Why do descriptions of college students with ASD seem to describe students with Asperger’s only?

[Chrysanthemum]

Does anyone know why is it that some university websites, when describing typical traits of college students on the the autism spectrum seem to be basing their descriptions on the DSM-IV Asperger’s Disorder diagnostic criteria (which includes no significant delay in language, self-help skills et centers), or actually uses the words “students with Asperger’s Disorder” and not students with an autism spectrum disorder?

I am a university student diagnosed with Autistic Disorder who had quite significant language delay as a young child (in fact if I recall one of my reports correctly, I was diagnosed with “severe expressive language delay” at one point during early childhood).

I haven’t told any of my professors my diagnosis (I don’t think there is any real need to either), and the impact of the description to myself is very minor since I haven’t made known my diagnosis to my professors anyway (and I believe that thanks in part to language therapy my language has significantly improved over time). However, I feel it is somewhat misleading to list lack of clinically significant language delay as a general trait of students on the autism spectrum (while not even using the word “Asperger’s) which one college’s website did. The issue I have with colleges only using the phrase “students with Asperger’s Disorder” and not students with autism is that it could give the (intended or unintended) implication that of students with an ASD only students who would have been diagnosed with Asperger‘s are capable of attending a university, which is not true; and it just seems misleading to me to say that students with an ASD have no clinically significant delay in language (while not even using the term Asperger’s). Also, many of the descriptions I have read seem to give little attention to the fact that language difficulties sometimes occur with an ASD, but to me that is more understandable than the previous, because language delay or language difficulties are not a requirement for an ASD diagnosis.

Honestly, I think it is great that there seems now to be greater awareness of students with an autism spectrum disorder including students with Asperger’s or an ASD without language difficulties. However, as a university student diagnosed with autism who used to have significant language delay, I wonder why information about students with ASD often seems to only describe students with Asperger’s.

 

[Bolletje]

My guess would be that most people with ASD in university are people with Aspergers, which is why the information is focused on them. I could be wrong though, I don't have the numbers.

 

[Monachopia]

Aspergers technically isn't a diagnosis in the medical literature anymore, but from what I understood from reading previously, that particular diagnosis was almost seen as a "non-autistic autism" type of deal. It is outdated and generally still persists as a label to differentiate the more self-sufficient autistic people from those that need more support.

So really universities use it as a tool to welcome people with autism, but haven't clued up on the right lexicon in line with diagnostic criteria. It's still used in media to separate who they are talking about, even though Aspergers falls under ASD level 1 now along with other autistics who are more or less self-sufficient regardless of any childhood delays.

I guess it's just easier to fall back on a word/description that most people know to be inclusive rather than have to explain something not many people know about?

 

[the_tortoise]

Because people make a lot incorrect assumptions and even people who should know better (like people working for Disability Services at a post secondary institution) often understand ASDs only through stereotypes.

 

[Chrysanthemum]

Aspergers technically isn't a diagnosis in the medical literature anymore, but from what I understood from reading previously, that particular diagnosis was almost seen as a "non-autistic autism" type of deal. It is outdated and generally still persists as a label to differentiate the more self-sufficient autistic people from those that need more support.

So really universities use it as a tool to welcome people with autism, but haven't clued up on the right lexicon in line with diagnostic criteria. It's still used in media to separate who they are talking about, even though Aspergers falls under ASD level 1 now along with other autistics who are more or less self-sufficient regardless of any childhood delays.

I guess it's just easier to fall back on a word/description that most people know to be inclusive rather than have to explain something not many people know about?

What I am saying is that on one college’s website, they list “no clinically significant language delay” as a “characteristic” of college students on the autism spectrum, which to me seems like they are basing their characteristics on the former Asperger’s diagnostic criteria! I won’t blame anyone for that, but it seems (perhaps unintentionally) misleading since not all college students with an ASD have had normal language development (such as myself, but I have also read about other college students with ASD and language delay) seeing lack of language delay as a characteristic of students with ASD makes me wonder how they came up with that list, if whoever created that list considered that it was possible for someone diagnosed with autism or PDD-NOS with language delay to attend college. It doesn’t really assure me that if I had the option to attend that university and did so, their disability office would understand that ASD sometimes come with language delay and that not all college students with ASD diagnosed before the DSM-V have an Asperger’s diagnosis (however, the disability office at the university I attend might not actually know I had language delay or even my specific ASD diagnosis (which was Autistic Disorder and PDD-NOS since I was assessed twice) because the documentation I submitted were not initial in-depth ASD diagnostic report and were instead more of an IQ and achievement score report.

Also, in a guide I saw about how faculty can assist distressed college students (at another college (actually the one I am attending) than the one mentioned above, tips are given for how to interact with students with Asperger’s Disorder but the word “autism” is not used in the title (I think the choice of wording in this context is actually unimportant since strategies to help students with Asperger’s can also work for students with autism); however, I also notice this specific wording on some college websites in other contexts. It makes me wonder whether there are staff of colleges’ disability office who think that of students with ASDs only those who would fit the diagnostic criteria of Asperger’s are capable of attending college (I am not saying I think that this is necessarily what any staff of a college’s disability office thinks but I am saying this could be the impression it could give).

 

[the_tortoise]

It makes me wonder whether there are staff of colleges’ disability office who think that of students with ASDs only those who would fit the diagnostic criteria of Asperger’s are capable of attending college (I am not saying I think that this is necessarily what any staff of a college’s disability office thinks but I am saying this could be the impression it could give).

I would wonder the same thing.

And I suspect there are staff at Disability Services offices in post secondary schools that believe people with Autistic Disorder (and maybe also PDD-NOS depending on what particular incorrect ideas they hold) could never attend post secondary school.

 

[Chrysanthemum]

I would wonder the same thing.

And I suspect there are staff at Disability Services offices in post secondary schools that believe people with Autistic Disorder (and maybe also PDD-NOS depending on what particular incorrect ideas they hold) could never attend post secondary school.

May I ask why do you suspect that?

I guess that it may true that some disability think that, but I certainly hope not (even if they do think that, I personally don’t put the blame on them since at best it only shows a lack of education or understanding about people with ASD).

From what I understand statistics show that a percentage of people with ASD have normal intelligence, and that the percentage is greater than the percentage of people diagnosed with Asperger’s. Now I understand that not everyone with normal IQ wants or needs to attend college or university, and that there are competitive academic college programs where a significantly above average academic ability and/or IQ is probably necessary, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t students with ASDs including with Asperger’s, Autistic Disorder and PDD-NOS who want to and can attend an academic university program.

This is where I found “no clinically significantly language delay” as a characteristic of students on the autism spectrum (I know almost nothing about this university and its quality of academics, teaching and disability support - I think the article is actually a positive step though that I feel that a few of the characteristics listed do not accurately describe all students with ASDs):
Supporting Students on the Autism Spectrum | Villanova University

 

[Chrysanthemum]

May I ask why do you suspect that?

I guess that it may true that some disability think that, but I certainly hope not (even if they do think that, I personally don’t put the blame on them since at best it only shows a lack of education or understanding about people with ASD).

From what I understand statistics show that a percentage of people with ASD have normal intelligence, and that the percentage is greater than the percentage of people diagnosed with Asperger’s. Now I understand that not everyone with normal IQ wants or needs to attend college or university, and that there are competitive academic college programs where a significantly above average academic ability and/or IQ is probably necessary, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t students with ASDs including with Asperger’s, Autistic Disorder and PDD-NOS who want to and can attend an academic university program.

This is where I found “no clinically significantly language delay” as a characteristic of students on the autism spectrum (I know almost nothing about this university and its quality of academics, teaching and disability support - I think the article is actually a positive step though that I feel that a few of the characteristics listed do not accurately describe all students with ASDs):
Supporting Students on the Autism Spectrum | Villanova University

By the way I am not trying to imply that sufficient academic ability alone is necessarily enough to be able to attend university (e.g. I guess one has to have reasonable social skills to successfully learn in a university class (for example to behave appropriately and to be able to ask a professor something for clarification when needed) and and also be able to reasonably manage sensory overload to the point that during a lecture/seminar one is able to stay in the setting long enough to meaningfully learn something as well as not be overly disruptive etc, though I guess attending online college may sometimes be easier than attending “face-to-face” online college classes”), however the point I was trying to make was that even though I think it is absolutely OK to not go to university (whether by choice or otherwise), that there may very well be students with a variety of diagnoses including DSM-IV ASD diagnoses of Autistic Disorder and PDD-NOS with or without language delay who want to pursue post-secondary or higher education and are able to benefit from it.