Today we’d like to introduce you to two of our winners. Melanie Shaw and Clarence Harmon both have navigated not only the transition to college while managing autism, but also the heavy burden of life with COVID.  They continue to overcome the obstacles put in their way and have gained new courage and confidence to look with great expectation at their future careers.

Melanie Shaw is a pre-med student. She wasn’t diagnosed with autism until she was an adult, which she now sees made her college experience different than her peers. She wrote, “In high school, there were clear goals: take these classes, do your homework, get good grades, and you’ll graduate. I was my class’ valedictorian because I understood these goals and could follow through. However, when I arrived at college, there was no single list of classes to take to get to a sole benchmark of success.” In her experience, this made college far more difficult than high school because there is a greater emphasis on forming a broad range of social, academic, and professional relationships without a clear path for doing so. “All these things were independent, and none of them were graded. 

That’s why, for me, the hardest thing about transitioning into college wasn’t the things that were being taught, but the things that weren’t.

Melanie Shaw

This extensive networking was challenging for Melanie, who preferred to keep to a small circle of family and friends. However, she pushed herself to reach out to others and new possibilities in her chosen field of medicine. Her determination to challenge her comfort zone has paid off with a bright future in medicine. She is successfully managing autism and college. She wrote, “I want to become a pediatrician because of my autism so that I can impact the way that ASD is viewed by society while helping children and their own families learn about their own health and any possible conditions.”  

Like Melanie, Clarence Harmon also faced struggles in making the transition from high school to college, which were further exacerbated by the pandemic. He wrote, “Transitioning from high school to college is an obstacle all freshman college students must endure. However, this period of change feels exasperating due to the current pandemic. The social, emotional, and behavioral supports that were present in high school to address my autism, ADHD, and speech delays ceased to exist in my first semester of college.”  

In high school, Clarence was fortunate to have had a strong network of school therapists and teachers, as well as his mother, who together helped him with speech delays, emotional behaviors, hyperactivity, and academics. His mother also encouraged him to participate in sports, which he learned would help tremendously with his impulsivity.

He wrote, “Being on varsity sports exposed me to a lot of unpredictable social events. However, nothing prepared me to handle COVID-19 in college. A significant amount of my coping mechanisms to deal with life (and disability) were replaced with isolation, social distancing, and asynchronous learning in my freshman year. Due to COVID-19, there is not an opportunity to participate in physical activities, team sports, and benefit from in-person social interaction.”

How did Clarence cope with autism and college? Instead of throwing in the towel, he got to work. He designed a daily workout routine comprised of stationary rowing, bike riding, and treadmill walking to recreate the body regulation for his large, athletic frame that he benefited from in high school.   

COVID has also created some emotional and skills-based setbacks for Clarence. To cope with anxiety, he has employed breathing techniques and kept a journal. When he feels himself sliding back to previous behaviors, he pauses and makes an effort to focus on what he wants to communicate.

He wrote, “Some people may have similar starting points, but each have different finish lines. No matter where I started, I can choose how to finish. I can perform to my limits, surpass them, or focus on my struggles for the rest of my life. The COVID-19 environment has caused skills regression and fear. It again takes me a moment to process thoughts before speaking and I must learn online social queues/norms. Yet, there is a silver lining to having my disability. I know how to persevere.”

We know he will! We were excited to find his name on the The University of Alabama in Huntsville dean’s list. His tenacious spirit won him the ASD Ascend 2021 Autism College Scholarship and will no doubt lead him to his dreams of being a college athlete and future forensic accountant. Please check out last weeks blog post to learn how college autism programs have helped our other three winners. 

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“Like many people with autism, I have a hard time with social interaction with my peers, loud noises and interruptions to my routine. So, entering college presented a very huge hurdle for me. No longer would I enjoy the protection of a teacher’s aide to follow my every step. As a legal adult, I would have to learn to be my best advocate and become self-reliant.”

Sarah, one of our ASD Ascend 2021 Autism College Scholarship winners, was fortunate enough to live near Lehigh Carbon Community College that has its own college autism programs for students with autism called SEED AACHIEVE. The program has coaches and advisers who help students navigate the challenges of college life. Sarah was awarded our scholarship because of how well she identified her needs and used the resources that were available to her.

She enrolled in SEED AACHIEVE because it helps prepare incoming students for the challenging transition to college life. The skills she learned in her program have helped her create a routine that has allowed her to thrive while fulfilling her degree requirements, as well as improving her communication skills. She wrote,

“I am naturally shy, so speaking to new professors and asking the right questions can be difficult. I have practiced such skills with my SEED coaches and each time conversations with professors become easier.

Sarah Brisman

These new skills were especially important when COVID hit and all classes were moved online. Sarah learned how to speak with professors and coaches via Zoom and felt able to advocate for herself, even online.

Sarah is receiving excellent grades, making new friends in her classes and clubs, and truly enjoying her studies. She looks forward to earning her degree in Digital Arts and to a successful future career. 

Hunter Garret, another ASD Ascend scholarship winners, also credits his college autism program for his successful college experience. Hunter is a current junior at Western Kentucky University. Even though the school was far from his home in Ohio, and much further away than the college his older brother had attended, Hunter felt like WKU was the right fit for him. The Kelly Autism Program (KAP) at WKU played a big part in his decision.  

Hunter reminisced about the many challenges he’s overcome during his college experience. Living so far from home, making decisions on his own, taking care of himself, staying on top of his classwork–not to mention having COVID thrown into the mix–fills him with pride and confidence that he can continue to succeed after college. 

He’s quick to thank the KAP staff for their role in his success, from assisting him with time and homework management, to discussing any stressors in his life, to helping him prepare for future projects. He wrote, “These people have been there for me, and just think, they manage to be there for over a hundred other students like me: on their own, with varying places on the spectrum. And for all that help, I truly am thankful. I mean, the fact that I’ve made it halfway through my junior year of college is a feat in itself.”

Forming and maintaining friendships has always been difficult for Ryan Slaughter, ASD Ascend scholarship winner. Knowing that he would need extra help developing social and communication skills, he and his mom did a lot of research on college autism programs to find the best-suited college for him. They eventually decided on the University of Tennessee, home of the Mosaic program. 

They both are determined to get Ryan the best possible education in order to help him realize his dreams of graduating from college, working as an engineer, living independently from his family, making friends, and contributing to the community.

Living independently is one goal that he’ll soon realize when he begins the Mosaic program in the fall, which is far from his home in California. Ryan can’t wait to take this next big step, and we are thrilled to help him take it.

Ryan wrote, “Despite being in a single parent household and a student herself, my mom did everything she could to help me expand my knowledge and experiences. She instilled in me a strong sense of self, despite my special needs. Through activities in Boy Scouts, I learned to scuba dive, and backpack, two things I never thought I would do because of my asthma and my disability. These accomplishments have made me the person I am today; to always try new things no matter what the challenge and that I can accomplish anything I set my mind to.”

All of our scholarship winners in college autism programs have displayed this same spirit of determination, as well as a willingness to use the resources around them for extra support when they need it. We are very proud of these students and know that their futures will be very bright indeed.

Stay tuned for our next blog post which discusses the struggles of our remaining two scholarship winners. They are both high achievers who share the unique and unseen struggles of college students navigating autism and college. 

The post Do college autism programs help students succeed? appeared first on ASD Ascend.

This year, we are offering five one-thousand-dollar scholarships to entering freshmen, sophomores, and juniors enrolled in college who have autism and are pursuing either an associate’s degree or a bachelor’s degree. The scholarships may be used for tuition, autism programs, or other college support programs for the 2021 school year. 

Winners will be selected by a scholarship committee in January of 2021 and will be notified by phone and email by early February of 2021. For more information on the ASD Ascend 2021 Autism College Scholarships and to apply, click here.

Larry Feltes, Co-founder and Chief Financial Officer of ASD Ascend

Larry Feltes, Co-founder and Chief Financial Officer of ASD Ascend, is intimately aware of the challenges faced by college students and their families. After helping his grandsons with autism through an exhaustive search for the best colleges for students with autism, he dedicated himself to streamlining the college selection process. With his wife, co-founder Ann Hartlage, he created ASD Ascend’s searchable database of U.S. college autism programs. This resource helps other families find the college or university that will allow their children with autism to thrive in college.

Larry, could you tell us a little about that experience of helping your grandsons find the right college?

LF: We didn’t know where to go. We were searching colleges and universities. We had some tips as to which ones were friendly to kids on the spectrum, but it was pretty much hit and miss. We traveled to fourteen or fifteen different colleges and universities. It was a lot of time and money and effort. It was a very inefficient way to find a good fit for autism students. Very inefficient. The searchable database, should simplify the process a great deal.

How do you hope the ASD Ascend Autism College Scholarships will benefit families?

Raising kids on the spectrum is oftentimes a more expensive proposition than raising kids who are not on the spectrum–not just financially expensive but emotionally and psychologically expensive. These scholarships are designed in part to help offset that additional cost, as well as recognize excellence and merit. 

Larry Feltes

Why are you passionate about the mission of ASD Ascend?

LF: ASD Ascend’s mission is short and sweet: empowering students with autism for college and career. That’s our motto. That’s our mission. For so much in college, not just for kids with disabilities but in general, an overlooked key to success is finding a good fit. 

You can pick a university that’s a little too social or not social enough or rigorous academically but not rigorous in other areas. They may not have extracurricular programs that you’re interested in. They may not have special programs for kids with special needs that you’re looking for. So narrowing that search down is one of the keys to success. 

Some say, go to the best school that you can get in and can afford, but it’s not that simple. There’s this thing called ‘fit.’ Finding the best fit for your kids is a challenge and so important to success, I believe. You can’t just go anywhere and succeed in college. I mean, really succeed.  

Update: Thirty-seven college students with autism applied. You can read our blog post highlighting two of our winners who are high achievers and going to college with autism. Another blog post highlights three of our scholarship winners who attend colleges with autism programs.

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