Nancy, Henrico, VA asked Debbie Sterling, GoldieBlox, Inc.

AddedTuesday, December 16, 2014 at 10:16 AM

Help for student with Asbergers planning to study engineering

Firstly, YEAH to what you are doing to encourage girls to follow a "non-traditional" career path. I worked very hard to raise my daughter, Jessica, to follow her heart and not worry about what others said was acceptable for a "girl". Some back story to qualify my question. When Jessica was seven and diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome I was devastated. But I educated myself in order to be an advocate for her. She decided pretty quickly that it was an asset not a liability! We went with that needless to say. She has decided to become an engineer! Unfortunately during her high school years when I should have been helping to guide her class selection and researching college loans, etc. I was mostly in the hospital trying to overcome Hepatitis. I spent long periods of time in and out of comas' and/or too sick to be aware of my surroundings. She is now 21 and we are trying to figure out the whole college thing. So my question is: Can you tell me if there are any groups, organizations etc., that may help us in the progress? I would like to see her in School as soon as possible in case my health takes another turn for the worse. Thank you for taking this journey with me to ask a questions! lol
  • Answered Tuesday, December 16, 2014 at 10:16 AM

    Dear Nancy,

    I'm not sure specifically what you need so I'm not sure how to help.  There are many groups that help to get women into STEM careers.  If you are looking for a group that advocates on behalf of students with disabilities, you might try the AccessSTEM group at the University of Washington. I also found this group on the web, although I am not familiar with what they do.