Episode 15: College Readiness and Autism

Chris is joined by Dr. Katie Gaebler, founder of AutismNERD (Neurodiverse Education Resources of Denver), to the show for an important conversation about preparing and supporting autistic teens and young adults as they transition to
life after high school. Dr. Gaebler explains that when considering the true “price” of attending college, it is essential to look beyond just financial costs. She highlights three critical components: financial, experiential, and emotional. Chris and Dr. Gaebler also explore the various accommodations colleges offer to support neurodiverse students — and why understanding these resources ahead of time can make a big difference. Throughout their discussion, Dr. Gaebler emphasizes how essential early preparation is, and how parents play a pivotal role in helping their neurodiverse students successfully navigate the college journey.

Links:
AutismNERD: https://www.autismnerd.com/

Autism Learning Lab Website:
https://www.autismlearninglab.com/
Email: chris@autismlearninglab.com

Quotes:
[2:22-3:06] Dr. Gaebler: The difference between “college capable” versus “college ready.” I see that “college capable” is the ability to meet admission standards, right? So when a student applies to the college of their choice, can they academically kind of fit what standards are required for that particular college or institution? Whereas the difference of “college ready” would be the ability to meet graduation standards, right? So it's a comparison of what are admission standards versus what would be graduation standards. And there's so much that goes into the whole process of college and there's so many dynamics for it, you know, including the social, emotional, just navigating large systems, executive function needs, you know, just even traveling, are you traveling across the country for where you're attending, all the components that go into that.

[11:00-11:40] Dr. Gaebler: And so that's where just having the consciousness of and self-awareness, but also I think it's really important for families and the student to be on the same page as much as possible, as far as what's realistically in the best interest for that individual, as well as what support accommodations that student is gonna be able to provide for themselves, but might be within the context of their environment, right? And having those facilitated conversations before attending, I think is one of the best things that a family can do for themselves, frankly, because we just want everybody to be on the same page.

[41:29-42:00] Dr. Gaebler: It's called the Talking College Card Deck. And it's discussion prompts for students with learning differences. And it's a deck of cards. They're basically all these different categories like 15 categories of things that you're gonna experience in college and then you within each of the categories. There's typically three to five cards and each card has, maybe three or four questions on it and everything in there you're gonna face post-high school life somewhere somehow.