Postsecondary Transition for College- or Career-Bound Autistic Students

This book examines issues relating to postsecondary transition from high school to college or competitive vocational settings for Autistic adolescents and young adults. It details the intervention and consultation services essential to prepare students for postsecondary life. The volume addresses the academic, social, self-regulation, and self-sufficiency skills that adolescents and young adults must develop to ensure a successful transition from high school to college and workplace. It focuses on the role of school psychologists in supporting Autistic students as they enter adulthood but is also relevant across numerous disciplines.

Key topics addressed include:

• Using cognitive and neuropsychological assessment results to inform consultation about college entrance  and vocational activities.
• Evaluating and strengthening academic skills for older Autistic adolescents who plan to enter college or workforce.
• Helping Autistic students increase their use of social, coping, and behavioral skills.
• Strengthening Autistic students’ use of self-management and self-sufficiency skills needed to independently perform required tasks in college and the workplace.
• Selecting an appropriate college and accessing available supports that match student needs.
• Assisting Autistic students and their families in accessing available services and developing skills that improve employment outcomes.

Postsecondary Transition for College- or Career-Bound Autistic Students is a must-have resource for researchers, professors, and graduate students as well as clinicians and other professionals in clinical child and school psychology, special education, social work, developmental psychology, behavioral therapy/rehabilitation, child and adolescent psychiatry, and all interrelated disciplines.

Kathleen Viezel, Ph.D., NCSP, is an Associate Professor in the School of Psychology and Counseling at Fairleigh Dickinson University, where she teaches graduate-level courses related to child assessment and intervention. She is also the Director of Fairleigh Dickinson University’s COMPASS program on the Metropolitan campus, which serves undergraduates with autism spectrum disorders. She has been presenting about Autistic college students to both professional and community audiences since 2010. Her current research interests focus on assessment of children and adolescents, including college-ready Autistic adolescents and young adults. Dr. Viezel is a licensed psychologist as well as a Nationally Certified School Psychologist. Practice specialties include psychoeducational assessment and parent management training. 

Susan M. Wilczynski, Ph.D., BCBA-D, is the Plassman Family Distinguished Professor of Special Education and Applied Behavior Analysis. Her scholarly work currently focuses on actively dismantling ableism in the practice of behavior analysis, including how ableism restricts access to sexuality education among Autistics. Dr. Wilczynski is the Coordinator of the Practice Board for the Association for Behavior Analysis International and serves on their Task Force for Quality and Values-Based ABA. She is a currently an Associate Editor for Behavior Analysis in Practice. Earlier in her career, she served as the Executive Director of the National Autism Center, where she chaired the first National Standards Project. In addition, she developed the first center-based treatment program at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Dr. Wilczynski has edited and written multiple books including her recent electronic book, Raising the Bar and has published scholarly works in the Behavior Analysis in Practice, Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, Behavior Modification, Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, and Psychology in the Schools. She a licensed psychologist and a board-certified behavior analyst.

Andrew Davis, Ph.D., HSPP, is the Chair of the Department of Educational Psychology, a professor of Psychology and the Director of the Ball State University Neuropsychology Laboratory. He was the founding Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Pediatric Neuropsychology. His research interests are primarily focused on applied aspects of clinical neuropsychology, including the neuropsychological functioning of neurologically and psychiatrically impaired individuals and psychometric issues in neuropsychological assessment. His current research interests include the relationship between cortical and subcortical sensory-motor skills and cognitive functioning, executive functioning, perinatal complications, performance validity testing, estimation of premorbid functioning, and neuropsychological functioning in patients with ADHD, Alzheimer’s disease, fetal-alcohol spectrum disorders, and multiple sclerosis. In addition, Dr. Davis is interested in other topics, including traumatic brain injury, psychopathology in the schools, and professional topics in school psychology (e.g., the synthesis of neuropsychology and school psychology). He is the editor of the Handbook of Pediatric Neuropsychology. Dr. Davis primarily teaches classes in neuropsychology, developmental psychopathology, and cognitive assessment. He is a licensed psychologist and school psychologist, board-certified in pediatric neuropsychology through the American Board of Pediatric Neuropsychology and has provided clinical services and supervision in a variety of inpatient and outpatient settings.