If you haven't heard about Marshall University's program for high-functioning ASD college-bound students (and even if you have), keep reading!
I spoke with Marc Ellison recently, who is the Director of the West Virginia Autism Training Center. Located at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia, the program is a 'natural offshoot' of Marshall's HELP program (a program started in 1981 for LD and AD/HD students).
ATC's program is straight-forward. Based on intake interviews with the student and his/her family, a program is developed that best meets his/her needs -- including social functioning, executive functioning, academic work, and so on. Long-term and short-term goals are put into place, and then the ATC team works the program with the student.
Depending on his/her needs, this may mean a quick checkin meeting once or twice a day, or this may mean ongoing meetings and instruction throughout the day -- each plan is highly individualized for that student's needs. Areas of instruction include academic, social, and independent living skills. The ATC team puts an emphasis on relationship building among its members -- now numbering 20 students.
There are no age restrictions to applying for ATC, and current students range from right of out high school to those returning to school a bit later, and accepts transfer students from other colleges and universities.
One of the greatest things about Marshall's program is that the professors are (for the most part) actively engaged with accommodations, which is a nice contrast from many universities which claim to welcome neurodiverse students, only to force these students to deal with uncaring or downright hostile professors. This is in large part due to the fact that the HELP program has been around for so long -- professors at Marshall have long been working with LD and AD/HD students, and so working with ASD students is a natural extension.
Each professor is given a one-page information sheet at the beginning of each term with information about an ASD student's preferred learning style and specific issues s/he might face. Additionally, the ATC staff meets with each professor once a week to go over how the ASD student is doing in class. This direct communication and feedback loop with the professors is an excellent way to keep kids from falling through the cracks midway through the term, and indeed is an excellent model for other schools to use.
Although ATC does have a manned hotline for students 24/7, the program is not a residential program, and therefore students must be fairly high-functioning and be able to navigate dorm life.
Overall, I was quite impressed with what I learned from Marc. He'll be sending me some materials that I'm happy to share, or you can contact the ATC directly at:
