The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 44, No. 3 - 37

Different is Not Deficient

among college students with asD, intellectual
disabilities are less likely to be a central issue
because college students have shown evidence
of appropriate intellectual ability when applying for admission. all applicants to college,
irrespective of disability status, must be "otherwise qualified" for college admission, a
legal provision reviewed earlier. indeed, some
memoirists relate their academic or career successes, at least in part, to the strengths they
associate with their autism; see, for example,
temple grandin (1995/2006) and John elder
robison (2007/2008).
students with asD also have increased
risks of depression, anxiety, or aggression
(hoffman, 2016; White et al., 2011), which
may well affect their abilities to function socially and academically at school or in work
(national institute of mental health, 2016).
students with asD are not required to selfdisclose to peers or college officials, potentially
making their asD an invisible disability-a
group of diagnoses that can include depression
or anxiety.
While there is no medication to treat asD,
early intervention with teaching and reinforcing communication and social skills can help
temper the symptoms of asD (newschaffer, et al., 2007). role playing and otherwise
practicing social skills can be particularly effective (pinder-amaker, 2014; VanBergeijk,
et al., 2011), and such interventions are most
effective when initiated during childhood. to
address common difficulties with generalizing and interpreting, persons with asD also
benefit when descriptions or instructions are
explicit (VanBergeijk, et al., 2011). most critically, persons with asD benefit from one or
more resources and support persons/systems

(livingston, et al., 2013; pinder-amaker, 2014;
thierfeld Brown & Wolf, 2014; VanBergeijk,
et al., 2008; Wolf, thierfeld Brown, & Kukiela
Bork, 2015).

Students with ASD are not required
to self-disclose to peers or college
officials, potentially making their
ASD an invisible disability . . .

The Neurodiversity Movement
in the 1990s, the terms neurotypicality (to describe people who are not on the autism spectrum) and neurodiversity (ranges and types
of neurological functioning) were coined
(Boroson, 2017, p. 21). Within the growing neurodiversity movement, people with neurodevelopmental differences are no longer viewed
as in need of a cure; they may be different, but
difference does not signal deficiency (Boroson,
2017; hoffman, 2016). for example, many of
the above behaviors and characteristics of asD
are not limited to people with asD. isolation,
transition difficulties such as homesickness,
and difficulties relating to impulse control
are common among traditional-age college
students, as the developmental theories of
Chickering and reisser (1993) and goodman,
schlossberg, and anderson (2006) have explained. Consequently, the principles of universal Design for learning (uDl) that advocate
providing "varied and flexible options for learning, along with appropriate supports and accommodations" (Boroson, 2017, p. 22) apply.
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The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 44, No. 3

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 44, No. 3