Developing College Skills in Students with Autism and Asperger's Syndrome

‘Developing College Skills in students' by Sarita Freedman is written for parents who wish to prepare their child for college. She concentrates as much on the early years in a child's development as she does on the pre and post-college days. Freedman sees the preparation as a continuum that begins almost from nursery.

Freedman is an American psychologist who runs a private practice specialising in ASD. She is clearly very knowledgeable about autism and understands well the huge variation across individuals and the need to individualise any care package. Much of the preparation advice is universally relevant, however I did feel that there were parts of the book which did not translate well to the UK market. The advice on liasing with the college disability services and familiarising oneself with the legal position was sound but our law and provision is different to the US. I also felt that in the US children are given multiple interventions from an early stage and the range and frequency of external therapies just doesn't equate to the UK approach.

The book is divided into three parts which are further subdivided into chapters. The first deals with the basics of autism, the second looks at the skills the child needs to develop and the third section is about preparing for college. In most of the chapters she introduces the theme and then follows this with a paragraph about the preparation needed when the child is young, followed by a section on the preparation needed in the later years.

The book is well researched and quite scholarly and dry in style. At times I felt it was better suited to her peers than to parents. It was quite a demanding book and used a lot of research material and jargon which I felt I had to translate before I could assimilate what was being said. The text could have been enlivened and illustrated by the use of case histories or parents' quotes. At times it struck me as needlessly repetitive but perhaps such reinforcement is necessary. The book is full of very important and pertinent advice which often includes small details of potential problem areas that a parent may easily fail to identify. However I feel the reader needs to start from an experienced and well read position to optimally benefit from the book and I would highly recommend taking notes throughout. Once again, the American market may be more familiar with psychological services and the jargon as they appear to have a lot more input throughout the child's life.

There are parts of the book that are more practical and I generally found these easier to make use of, for instance, the visual charts to prompt the child, but even then, I would have liked a visual example of such a chart from a real case. On many occasions I felt that there was an excess of organising which bordered on over-load and I wonder how any child, never mind a stressed child on the spectrum, would cope with the stream of appointments, exercises and charts. I also wonder about the knock-on effect of all this time-intensive work on both the parents and siblings. A child coping at school may already feel stressed and burdened and such an extra curricular regime which impinges into the sanctuary of home, may well lead to meltdowns which otherwise be avoided. Some years ago I boarded a boy who was on the spectrum and observed first hand the effects on the child of such a regime. Not only did he frequently become aggressive/tearful but his behaviour and anger was also directed at me and the other children in my care. Ultimately I was having to reprimand him for bad behaviour which I knew he could not help and this affected his self esteem as he felt as though he were bad.

Freedman gives very sage advice regarding selecting professionals, noting that many deem themselves qualified to help when in reality they are not adequately trained to deal with such a complex field and could easily do more harm than good.

What strikes me with this, and many other books I have read, is that the degree and extent of parental input and organisation recommended is far beyond the average parents' ability in terms of finance, energy, time and organisational skills. Such books are therefore in danger of making ordinary parents such as myself, feel inadequate, and as if we are somehow failing our children. I also have some misgivings about a childhood which appears to be so regimented and organised towards acquiring multiple skills. There seems to be little room for childhood. On a personal level my best thoughts have come from my solitary and unstructured times. But to be fair this may be a cultural difference, whereby children's time and activities are more organised in American and indeed amongst some of the more competitive British middle-classes. I cannot help question whether the merit of such intensive therapy is proven and whether the cost: benefit analysis in terms of finance and the emotional impact on the child of being pressured to constantly live outside their comfort zone, is justified. Many improvements, in my experience, come as a result of natural maturation of the child. For example a parent could intensively potty train a child from birth but if they had waited until the child was ready, the process is usually over and done with in days with little stress. Another example of maturation is when one 17 year old I knew learnt to travel independently, deal with medical appointments, make phone calls and take responsibility for his physical appearance, almost overnight. Had he received intensive therapy the parent would have erroneously concluded that the years of fighting him to carry out his set exercises had led to the favourable outcome, when in fact the success came because the parent and child had capitalised on natural development. The maturity that comes with age enabled the young man to see that there was a purpose and payoff to learning new skills.

I would recommend this book to determined parents and professionals who have the time and intellect to read and take notes on what is essentially a text book. Freedman undoubtedly knows her stuff and the information she gives can be trusted implicitly.