Abstract
This is the case of Tyler (he, him, his), an autistic first-year student at Apple State College from a low socioeconomic status (SES) background. Although Tyler is succeeding academically, he is unhappy as he is struggling to make friends. His difficulty with establishing and keeping friends is due in part to his difficulty reading social cues and his struggles with conversations. Fortunately, Tyler is highly interested in getting assistance. Apple State’s Office of Accessibility Resources offers a social pragmatics program to support students with developing social interaction and communication skills; however, the program has a fee.
Keywords: Autism, Socioeconomic Status, Residence Life, Accessibility Resources, Communication
Primary Characters
Tyler (he, him, his) A first-year autistic student at Apple State College. He was born and raised in a low-SES neighborhood.
Corey (she, her, hers) Tyler’s residence director (RD) at Apple State College.
Kathy (she, her, hers) Apple State College’s Assistant Director of Accessibility Resources and the coordinator of the social pragmatics program.
Introduction
Despite increasing enrollment of autistic students in higher education, only 39% of these students graduate with degrees (Newman et al., 2011). Similarly, the number of students from low SES backgrounds is increasing, and they too experience lower graduation rates than their peers from higher SES backgrounds (Byun, Irvin, & Meece, 2012). Research has noted a variety of barriers faced by students with disabilities in higher education that may contribute to poor outcomes. Among these barriers is finances (Thompson-Ebanks, 2014). As higher education faculty and administrators frequently work with autistic students and students from low-SES backgrounds to ensure access to both the academic curriculum and the co-curriculum, developing the knowledge, attitudes, and skills needed to serve autistic students from low-SES backgrounds is critical. The following is the case of Tyler, an autistic student from a low-SES background, and his struggle to obtain social-pragmatic services through his college.
History/Context
Tyler is a first-year autistic student at Apple State College. He was born and raised in a low-SES neighborhood in New York City and attended his local public school where he received excellent special education services. Throughout high school Tyler was a very strong student and excelled in several courses including Calculus AB and Computer Science Principles. Tyler is incredibly passionate about computers and has decided that he will pursue a major in computer science.
Academically, Tyler is succeeding in his first semester at Apple State College. In fact, he is proud to share that he was the only student in the class to receive a perfect score on his most recent Introduction to Computer Science exam. Despite his academic success, Tyler is unhappy.
Corey is Tyler’s residence director (RD) at Apple State College. Corey only recently met Tyler on the first day of new student orientation, when Tyler’s mother pulled her aside and let her know that Tyler is autistic. Tyler’s mother also expressed that she was concerned about Tyler “fitting in” with his roommates. Corey assured Tyler’s mother that she would keep an eye on him and offer support if needed. As promised, Corey has kept an eye on Tyler from afar. She has spoken with his resident assistant, observed him at hall meetings, and noticed his interactions with other students at hall-wide programs; and she gets the sense that he is, indeed, having difficulty transitioning to life at the College. Among the things that she has noticed are that Tyler is often alone, other students seem to avoid him as he approaches, and he is attending hall-wide meetings and programs less frequently. Corey decides to invite Tyler to meet with her to better get to know one another and to discuss his transition to Apple State.
When Tyler meets with Corey, the meeting is challenging. Tyler struggles to pick up on social cues, tends to dominate discussion, repeats himself, and seems to always bring discussions back to the computer game that he is creating. Eventually, Tyler confirms Corey’s suspicion—he is not happy. Though he enjoys his classes, Tyler is incredibly lonely. He misses his mother and high school teachers and has yet to make friends at Apple State. Tyler notes that his mother and teachers have told him that he often frustrates his peers, and Tyler decides to disclose to Corey that he is autistic. Tyler expresses a genuine interest in developing his social skills so he can make—and keep—friends.
Based on this information Corey encourages Tyler to meet with Kathy, the College’s Assistant Director of Accessibility Resources and the coordinator of the social pragmatics program. Corey tells Tyler that Apple State has recently developed a social pragmatics program to serve students with social communication challenges so that they may improve their overall ability to manage social interactions. She explains to Tyler that she has had past residents take part in this program and they learned and practiced techniques and strategies to better engage with peers in academic and social settings. Tyler is excited about the program, so Corey connects him with Kathy in Accessibility Resources.
Three days later Tyler stops by Corey’s office, and she asks him how his meeting with Kathy went. Tyler is frustrated and explains that the meeting did not go well. When Corey asks why, Tyler explains that the social pragmatics program costs $1,500 a semester and that he barely has enough money to cover his textbooks. Tyler is extremely upset as he thought he “finally found a program that would help him make friends.” Tyler explains that he has always felt different from other students because he is autistic, but now he feels different from everyone—including other autistic students—because he is “poor.” Without giving Corey a chance to respond, Tyler stands up and runs out of her office.
Questions for Discussion
- As Tyler’s RD, how might Corey respond to him running out of her office? What should her next action be? Why?
- How might Kathy serve students like Tyler who have interest in participating in the social programs but cannot afford to participate?
- What challenges might a low-SES autistic (or any disability) student face on your campus? What campus and community resources could you provide students processing being twice marginalized?
- What are the potential ethical implications of offering programs and/or services for a fee? How might you talk about fee-based programs with students
Discussion and Takeaways
This case allows professionals working in residence life and other student affairs functional areas to consider the interplay between disability and socioeconomic status. Tyler is an autistic student who comes to recognize that he is also a student of lower socioeconomic status. As a result, he has less access to fee-based programs, such as the social pragmatics program, that may support him as he works to develop social skills. Corey is looking to support Tyler but may not have considered, or been aware of, the cost associated with the social pragmatics program. More importantly, neither Corey, nor Kathy may have anticipated the impact being confronted with such a fee-based program would have on Tyler’s sense of self.
In this case we encourage professionals to reflect on how Tyler is forced to confront being twice marginalized. Institutions of higher education are required to provide physical and cognitive access to qualified individuals with disabilities but are not required to offer services and programs that go beyond meeting accessibility needs but may support college success and belonging. Although some institutions provide “beyond access” services and programs that support the success of autistic students and disabled students, these programs are often fee-based. We ask professionals to consider the possible implications of such fee-based programs on a student identity development and sense of belonging in higher education. We encourage professionals to consider how we can make programs and services accessible to all students regardless of ability and socioeconomic status through policy, organizational, and fiscal management.
References
Byun, S.-Y., Irvin, M. J., & Meece, J. L. (2012). Predictors of bachelor’s degree completion among rural students at four-year institutions. The Review of Higher Education, 35(3), 463-484.
Newman, L., Wagner, M., Knokey, A.-M., Marder, C., Nagle, K., Shaver, D., Wei, X., with Cameto, R., Contreras, E., Ferguson, K., Greene, S., and Schwarting, M. (2011). The post-high school outcomes of young adults with disabilities up to 8 years after high school. A report from the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 (NLTS2) (NCSER 2011-3005). Menlo Park, CA: SRI International.
Thompson-Ebanks, V. (2014). Personal factors that influence the voluntary withdrawal of undergraduates with disabilities. Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability, 27(2), 195-207.
Biographical Sketches
Adam Lalor, Ph.D. (he, him, his) is Vice President for Neurodiversity Research and Innovation and Co-Director of the Center for Neurodiversity at Landmark College. Landmark College is the first college in the nation to exclusively serves students with learning disabilities, ADHD, and autism. Dr. Lalor has experience working in higher education administration for more than a decade, and his research focuses on the preparation of college faculty and administrators to best serve students with disabilities.
Marie Lalor, M.Ed. (she, her, hers) is Director of New Student Programs at Amherst College. Prior to serving in this position, she worked in housing and residence life at Connecticut College for more than a decade. She has experience working with autistic students in the residential setting both at Connecticut College and at Landmark College.
Allison Lombardi, Ph.D. (she, her, hers) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Connecticut. She teaches in the Special Education program and serves as the director of two online graduate certificate programs in postsecondary disability services and special education transition. Dr. Lombardi’s research focuses on the transition from adolescence to adulthood, with a particular focus on college and career readiness (CCR) and higher education experiences of underrepresented groups.