Can you avoid a crash and burn the first year of college?

The start of the new school year is almost here, and many families see possible college for their neurodiverse student in the future, and wonder what they should/count be doing to prepare them.

Can You Avoid a Crash and Burn the First Year of College?

I have seen so many stories that can be summed up in a familiar phrase: “My student crashed and burned in their first year of college,” or “College just didn’t work out for my student.”

To be clear, the traditional college path is not the right choice for every student. Sometimes, students discover that early on, and that is a perfectly valid realization. There are many fulfilling paths to adulthood, and our neurodiverse kids will have diverse paths of their own.

But when a student chooses college, and then struggles significantly during that first year, I can’t help wondering:

What support did they have in place to help them succeed?

The transition to college is enormous. Even students who excelled academically in high school may find themselves overwhelmed by the demands of college life. And I’m not talking about just the academic expectations, although that is significant. But added to that are  the expectation that they manage their schedules, complete assignments without frequent reminders, develop a self-care routine, navigate unfamiliar systems, maintain their health, manage daily living responsibilities, and build a social life - all while adjusting to a new environment.

For autistic students, some of these demands may present additional challenges, even if the academic higher expectations are not a significant concern.

Sometimes, a student who appears to have failed at college simply didn't have the structure and support they needed to navigate that transition successfully. And….this might show up in decreased academic performance, which makes the core problem hard to assess and problem solve. And, added to that, students and families can interpret the experience as a personal failure when the real issue may have been that the transition wasn't adequately planned.

So, how can you build a support structure that gives your student a better chance of success?

Think beyond academic readiness

I often recommend that families of academically capable autistic students begin planning for college several years before high school graduation. A robust transition plan isn't just about getting into college. It's about preparing for the realities of living and functioning as a college student.

That means honestly and realistically thinking about the student's skills, support needs (and being brutally realistic about this), disability-related accommodations, and access to services well before the first day of class.

Here are some of the components I consider when helping families build an individualized college transition support plan.

1. Use the high school years strategically

If the student is in Special Education (SPED), the transition planning process under the IEP provides an opportunity to begin building the skills a student will need in college. Starting in junior year, consider how the IEP and Individualized Transition Plan (ITP) can address areas such as self-advocacy, executive functioning, time management, problem-solving, and navigating unfamiliar situations.

During senior year, a college preparation coach may help the student build and practice these, and other, skills in ways that reflect the demands of college life.

Toward the end of junior year, and definitely into the senior year, is the time to plan a strategic fading of school-based supports. The goal isn't to try to use as much support as possible up to graduation, and it is not to simply to remove assistance before graduation. This is a strategic plan that slowly “fades” support while allowing the student to do more on their own. It's to help the student develop autonomy while identifying which supports, accommodations, and services will still be needed after high school.

2. Identify adult services before you need them

Don't assume that the college will be responsible for providing everything your student needs to succeed. It absolutely will not. College supports are not the same as SPED supports in high school, and much different than those supports provided by an IEP. In high school students are supported to progress/succeed in their education, in college students are supported to access the education. There are no guarantees of success.

Depending on your student's eligibility and needs, adult service systems may provide access/funding for important additional support. For example, Regional Center services, including California's Self-Determination Program, may be worth exploring. State vocational rehabilitation agencies, such as the Department of Rehabilitation (DOR) in California, may also offer services that support progress toward employment and career goals, potentially including certain supports related to college.

Eligibility, available services, timelines to access support, and funding rules vary, so planning ahead is important Applications, assessments, and service planning can take time. . It is also important to realize that many skills are built in stages, so this takes time also. Waiting until your student is already struggling may leave you scrambling to identify resources, and possibly it may be too late to address the underlying skill deficit.

3. Put college accommodations and services in place before classes begin

A student's high school IEP does not transfer to college. Colleges will use an IEP to inform their own disability services processes, documentation requirements, and accommodation procedures.

Start gathering the necessary documentation well before graduation. Once your student commits to a college, connect with its disability services office and explore the available accommodations and support programs. And remember, this is the time, if you haven’t already, to involve your student. Colleges will not work with parents. Parents can still be involved, if their student invites them. But college personnel are not compelled to speak to Parents, even with a permission that they are allowed to speak to parents. Given this, start to involve your student in their own meetings, arrangements, emailing, advocacy while they are still in high school to give them practice.

Think beyond academic accommodations, too. Depending on the student's needs and the college's policies, relevant considerations may include housing, dining, orientation, and access to other campus resources.

The goal is to have an appropriate accommodation and support package arranged as early as possible, rather than waiting for a problem to emerge during the semester. In other words, frontload the support and peal away what isn’t needed vs scrambling to try to shore up a problem after it has happened.

4. Consider starting with a manageable course load

Full-time enrollment may be the expected path, but it isn't necessarily the best starting point for every student.

A reduced course load may give a student room to learn the rhythms of college life while developing the skills needed to manage academic and personal responsibilities. Depending on the circumstances, a disability-related reduced course load may also be available as an accommodation.

Before making this decision, investigate how enrollment status affects financial aid, housing, insurance, and satisfactory academic progress (this can be met with an academic accommodation). Some colleges have specific policies or exceptions for students with disabilities, so it's important to understand the implications in advance.

It can also help to select the first semester's classes strategically. Study skills courses, exploratory classes, and electives may offer opportunities to learn how college courses work before taking on a particularly demanding academic schedule. The goal is to create a manageable entry point that will allow the student to succeed from the moment they walk on the college campus, and then build skills on this solid foundation.

5. Take advantage of the college's support programs

Many colleges offer programs and resources that students and families may not know to look for. Depending on the institution, these might include first-year transition programs, tutoring centers, TRIO programs, academic coaching, counseling, and student health services.

Explore what's available before the semester begins, like mid-summer. Help your student understand how to access these resources and, where appropriate, practice doing so independently. Make sure they know it is their choice to access these or not, this is important to both support your transitioning relationship with your now adult student and, well…, because it is their choice. No one on the campus will compel them to use a services regardless of their academic progress.

Sometimes visiting the program and asking questions during the summer can help acclimate the student to the program and personnel and make it less unknown. This is important for autistic students, as the unknown is harder for them to overcome. And visiting early gives the program staff a chance to personally invite the student to events and programming when applicable. Your student may be enthusiastic, or not, but don’t worry if your student seems less than engaged, it’s about providing exposure at whatever level they are at.

Remember that simply having a service available doesn't mean a student will know how to find it, initiate contact, make an appointment, or follow through. For some students, learning to navigate the support system is itself an important part of the transition.

6. Add individualized support where it's needed

Campus services are valuable, but they may not address every challenge your student faces, or address it is a way that is effective for your student. Additional individualized support can sometimes make the difference between becoming overwhelmed and learning to manage college successfully.

Depending on the student's needs, consider supports such as:

• A college navigation coach to help with college-related tasks, organization, problem-solving, and navigating campus systems.

• A peer mentor to support campus navigation, social integration, connection to services, and recognition of when the student may need additional help (this one is invaluable at the start).

• An autism-informed tutor when disability-related barriers make it difficult to benefit from standard tutoring services.

• A personal trainer or fitness support provider to help establish routines around physical activity, health, and community participation.

The right combination will depend on the student. The point isn't to surround every student with every possible service. It's to identify where the barriers are likely to occur and put appropriate support in place.

What if your student is already struggling?

Perhaps your student is already halfway through the first semester, missing assignments, overwhelmed by daily responsibilities, or talking about dropping out.

It's not necessarily too late to turn things around.

Start by assessing what is working and what isn't. Is the course load too demanding (even if the subjects are something that they “should” have no trouble with)? Are accommodations missing or insufficient (even if they think they are not necessary)? Is the student struggling with executive functioning, daily living skills, social isolation, or managing their health (even if these were not significant problems at home)? Assess these with a clear mind – college is different than living at home and different than high school in so many fundamental and sometimes hidden ways. Are there services that could be added or existing supports that need to be adjusted?

The answer may be to adjust the plan, not abandon the goal.

Of course, sometimes a student decides that college isn't the right fit, and that decision deserves respect. 2 or 4 year college is not right for everyone, despite the overwhelming social message that it is or should be the next step after high school. However, before concluding that college is indeed not the right fit, make sure you've considered whether the student had a reasonable opportunity to succeed with the right strategy, structure, accommodations, and support.

A difficult first semester doesn't have to determine the outcome of a student's college experience.

The transition from high school to college is more complex than many families anticipate, particularly when a student needs support across multiple areas of life. The equation that success in College is basically an extension of what was needed in high school is a set up for challenges. Even if class subjects are the same the flow and expectations of college classes is massively different from most high school classes. And high school supports sometimes acclimate students to a certain kind of support that colleges just don’t offer. Academic accommodations are only one piece of the puzzle. Success may also depend on adult services, executive functioning, independent living skills, health, social integration, and the ability to navigate multiple systems.

This is the kind of planning I work on with families: looking at the whole student, identifying the gaps, understanding which services may be available, and figuring out how the pieces can work together to support a successful transition.

With thoughtful planning and individualized support, families can give their students a stronger foundation for college—and a better chance of discovering what they're capable of.