Jessica started her second year of college and she was very insistent that she take three core classes because she really wanted to complete her general education. Against my better judgement, she registered for a math, english and a psychology course. In the beginning, she did ok. She was a good student, she liked the structure of school and doing homework. But after the winter break, all of her classes had papers due and Jessica’s writing was not at college level (though it had matured quite a bit from high school). Remember that visual processing piece where she has difficulty organizing her thoughts on paper…well, her thoughts were better thought out, but add the stress of multiple papers due on multiple subjects and having to organize all of that in your head and then try to organize it on paper. It became very overwhelming and she simply stopped going to class. I didn’t know right away…maybe a couple weeks after she had stopped. By then, it was too late to drop classes or go back and regroup with the teachers. So, she took a break.
Spring semester approached and she registered for two core classes and a fun class and she did great again. We learned our lesson and moved on. I would also point out that the fall semester started just a month after she moved into her own apartment and it was the first time living away from me (though only couple miles away), learning to be on her own, managing chores and time management on her own. There is a window for adjustment to any life change (generally 3-6 months). As much as I tried to manage one new thing at a time for her rather than multiple changes at once, this was a big change and the demands for the classes were higher…so we struggled.
Being Jessica's Mom: Growing up on the Autistic Spectrum 