For most parents, their dream is for their child to go to college. However, college can be mentally and physically draining, especially for students with disabilities such as Autism. This leaves many asking about how to prepare teens with autism for college. As a parent, you would want to prepare your child for college; hence, we’ll be going over four steps you can take to do just that.
4 Steps To Prepare Teens With Autism For College
According to recent data from the CDC, 1 in 44 children has ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder). So, you’re not alone when it comes to parents with children with ASD. To help, below are four simple but effective steps you can take to prepare your teens with autism for college:
● They should take study-skills classes
● Your teen should learn organizational skills early
● Teach your teen to practice life skills
● Slowly transition your teen academically
They should take study-skills classes.
It would help if you taught your child how to develop a study habit as early as possible. Depending on your budget and time, hiring a professional to teach your teen might be best. It would teach them proper paper writing skills. Of course, you could probably get a freelance writer from TopEssayWriting to help them with this; after all, most students who use their services say the same things when asked, “is TopEssayWriting legit?” yes. Taking study-skills classes is also important because they will teach your teen how to study and independently prepare for tests and exams.
Your teen should learn organizational skills early.
While in high school, you must encourage your teen to start working on tests, assignments, and projects early. This, with time, will be built into their mindset and how they approve tasks. Unless you don’t mind the problems of being a parent in college, you will need to trust your teen can handle themselves in college alone. The same goes for the exam preparations. You will need to ensure they start early and are consistent with it.
Teach your teen to practice life skills.
It would help if you also taught your teen basic life lessons such as money management, personal grooming, and laundry. When they eventually move to campus, many of these activities will have to be handled by them. Hence, they must master this early on, whether they’re going to college. Of course, you don’t need to teach them everything at once; instead, you can make it a gradual learning process.
Slowly transition your teen academically.
College can be hectic academically; they might struggle unless your child is prepared. Hence, parents must slowly increase their teens’ academic workload, especially if they have ABA therapy. With each semester, you might reduce the amount of help you provide for their homework and allow them to be more independent. With time, this will improve your teen’s confidence in their ability to handle themselves.
How to Prepare Teens With Autism For College
After taking all the steps to increase your teen’s independence and confidence, you might decide to introduce your child to college in stages. Your teen can spend their first year at home before moving to campus. Also, remember that your role as a parent isn’t to be a manager but a coach.