College Navigator Success Stories

Adam | Stanley

Easterseals MA College Navigator Program identifies barriers, advocates for needs, and creates a supportive environment that will improve outcomes for students with disabilities completing their secondary education.

 ADAM WALDEN

Collage of Adam at school, playing cello, using computer, with his college navigator. Text says less than 1% of the college population has Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Adam is a California resident currently in his sophomore year at esteemed Berklee College of Music in Boston studying the cello.  Adam is not only a wonderful cellist; he is also one of the actors who is featured in the HBO documentary Autism: The Musical!  His journey with Easterseals started long before meeting Easterseals Massachusetts. Adam was receiving services from Easterseals California through high school as an adolescent with moderate/severe autism. When it came time to look around for college supports, Adam’s mother, Roseanne, suggested to the California agency assisting with the search to look into Easterseals Massachusetts.  

Easterseals Massachusetts was just about to launch their brand new innovative program called “College Navigator” in the fall of 2017 when they received a call from Easterseals California asking about services for students in higher education.  The timing of the request was truly serendipitous as Easterseals Massachusetts was ambitiously rolling out a program for what they knew was a critical unmet need.

Easterseals MA staff met Adam his freshman year as spring semester was about to start.  Adam was quickly introduced to his “College Navigator,” a specialized aide, to not only develop a trusting relationship with Adam, but to develop a personalized action plan to highlight Adam’s goals.

Adam’s College Navigator assists him in different areas such as preparing for class, in-class redirection and refocusing, self-advocacy, public transit and spatial awareness in the community, and gentle guidance through social conversations with peers and professors. It’s important to remember how overwhelming the transition to a large campus environment in a major city can be for any teenager, let alone someone with severe autism who is trying to mitigate perpetual communication deficits.  “I was scared to death and did not know if Adam would be able to stay in college. Easterseals staff kept me focused on improving the process for Adam and told me to trust that we would be able to make college work for someone with his level of disability…they virtually created the whole program around his individual needs!” said Adam’s mother, Roseanne.

Adam playing the cello outside near a flowering tree Adam smiling wearing a green Berklee College of Music tee shirt Adam doing school work on the white board with his tutor Adam smiling sitting down on the T Close up of adam smiling with his college navigator Lydia Adam using a self checkout at Target Adam playing the cello when he was younger Movie poster for Autism the Musical, an H B O documentary Adam is featured in. Poster has a photo of Adam and 4 other kids from the documentary.
Adam playing the cello outside near a flowering tree Adam smiling wearing a green Berklee College of Music tee shirt Adam doing school work on the white board with his tutor Adam smiling sitting down on the T Close up of adam smiling with his college navigator Lydia Adam using a self checkout at Target Adam playing the cello when he was younger Movie poster for Autism the Musical, an H B O documentary Adam is featured in. Poster has a photo of Adam and 4 other kids from the documentary.

Working with his College Navigator, Adam has made great strides in his pursuit of independence. He enjoys grocery shopping and budgeting for healthy food items to cook at home, learning everything he can in the classroom with assistance from his Navigator, but his all-time favorite act of independence is traveling around Boston using the MBTA. Adam loves to watch trains! Adam is about to embark on the second semester of his sophomore year.  His mother has remarked that not only is this an incredible feat for Adam and the autism community, but that Berklee students and faculty seem to be having profound experiences regarding the concept of inclusion as well. Adam plans to continue to use College Navigator services while he is at Berklee College of Music, and often thinks about the possibility of making Boston his home as a professional musician and composer.

FYI - Be on the lookout for Adam in the sequel to the HBO Documentary Autism: The Musical set to release sometime in 2019. Easterseals MA staff sat down with the documentarians several times recently to discuss their inclusion techniques as well as what a program like College Navigator means for the future of the work force in our country.

 STANLEY CLICHE

Photo of stanley's self portrait that he painted. It is a closeup of his face with a slight smile. Stanley Cliche (self-portrait pictured here) was diagnosed with Central Auditory Processing Disorder and Asperger’s Syndrome at a young age. When it came time to think about college, Stanley, now 19, had concerns about how he would handle the workload and adjust to college life. Indeed, Stanley’s concerns are particularly salient given that less than 1% of college enrollment are people who have been diagnosed with ASD (autism spectrum disorder). And, for the rare selection of people with ASD who enroll in college, 80% do not finish college.  By aspiring to enter the college setting, Stanley was facing an environment that fundamentally does not support people with developmental disabilities. But, then he heard about Easterseals Massachusetts’ new College Navigator Program through Nancy Mader at the Federation for Children with Special Needs.

Stanley was quickly paired with his college navigator, Lydia, and began having weekly Google Hangout meetings with her. “I liked that Easterseals staff had a friendly face, someone that I could talk to and who could offer me guidance and support on days where the work felt overwhelming,” he said. Lydia helped Stanley navigate the day-to-day challenges of college life and empowered him to advocate for himself in the classroom. “Some of these day-to-day challenges can even include interacting with Professors don’t always understand why accommodations are necessary or how to implement them into their classroom. They are there to teach their area of expertise in the best way they see fit; when something interrupts that process, it can be a challenge for them to adjust” says MaryEllen MacRae, Director of Community Support Services. Lydia would work with Stanley on how to disclose his needs with his professors “She encouraged me to draft a script that would elaborate on my disability and help my professors understand the challenges that I was facing and useful accommodations,” Stanley said.

Stanley’s story, albeit one of success and progress, is not necessarily a story of someone who struggles in the college setting because of his intellectual capacity. Stanley has terrific strengths academically but benefits from support in other aspects at college like understanding the nuances of navigating social conversations and building relationships with his peers; both equally important to a student's personal success in higher education.   College Navigator aims to educate the public on the fundamental idea that the barrier to higher education for people with disabilities isn’t rooted in individual's intellect or capacity, but often a lack of relatively simple adaptions in the environment. 

The ultimate objective of Easterseals College Navigator program is about creating a new structure that works for students in new environments given the considerations of an individual’s disability-this is something almost universally accepted in secondary education (high school).  In truth, it is somewhat of a travesty to think that so many potential students are losing the opportunity to participate in post-secondary education (university/college) especially when post-secondary education is so strongly linked to competitive employment and ultimately the ability to contribute meaningfully in one’s community. Recent studies demonstrate that 72% of people who complete college will participate in the work force. But, in fact, only 50% of 25-year olds with Autism have ever held a paying job, it is hard to overstate the benefit of creating alternative and successful plans for this population to earn degrees.

With the support of Easterseals, Stanley aims to complete his Bachelor’s degree in Mathematical Sciences, taking additional courses in humanities along the way. He hopes to engage in as many learning opportunities as possible throughout his time in college, and with the continued support of his College Navigator assisting him with navigating his new educational environment, he is increasing his opportunities to obtain the personal goals he has set for himself.

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