When first beginning the voice project, I was slightly nervous but excited to explore a

new identity. After looking over the list of identities that students have explored in the past, I was
immediately drawn to students with autism. I studied autism in my undergraduate career but
everything that I have studied was based primarily on younger aged children and early
interventions. The idea of autism itself is a fairly new topic but the idea of students with autism in
college is becoming more and more prevalent every day. As a future student affairs
professional, I knew there will most likely come a day when I will need to not only know how to
help typically developing students but also students that come to college with continuing
difficulties such as the characteristics that accompany students with autism. Part of being a
student affairs professional is to know how to not only develop the students that you encounter
academically but holistically as well. After continuing my ten week journey in attempt to get a
better understanding of the world of autism, it is very apparent that there is a need to continue
research and college adjustments to help these students develop personal, social, academic,
and emotional competence skills as they progress through college and into the workforce.
Within the first few weeks of exploring the world of autism, for my own benefit and the
benefit of those reading my voice project, I thought it would be best to gain an understanding of
what autism is and all of its many facets. Being able to recognize what autism is and the
characteristic that often accompany it are a very important knowledge base for someone who is
trying to assist in a students growth to understand. The site I looked at that described
symptoms and some developmental issues that accompany autism also provided some startling
statistics about just how many students are being diagnosed with autism and still the lack of
resources and funding that many schools and colleges do not have. The awareness and
resources are definitely on the rise but there is a continued need for more as we become more
aware of the extra assistance that could benefit these students.
Following gaining a general understanding of what autism might look like, although I
found that autism can and usually does look different for each and every person diagnosed, I

had the great fortune of being in the right place at the right time. Being at Wright State
University, I have been offered several opportunities to reach out and attend events that have
provided me with a large breadth of knowledge. One of the very first conferences that I was
made aware of was the conference where Dr. Temple Grandin would be speaking as an
advocate for autism awareness. I had read about Dr. Grandin prior to attending the conference
but the encouragement and hope that she was able to offer others was something that I will
always remember after attending the conference. Shortly after watching Dr. Grandin speak, I
watched the movie made about her experience and the experiences that she had as she
attended college. Some of the things that she faced with the college environment and through
her professors was horrifying but can be deduced down to the simple lack of awareness and
understanding of autism which is why it is so important to continue raising awareness and
advocating for some of these students who lack the abilities to do so themselves.
Watching Dr. Grandins experience in college inspired me to reach out and identify what
we might be doing in colleges and universities today to help these students with autism instead
of isolating them. Specifically, I reached out to Heather Rando who works with the autism
population on Wright States campus in the Office of Disability Services. I interviewed Mrs.
Rando about the prevalence of students with autism on our campus and the larger number
surprised me. She also mentioned that the retention rate for those students was very high and
attributed this to the consistent assistance and resources that were provided for these students.
They were required to meet with support groups that contained a supervisor and other students
on campus with autism and the students were also given fellow student coaches as peer
mentors. They could meet with them to discuss personal, emotional, or academic challenges
that they were facing in their transition to college. After speaking with Mrs. Rando, I attended
one of the meetings with the peer mentor coaches and found the experience very encouraging
because the discussion was based upon many concerns and praises that the students with

autism are facing and many of these topics were not so different if at all different from
neurotypically developing students.
As a future student affairs professional, I thought it was most imperative to not just talk
and learn about autism and its characteristics of students in college but to learn and understand
how to implement learning styles and strategies within a classroom and empower students to
advocate for themselves. I have explored great books that have broken down strategies such as
modeling, prompting, group work, and many other tools that have help many students with any
kinds of learning disabilities in the past. If professors and counselors implement these learning
styles, they can become their own type of scientist by testing theories and ensuring that they are
finding the best opportunities to enhance learning for students, especially those with autism.
One of the most important things that I found while reading was that yes it is important to harbor
a safe and developmental environment for students while they are in college but ultimately, we
are trying to prepare students for life after college. Unfortunately, once a student leaves college,
society breaks all strings from resources and extra assistance that they might have had in
college and expect these students to advocate and continue developing on their own. This is
why it is so important to not just learn how to help them with initial academic or emotional
struggles but to empower students to problem solve and make decisions for themselves. We
should only be here for guidance and assistance because the ultimate goal is to help them grow
as a future independent citizen in a much larger, less forgiving society.
Exploring autism and the struggles that students with autism are facing today has
opened my eyes to the continued need for research and outreach not only for students with
autism but for the other students out there with hidden identities facing similar struggles. In
order to grow and develop myself as a professional, I know it is important to never stop
encouraging myself to step outside of the box, explore, and learn new experiences and ideas.
This will help, myself, the individual students, and the institutions as a whole. We are the next
generations of society and it only takes one person to begin change.