Autism Goes To College
Autism Goes To College
EPISODE 30: First semester, take a lighter load - pacing early to avoid burnout and build momentum
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Preston looked at four-year colleges, but he was hearing about typical students getting overwhelmed by the course load and the adjustment to college life. So he decided to start out at a community college and take two classes to start. He chose one language arts class and one math class for the first semester, and he joined the Media Arts Club, which is giving him hands-on experience producing a news show. This winter, he's adding a part-time job. He's gotten the hang of commuting by bus five days a week. In this episode, Preston talks about what made his fall semester a "perfect experience." He says he's feeling confident about adding another class this winter and starting to think about how his credits will transfer to a four-year school to finish his bachelor's degree.
Now that I'm genuinely enjoying my social life at Hamilton, I'm more incentivized to actually be social.
SPEAKER_07Having autism isn't something that should prevent people from having a successful college experience. It takes work.
SPEAKER_04Join clubs, find groups, find your people, find ways to fit in. See a peer mentor, see somebody who can help you get involved on campus.
SPEAKER_01There were a lot of black children on the spectrum who were also deaf. She's not the first one.
SPEAKER_00I researched all of the majors and I eliminated the ones that sounded not interesting to me. So then I changed it to chemical engineering to work with chemistry. Then I took an environmental science class and I'm like, I think environmental issues are really important, and I'm really passionate about sustainability and stuff. So then I changed it to finally environmental engineering.
SPEAKER_05Especially in a college town like Don't DoorDash. Like, just go out and get the food. That's good exercise.
SPEAKER_08Hey everyone! Thanks for joining us on this episode of Autism Goes to College, the podcast for students on the spectrum and for everyone who supports us. Navigating college is always a challenge, so here are the hacks, insights, and great ideas you've been looking for to make college work for you. We're a small group of self-advocates. We're all in college or recently graduated, and you can do this too.
SPEAKER_02Hey everyone. Eric Lynn Thorst directed the film, and it premiered at the Newport Beach Film Festival in 2019, and was also selected to screen at South by Southwest EDU in 2020, which of course happened online. At the end of this episode, I'll give you some details about where you can see the film today. And it's all at our website, autismgoes to college.org. So, with screenings limited since the pandemic began, the team wanted to open up the conversation and created this podcast. The first five episodes featured the stars of the film talking in more depth about their college experiences and what they are up to now. And since then, we've talked to students on the spectrum all over the map, sharing all kinds of experiences, working towards degrees and certificates around the country, plus a college counselor, parent perspectives, and admissions officers. Every month we drop a new episode. Here's what's also new there's a resource center on our website with dozens of outtakes of important stuff that didn't quite make it into the film, all of the podcast episodes, and blogs from experts and from student advisors from the film. Fun fact this project was recognized as best of the internet in 2022 by the Webby Awards Anthem Awards, winning gold for diversity, equity, and inclusion. And we keep making it better. This podcast is here for us to share and open up the conversation and include more insights from self-advocates on the spectrum. Same with the Resource Center. So reach out if you'd like to get involved or have ideas for us. Let us know what would make it more meaningful and valuable, or what you'd like to contribute. And thanks for listening. We do hope to hear from you. Now, Preston Keenan started college in Massachusetts this fall after a lot of thought and conversations with his family. He wasn't 100% sure what he's looking for, but he's been open-minded and came at the decision with plenty of experience because he took classes at community college while still in high school. That was helpful, Preston says. He decided to start college at community college, and we'll get into why that was. I also know a little bit about Preston and his passions. He's a brilliant bowler and a great foodie. I know that because Preston was a student at the high school where I taught before I went back to school to get my PhD. So I'm very happy to welcome Preston, who is here to share his college story to date.
SPEAKER_06I'm glad to be here.
SPEAKER_02Alright, so tell me a little bit about this first semester at Massasoit Community College. Did it go how you were picturing?
SPEAKER_06No, not even close. This semester was mainly filled with figuring out what I want to major in and kind of just what I have to do to get to that point. So this past semester I've been taking all my prerequisite classes like math and ELA, and I also want to do a lighter workload so I can look for a job, look for that kind of stuff. And after finding it, not be overwhelmed with both schoolwork and work work.
SPEAKER_02And what classes did you end up taking? You referenced math and English?
SPEAKER_06Yes, those are two I'm taking only two classes, and those are the two classes I am taking right now. But come next semester, I'm gonna be taking a ELA class, writing class, and an editing class that'll actually be for my station credits I'll need to transfer out.
SPEAKER_02So you're looking at in-state schools to transfer from community college. What sort of things are important to you? Uh what are your criteria for colleges? What do you look for?
SPEAKER_06What I look for is mainly good access or good disability department. How good is the department that I want to major in? So media arts, how good is that? And then also what is the acceptance rate and graduation rates for that department as well.
SPEAKER_02Mm-hmm. And how do you know if a disability services department is going to be good?
SPEAKER_06I would do three things now. I would look on their website, see if there's anything on there that I could kind of use my judgment on. I would also go if there's nothing or anything like that, I would call them, see if they have anything in placement and what those would entail. And also ask my advisors and ask around at my Sesoit because they mainly work within the state alone. So it'd be hard to transfer out of state, but if you transfer into state, you can have a guarantee 61 credits goes to that school.
SPEAKER_02Oh, that's a fantastic program. So in terms of disability services, you talked a little bit about accommodations. Can you say more about the accommodations you're using in college?
SPEAKER_06So right now I have gone through the process of getting accommodations, but for right now, I'm taking classes that I don't need them in the moment, but it's always good to have them in case if you need them. Like, say if you are getting overwhelmed, you can say, Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot to send this to you. Here's my accommodations, because I do have autism spectrum disorder. And I'm very open about that with my teachers and my friends, is that I'm very open about that.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. So did you decide before picking Massasoit that you wanted to be close to home?
SPEAKER_06Kind of. I was kind of looking at schools more four-year colleges, but then we started to hear a lot of stories of like people who got overwhelmed and stuff like that. Who's more neurotypical? So I wanted to make sure me and my mom both decided that it would be better if I started slow in a community college versus at a college like Bridgewater or UMass Lowell, for example, where they would be more hectic and stuff like that.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that can feel like drinking from the fire hose. Can you say a little more about the stories you've heard about getting overwhelmed at four-year schools? Like what's the buzz there?
SPEAKER_06So I've heard one person, I'm not gonna use names, but one person actually that I know personally, and my family a family friend of ours went to college. I don't remember the college, but they um went there, got overwhelmed to the point that they needed um medical treatment and stuff like that. And it was that point, then they inevitably went to actually Massasoit, where that's how I felt a little bit more comfort. That's how I felt like I'm not alone in this sea, in this giant sea of new faces.
SPEAKER_02So you mentioned media arts. Did you know uh in your senior year of high school that that's what you wanted, or is that a new interest?
SPEAKER_06It's both new and old. I've always been kind of curious of how things are filmed, like just you do that kind of stuff, because like of how quick the changes in the camera are. And then when I started to look more into it, a friend, you know, Catherine, named Spencer, he actually helped me relit that spark to a point where I want to focus in it, with helping him out with his show in Framingham, and it's just an incredible thing for me to have as a whole.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, uh Spencer is a milestones alum who has a public access TV show called The Spectrum Show. Did you consider other schools or other degree paths? I know you liked cooking.
SPEAKER_06Um, for a while I still like to cook sometimes, but that's kind of been put on the back burner, no pun intended, because it's kind of like um something I can learn at any time versus media arts where you have to have a degree in it. But going into um my senior year, I was mainly focusing in graphic design and stuff like that. But then I took a tour of both campuses. It has one can and one in Brockton. And in Brockton, it's more spread out, feels like more of a campus, but the Cannon campus looks more like an office building, it's not that um very compact, a lot of people going on the same walkway at once and stuff like that.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. So a lot of the people listening to this podcast will be looking ahead to college, they'll be younger and trying to figure out how to get on that path to success. Uh, and as I said in our intro, um, we met because I was your high school teacher um on a at a very specialized therapeutic school. Um, would you tell us a little bit more of your backstory and how you ended up at that school in the suburbs of Boston?
SPEAKER_06When I was first diagnosed, and they didn't really like say, okay, let's make sure Preston gets what he needs to be the best that he can be. They threw me in all these different pullouts, OT, SLP, reading, all that kind of stuff very early on. And they were also giving me the homework of the classes that I missed. So I originally hated school to a level that I would not be. It would be like my mom's putting me in the lion's den at one point, and I just did not feel safe.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so you were really struggling in public school. How did how did you find a school that suited you? Who helped you? It sounds like your mom was an early supporter.
SPEAKER_06Yeah. We um my mom, my dad, my tutor actually was also a b person on my team. We had like a team, including a lawyer, because it took a lawyer to actually get to where I am today. And I checked out one other school, I got close to that school, but it did not fit. And then we went to Milestones, and I just knew from that first day after first seeing it out, it was perfect. I loved it, and I knew that this is where I'm gonna get my diploma in.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. So during your senior year in high school, you took a class at community college. Uh, how did that come about? How did you decide that?
SPEAKER_06I always knew that the um milestones offered it, but they were just not they're not making it very verbal this um that year that I was allowed to. And even after that, me and my mom both knew, so we kind of worked that of me doing a class to get prepared for the workload, seeing what the environment is, and that kind of stuff. And when they were like, we're not I had to talk to people, or not I like talking to people, but I mean like talking to people about like Mike, like Sam, two case managers there, and stuff like that, over time, and we only had less than a week to actually do it. It was me and my best friend Austin who both did the courses, we both ended up loving it. I did a um management course because it just felt right to me. So I kept on pursuing that kind of in a way. And on one of the first two weeks, I hyperxended my knee in the first few weeks of the um semester going to Mass Bay.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I mean literal pain in this case. Bes besides the besides the knee injury, uh, what else were some highlights and and maybe other lowlights of that first class at Mass Bay?
SPEAKER_06The best parts were probably just the overall class itself, because I was able to get a real idea, a real perspective of a college is. And we didn't have a big class there. We had like 14 kids or 14 people in that one class, which is like a really, really easy way for me to get used to like the class expanding. Cause like now when my in my math class we have twenty-two people in that one class. So it's slowly growing, and I'm like, okay, I can handle this.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. So looking ahead, what classes are you going to take this coming semester?
SPEAKER_06Reading, writing, and an editing course there. And they're actually very well known for their media access like um available abilities to, to a point where they have the newest technology, the newest gear, everything that I really, really need is always at my disposal. And on top of that, day one of the classes, we're already getting our hands on stuff versus if you down the road, if you go into a four-year college, you won't those first two years, you will not be able to touch any equipment until your junior or senior years. So I was really happy when I heard that.
SPEAKER_02Um what sort of equipment do you get to work with in media editing?
SPEAKER_06Um, with media editing, you're gonna mainly be working with very good high definition cameras. Kind of like those cameras you'd see, like if you're filming something very like standard. Like in a movie set or something like that, you'll get the closest to that they can provide. And it's just an incredible experience to use that, learn about audio, learn about how to flip cameras in a control room and stuff like that over time, and that is just incredible experience to have, especially at m Mass Massasoit.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. How many days a week do you go to campus right now?
SPEAKER_06So, right now, what I'm able to do, what I was able to make my schedule, is that I have a 9 to 9.50 class on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and then on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I have a 9.30 class that goes to 10:45. So kind of like the same the Tuesday and Thursday are the same type of stuff at Mass Bay that I did, those are the exact same hours. And I was able I'm able to kind of just incorporate one more class on top of that without having to incorporate two classes a day, which I think is an incredible thing, especially just getting into college, so you're like able to space it out, you're not overwhelming yourself as much. And I'm definitely doing it this semester, next semester as well. I'm doing that same thing. I just have to incorporate another whole job on top of that in Cambridge. You know, if you want to elaborate on that more too.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, did you you got a job? Congratulations. Tell me everything.
SPEAKER_06Recently I got a job in Cambridge. Actually, so this is originally a charity that I loved or I love. It is called the Outdoor Church. It's when you pretty much go and you hand out like sandwiches, water, stuff like that to homeless or home insecured of Cambridge just to help them kind of get back on their feet on their own and that kind of stuff, and you hear a lot of stories, you hear a lot of good and bad stuff, but it's also really amazing to just be able to listen to that kind of stuff.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Um, how about the social life on campus? Have you joined activities? Is there like a bowling team?
SPEAKER_06Very early on I knew that I would need to find a club or a group of people who and I share the love of media arts and that kind of stuff. And quickly on I learned that there is a club on campus called Media Access Club, where it's pretty much the you're taking the stuff that you know from media arts their department, and you're able to make stuff like we're working on making a new show and that kind of stuff right now, actually, for this semester and next semester. And my role in that is assistant director for the first two, and I'm also catching the basketball games at home where they're at Massasoit. So that's always fun.
SPEAKER_02Oh, great. So you get to watch the games and also share them?
SPEAKER_06I also get to record them. So they have a little they have a little press box up high enough where I can get the whole game throughout the whole period of time, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Oh, you're like the eye in the sky. That's very cool. Looking ahead, you mentioned you need those 61 credits to transfer. What's the transfer process like? Is there help for you tell to pick pick the perfect campus or or or are you doing it on your own?
SPEAKER_06So I've been working with two different advisors. One advisor for my credits and how to get to where I need to get to to transfer. And then I also have someone helping me with kind of that, and on top of that, helping me with my um disability resources version too. So it's not like I'm only talking to one person, I'm talking to like two people about the same thing, and it helps me out and really process what I'm doing for next semester, and it just makes it a lot easier for me.
SPEAKER_02What criteria are you considering for uh an eventual four-year school?
SPEAKER_06Kind of the same stuff as I was originally, because now I again like I now have one more tool to use to look for in a good college is if I look for a college that has the resources to help me see through what I want to be able to accomplish, I can definitely do that in full.
SPEAKER_02And do you think you'll probably stay in Massachusetts or maybe other New England states?
SPEAKER_06Um, I don't know right now, just because I just started relooking. I was reset to um a Boston school before I heard that news last Wednesday. And I now I'm starting to relook at some and do that kind of stuff because it just makes things a little easier.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Do your family want you to stay close to home?
SPEAKER_06Kinda, yeah, because because I don't they don't know and I don't know how calm. Is gonna be it's definitely a big change from living at home going to a community college versus living away doing an actual college courses, bigger classes, and stuff like that.
SPEAKER_02So closing out, what are your tips for first year college students uh who are autistic? Like what what what advice do you have now that you're out there doing it?
SPEAKER_06Um definitely find a good community to put yourself around and a good friend group because that's what I mainly lost, not lost, but like I had to find my footing like that again when I went to Massasoit because I didn't know a lot of people there or any people, so I really need to find my footing there again, and I did thankfully, with uh club and stuff like that, and I was able to kind of do that. So, yeah, my main tip would be to find friends around you and find a real friend group.
SPEAKER_02So focus on creating relationships early on, not not just on getting to class.
SPEAKER_06Exactly, because if the friendships will last for more than a semester, but if their classes won't.
SPEAKER_02Excellent insight. I could not agree more. Alright. Thank you so much, Preston.
SPEAKER_06Thank you.
SPEAKER_02So that is our show for today. Thank you so much for listening, for following us on Instagram and Facebook, and thank you especially for adding your reviews on Apple Podcast. Our show is very specifically for students on the spectrum navigating college, and we appreciate your appreciation for Autism Goes to College. Now, as promised from the top, here are the ways to see the film. The documentary film Autism Goes to College is currently available through many channels, but the easiest way to see it today is to rent it on Vimeo On Demand, which you can access from your Apple TV or most other smart TVs by going to the Vimeo On Demand app. You can find a link on our website at www.autismgoes to college.org. The film is also available for educational use and for live and hybrid screening events. All the relevant info and links can be found on our website. Don't forget, please follow us on Instagram to stay current and consider joining our vibrant community on Facebook. Thank you for listening. Hey, one more thing. If you're listening right now, I'd like to ask you to take a minute and do us a favor. Write a review of Autism Goes to College on Apple Podcast. This podcast is free for everyone to listen to anytime, but reviews from listeners like you can help us make the case to funders that this content matters. So if you found the Autism Goes to College podcast interesting or helpful, please take a moment and review us now on Apple Podcasts. Just a couple of sentences about what you've liked best. Thank you. And thank you for your support of Autism Goes to College.