Colleges add autism support services, but they're pricey

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Jared Jellicorse made the dean’s list in his first year at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga, an achievement that makes his mother, Marla, tear up.

“That was just amazing,” she gushed.

“Oh come on,” muttered Jellicorse, a biology major who goes by JJ.

Jellicorse has autism, which can put up even more obstacles in college than those faced by students who aren’t on the autism spectrum. Despite a huge jump in the number of people diagnosed with autism, few higher education institutions have accommodated it.

The Jellicorses chose UTC because of Mosaic, a comprehensive support program for students with autism. Jellicorse is a third-year student; Mosaic students often take five years or longer to earn degrees.

UTC is one of at least 60 colleges that added some form of support program for students with autism beyond the academic accommodations required by federal law, such as extended testing time and quiet environments for exams.

Even these reach a limited number of students and can be expensive, costing as much as $7,000 per semester on top of tuition.

Colleges have created special support programs because other campus disability services, to which students with autism are often referred, don’t always meet their needs, advocates and parents said.

The first autism support program in the USA began at Marshall University in West Virginia in 2002. The more recent uptick in the number of programs is partly due to wider public awareness about students on the autism spectrum, said Arianna Esposito, director of life span services and supports at Autism Speaks.

Programs such as Mosaic help young people with autism as they age out of the special education system offered through public schools. That happens when they receive a diploma or turn 21, whichever comes first.

Young people on the autism spectrum are less likely to go to college or find a job after high school than their peers with other disabilities. A study from Drexel University found that 36% participated in any type of post-secondary education, compared with more than two-thirds of all high school graduates.

For some students, autism support programs offer the only way they can attend college away from home.

Almost two-thirds of students in the Mosaic program graduate within six years, a better graduation rate than for UTC students in general.

The transition from high school to college is stressful for any college freshman, but the anxiety can be amplified for students on the autism spectrum, who often face difficulties with organization, time management, communication and social interaction.

“These are students who are motivated, are very academically qualified and want to succeed in school,” Esposito said. “But one of the challenges that arises is how to navigate the social landscape.”

Many autism support programs attract students who struggled at other institutions. Lana Wagner spent her freshman year at an art school that didn’t have any special services for students with autism.

“I sort of had the rug pulled out from under me in terms of what I didn’t actually know how to do and what I felt fear over,” Wagner said.

She moved home to Washington state and enrolled at Bellevue College, a community college that has a program called Neurodiversity Navigators (formerly Autism Spectrum Navigators).

Even there, she was hesitant to sign up.

“I spent a lot of time trying to distance myself from that label,” Wagner said. “I passed as neurotypical very well, but I saw how other autistic kids around me were being treated, and I was terrified of being seen as less than a person.”

She found a sense of community in the Navigators program because she didn’t feel the need to hide her autism. She said she didn’t realize “how much energy it took up in my life to constantly be doing that.” Wagner graduated in the spring and transferred to a BFA program at DigiPen Institute of Technology.

Erik Uri, a computer science major who graduated from Bellevue last year with a bachelor’s degree in computer science, said advocating for himself was one of the most important things he learned there.

Uri recalled a situation in which his grade dropped significantly because he didn’t turn in a paper. His professor said he would have been willing to work with Uri if he’d asked for a deadline extension ahead of time.

“I learned about not being afraid to talk to teachers. They’ll meet you halfway,” said Uri, a software engineer at Microsoft.

While Mosaic helps students stay on track in class, it also focuses on social and career skills.

Students with autism “needed more social inclusion. They needed all of these things that were not being provided through the typical academic accommodation process,” said executive director Michelle Rigler, who started the program in 2008

Mosaic enrolls about 10 new students every year and offers services that include coaching and supervised study hours. Participants take four yearlong academic courses that help them develop social skills. The classes start with transitions to college and independence and culminate in professional skills and internship tips.

Resident assistants in the dorms get special training, and Mosaic staff will sit in on meetings between students and their roommates when necessary. UTC added sensory rooms across campus, which provide quiet spaces to decompress. The rooms are equipped with weighted blankets, textured pillows and moldable Kinetic Sand, which can be soothing when students experience sensory overload.

The university pairs Mosaic students with other UTC undergraduates who take a class about autism and advocacy. These mentors meet with their students at least an hour a week and sometimes organize group activities, such as a seminar on relationships.

“We will help them understand what a neurotypical will seek out in romantic relationships and friendships,” senior Hayleigh Weissenbach said.

Weissenbach has mentored the same Mosaic student, Chris Bogans, for the past two years. “We like to go try new food places,” she said. “Chris is really brilliant. He’s funny and very sociable if you get him out of his shell.”

Bogans is a second-year student majoring in business analytics. He’s been able to exercise his leadership skills as the treasurer for the Mosaic events committee. “The program has helped me be more social,” he said.

Many autism support programs serve a limited number of students. Admission can be competitive as demand outpaces openings.

Mosaic, and other programs such as the College Supports Program at Eastern Michigan University, come with hefty price tags, in addition to tuition and housing. That makes it less likely for low-income students with autism to enroll. Studies show the percentage of young adults with autism who attend college increases as household income increases.

UTC’s Mosaic program charges $3,500 per semester, and Eastern Michigan charges $5,500 to $7,000, depending on the level of support. Eastern Michigan develops an individual support plan for each of the 34 students enrolled in its program.

At UTC, students who are Tennessee residents can get help paying for Mosaic fees through the state’s vocational rehabilitation program, which offers services to people with disabilities. Families that don’t have similar programs in their own states have to pay out-of-state tuition in addition to the program fees.

Not all programs charge extra fees. At Bellevue, students pay only the tuition for classes offered through Neurodiversity Navigators, which covers the instructors’ salaries and some funding for peer mentors who meet with students once a week. The program, which serves 140 students, otherwise mostly takes advantage of campus resources.

Mia Hummel-Levy, a second-year English major at UTC, wants people to know students with autism are just like anyone else.

“Even people who are neurotypical, they’re all different in their own way,” she said. Even Hummel-Levy “can’t always tell what I’m like because I have autism,” she said, “and what I’m like because I’m me.”