as his major because he's good at it. He thinks it's possible he can be independent and support himself.
Still, the future is a mystery.
"I'll have to figure that out as I go along," he said.
His dad expects him to do well.
"He's a lot smarter than me," Scott Rinaldi said. "He's going to be an educated man."
On the Net:
College Programs for Students with Asperger Syndrome
http://navigatingcollege.org/
Autism Society - Homepage
Read more: Programs help autistic students succeed in college ? Ventura County Star
- vcstar.com
