College can be a trying time in any individual’s life. For adults with Asperger Syndrome this experience can be overwhelming. This video on Asperger Syndrome and Adulthood focuses on educating professors, teaching assistants, and others on what it means to be a college student on the spectrum and how they might best be able to help them succeed.

At just over 15 minutes in length, this video is long enough to give a concise introduction to life as a college student with Asperger’s Syndrome. It allows students to practice self-advocacy by identifying needed and reasonable accommodations to help them be successful. By using this video, adults with Asperger’s Syndrome will be teaching others what it means to be a college student from their point of view. Students can provide the video to their professors by providing a link to the video via the internet.

OAR produced this video in cooperation with the Global and Regional Asperger Syndrome Project (GRASP) and Pace University in New York City thanks to a generous grant from the Schwallie Family Foundation. This video features Michael John Carley from GRASP and Kiriana Cowansage, an NYU Doctoral Candidate in the Department of Neuroscience as the primary instructors. OAR’s own Scientific Council Chairman, Dr. Peter Gerhardt, also appears in the video to provide information on the topic of “reasonable accommodations” in the college classroom.

OAR welcomes any and all feedback on this video. Please send an e-mail to programs@researchautism.org.