Neurodiversity.

AUTISM; ASPERGER'S syndrome; COLLEGE students; DEVELOPMENTAL disabilities; COLLEGE teachers; AUTISM in children; CHILD development deviations; EDUCATION; COGNITIVE learning; DIAGNOSTIC & Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Book); DISEASES; NEURODIVERSITY

This article focuses on the increasing number of autistic students who are attending college, which presents new challenges to writing instructors. It is stated that the increase in autism or Asperger's syndrome may be correlated with the increase of students who are born in 1987, the year in which the third edition of the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders," broadened the definition of pervasive developmental disorders, thereby widens the concept of infantile autism. The author reveals that particularly, autistic students may have trouble imagining readers' responses to their texts. It is suggested that creating an appropriate education for these kind of students may involve revisiting composition studies' tradition of cognitive research.