Over the last three years, NC State has started multiple programs to help students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) succeed at college due to the rise in students and identifying as such.

Wesley Wade, a career counselor at NC State, said studies show that about one to two percent of all college students in the United States are somewhere on the spectrum.

Wade and Dana Thomas, an academic advisor for biological sciences, decided to start a program in fall 2017 called Students Moving Forward which helps students on the spectrum prepare for their careers.

The program has five meetings each semester, which consist of workshops that go over the different steps to getting a job or internship. They also said that the first meeting for fall 2019 will be held Sept. 30 at 5:30 p.m. at the Career Services Office.

Shayna Feldstein, an NC State alum, was involved in Students Moving Forward during fall 2018 and spring 2019. Feldstein said she joined the program to get connected with an internship and learn some skills for future interviews.

“I very much enjoyed hearing about the tips and tricks of those on the autism spectrum,” Feldstein said in an email.

Wade decided to start Students Moving Forward after he was informed that some of his students on the spectrum had a difficult time getting jobs due to misunderstandings and judgements about autism. Wade said he takes his job very seriously and wants to be a strong advocate for his students.

“[Thomas] and I got frustrated by the additional obstacles that [students on the spectrum] were facing when it came to research opportunities on campus and full-time opportunities,” Wade said.

Jamie Pearson, an assistant professor at NC State, started Fostering Advocacy, Communication, Empowerment and Supports for African American Families of Children with Autism in 2016 and has been working with children on the spectrum for many years. Pearson believes it is important for teachers to not treat students with autism any differently, but they should simply provide support and create a welcoming learning environment.

“You have some level of understanding that this student may have different difficulties,” Pearson said. “And no, you don’t need to treat them like a child or treat them differently, but you may ask them if there are specific things that may help them.”

Elizabeth Robinette, a generalist counselor at NC State, is currently working on an ASD social hour, where students on the spectrum could come to meet others and connect. Robinette is hoping to have the social hour start in the next month and wants to have weekly meetings.

Robinette said she believes moving to college is a hard transition for every student, but it can be especially lonely for students with autism due to it being sometimes harder for people on the spectrum to communicate and socialize. She wants to provide a safe space for these students to come and have fun.

“A lot of what we see with students on the autism spectrum is loneliness and that is highly linked to depression” Robinette said. “We just wanted to give them a space where they can have some social interaction and have a pretty unique chance to meet people and develop connections and practice social skills.”

Robinette said people on the spectrum are very smart; however, because of the way schools are set up, it’s harder for them to show and communicate their intelligence. She feels, because of this, it’s extremely important for students with autism to make themselves aware of the resources available to them.

“People on the autism spectrum tend to be superiorly intelligent. And unfortunately, school and university settings are not really set up for a person who is not ‘neurotypical’ … ” Robinette said. “My advice would be to avail themselves of the resources on campus through Disability Services and Advising and Counseling Services. Just to not suffer alone and come in early versus later.”

Feldstein said reaching out to different services on campus, as well as having supportive teachers, made her transition to college much smoother and easier.

“I was somewhat sheltered, living at home during my college years, and thus avoided the worst of the drama by being put in contact with resources quickly and being lucky enough to have teachers who worked with me instead of against me,” Feldstein said in an email.

Macy Le, a second-year studying human biology, is the president of the Autism Society of North Carolina at NC State, which she helped start up last semester. Le said she started the group to help raise awareness of autism, and said she was surprised to see how many people were interested.

“It has been really eye-opening since I started it because the word got around pretty quickly. I have had parents and faculty and students reach out to me to ask what they could do to help,” Le said. “I didn’t realize how many people this related to.”

For more information on different organizations and clubs involving students with ASD please visit the Disability Resource Office website.