Students with autism seek understanding in a college setting

A puzzling presence

Students with autism seek understanding in a college setting
By Kathy Laluk News Editor February 14th, 2008

Perched in the back of a Textor lecture hall, knees together, wringing his hands intensely, he listens to the student addressing the crowd.
His eyes dart right. Then left. Then right again, focusing on the walls rather than
the speaker.
Still hesitant, he raises his hand. He has an opinion too and wants to share it, though he is uneasy about speaking in public.
“My nerves just take over sometimes,” he said. “It’s not always something I can control.”
As he begins to speak, his hands began to grasp more tensely at one another.
Freshman Jordan Friedman said many of his classmates do not know why he acts the way he does. But Jordan does. It’s his autism.
Friedman, a writing major at Ithaca College, said he was diagnosed with mild high-functioning autism when he was three years old but didn’t become aware of it until he was older.
“I kind of figured it out on my own,” he said. “I noticed my mom had a book about autism, and I kind of put two and two together.”
Autism is a neurological disorder measured on a spectrum of increasing severity, meaning each case is different from another. Symptoms can range from a lack of social intuition to tantrums, nervous ticks and repetitive behavior.
Though scientists have studied the pathology of the disorder, exactly how autism works is not yet fully understood. Some theories include an excess of neurons that cause overconnectivity in key brain regions and abnormal formation of synapses in the brain.
According to the Autism Society of America, about one in 150 children born in the U.S. will have autism, a rate that is growing between 10 and 17 percent each year.
Bill Hudenko, an assistant professor of psychology at the college, said he suspects the increase in autism is because of greater recognition and knowledge of the disorder, though whispers of an autism
epidemic are now debated by many psychologists and experts.
“I think it’s a little more accepted today because it’s much more recognized — however the level of severity plays a huge role in this,” he said. “Not everyone can understand every situation.”
The only time Friedman said the symptoms of his autism become really noticeable is when he speaks in a group. He said he routinely gets nervous and tends to wring his hands, twirl his unruly brown hair and avoid eye contact with others.
“Speaking in front of people is just hard for me,” he said. “It decreases my capacity for handling stress. I’m sure people have misread or misunderstood me. If they don’t attribute my behavior to autism, they just think, ‘Oh, he’s just weird.’”
Hudenko, who is also the head of the Advancing Autism Treatment research team at the college, said misconceptions about the disorder can make classmates hesitant to befriend those with autism.
“I think a lot of people have this image in their head of what autism looks like ... but anyone who has worked with those with autism will tell you it makes itself evident in a myriad of ways.”
Nicole Gagnon ’04 said she did not know what to expect when studying autism as a psychology major at the college. After participating in an independent study that allowed her to work with a local autistic child and his family, Gagnon not only found an understanding for the disorder, but also found an interest in it.
“It was one of the best experiences of my college career,” she said. “It gave me the opportunity to help me decide what I wanted to do once I left Ithaca.”
Gagnon is now a teacher at PS 138 in New York City and works with autistic children ages 14 to 21 with varying levels of autism. She said she is very content with her work so far.
“I love my class. They’re great kids,” she said. “They have pretty significant disabilities, but they have pretty significant gifts as well.”
Dr. Jed Baker, director of the social skills training project in Maplewood, N.J., and an autism expert, said it is becoming more common for colleges to provide support services for students with autism and related disorders, such as Asperger’s syndrome and Pervasive Development Disorder Not Otherwise Specified.
“More and more, colleges are serving students with [autism],” Baker said. “Students on the spectrum face the challenges everyone else does — academic and social — but they are intensified.”
Leslie Schettino, director for the office of support services for students with disabilities, said students with autism receive academic support from the college and can also arrange additional support if needed. Schettino also said professors are notified if a student with autism will be in their class.
“It’s difficult to generalize, especially with autism, since it’s really a case by case kind of thing,” Schettino said. “We definitely want to extend as much support as we can to students with these kinds of needs.”
Baker said because of the broadening of the spectrum, it is nearly impossible to
implement programs that would work for all autistic students.
“Everybody’s different. Autism is not a ‘one-size-fits-all’ disorder,” he said.
Friedman said he did physical, speech and occupational therapy as a child, and also had a teacher’s aid to help him keep his schoolwork organized. Now he functions just fine on his own and said the therapy and support he received at a young age is the reason for his independence.
“I came [to the college] for a lot of the typical reasons … [but] I really came because I wanted to prove to myself that I could do this,” he said.
Hudenko’s research team, which consists of students and recent alumni, is hoping to combine applied behavioral analysis with developmental individual relationship intervention.
The research team will be working with autistic children and their parents to help improve therapy techniques. Hudenko said the team is still recruiting members for the study but is excited to start learning and helping.
Baker said student mentoring programs and training for professors would make the traditional college environment more appealing to students with autism spectral disorders.
Friedman said he has had a lot of support here at the college and finds people are most responsive and understanding to his situation once they know the details about autism.
“A lot of people just genuinely don’t care and still treat me normally, he said. “Having autism has certainly come with positives and negatives, ups and downs, good and bad. But it’s what makes me who I am. And I’m proud of that.”