Autism Goes To College
Autism Goes To College
EPISODE 33: When your ableist professor doesn't get you - plus managing dyscalculia, roommates —what helped and what she learned
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Quinn loved almost everything about her time at Southern Oregon University. When she went to check out the school as a high school senior, she fell in love with the town of Ashland. And the range of support services available for her as a student with an AU/ADHD dual diagnosis made choosing SOU an easy decision. Along the way she had some great roommates, loved her classes in the arts and managed her math dyscalculia, graduating last May. She also encountered an ableist professor, some jerky suitemates, and navigated distance learning for a while during the pandemic. For all the details and some advice about how she did it, take a listen!
Now that I'm genuinely enjoying my social life at Hamilton, I'm more incentivized to actually be social.
SPEAKER_01Having autism isn't something that should prevent people from having a successful college experience.
SPEAKER_02It takes work. Join 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_07There were a lot of black children on the spectrum who were also deaf. She's not the first one.
SPEAKER_04I researched all of the majors and I eliminated the ones that sounded not interesting to me. So then I changed it to chemical engineering, did to work for 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_00Especially in a college town like OutdoorDash. Like, just go out and get the food. It's good exercise.
SPEAKER_01Hey 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_05Hey everyone. Eric Lynn Thorse 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.
SPEAKER_06Hello! Thanks for listening to our podcast, Autism Goes to College. I'm Quinn Burke, and I recently graduated from Southern Oregon University in Ashland, Oregon. I absolutely loved my college and the college town of Ashland as a student on the spectrum with ADHD. I had accommodations and excellent support system, which I'll tell you all about. I majored in the arts, I had some ups and downs with dorm experiences, and despite COVID disruptions, graduated on time. And right now, I am learning how to adult why I look for a full-time permanent position. I'm here with Katherine O'Brien, the host of Autism Goes to College podcast, and I'm going to hand it over to her. Hey everyone. Welcome, Gwen.
SPEAKER_05So tell me a little bit about how you chose Southern Oregon University and what you were looking for in universities.
SPEAKER_06This is going to be really hilarious, but I was literally handed a book. Like, I'm not kidding. So I went to a high school out of the district because I learned a hard way. I need to have disability support in order to succeed. And so my high school had a staff member that was literally her entire job to help students transition to whatever they wanted to do post-high school. And for me, it was attend college. And so I went to the transition specialist and she's like, Oh, you want to go to college? Here's this book uh featuring a list of colleges that are great for people with ADHD and other similar disabilities. And so I'm like, Okay, I'm I want to be in-state. So I look through it and I'm like, okay, Southern Oregon University, Western Oregon University, and I also know that Oregon State University was also pretty good, and I sent my applications to all of them, and I would later get accepted to all three, which is amazing. But when I did the actual college campus tours, I then realized, oh my god, I love Ashland, it is the cutest little town, the dorms aren't all communal, and there's AC, and the disability support here is absolutely amazing.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_05So it felt like a place you could very comfortably live, it sounds like. And as somebody who hates the heat, I hear you on really needing AC. I asked about that for uh my doctoral programs, and they thought it was strange.
SPEAKER_06Oh, absolutely. And actually, during summer vacation, I uh attended OSU through one of their youth programs, specifically Jumpstart, where essentially for a week I got to sleep in one of their dorms and take art classes with other high school students. And I learned very quickly, yeah, I need AC, because they're all very old dormitories that were you literally have to bring your own fan because they only have heat.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, you mentioned that high school helped you realize that you need some disability support in your institution. Can you say more about how you figured that out?
SPEAKER_06Well, when your middle school experience was so awful that you literally changed schools twice because you were not getting this is the disability support you needed. You essentially chose your high school like you would a college. And so I ended up going to Lake Espigo High School, and I was one of the lucky out of the district kids that got accepted in their lottery system to go there. As soon as my name got pulled, my mom immediately had me get into one of the disability programs, and I got into that, and it really helped me. And also as a bonus, for the first time ever, I had friends at school.
SPEAKER_05So up until you transferred high schools, school was a was a pretty negative, lonely experience without friends.
SPEAKER_06I did have friends outside of school. Like, for example, I had Girl Scouts, and I'm really close with my immediate family, especially on my mom's side. But yeah, I really struggled a lot socially.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, I can relate to that. I had I had friends in scouts too, but it it's especially in middle school, it's really trick tricky socially. I get you. So you were able to use your high school searching experience to um help you pick a college. Can you tell me more about the supports that helped you to pick Southern Oregon?
SPEAKER_06Well, in the you know, college preview weekend that we attended, of course, we attended the regular preview like everyone else, in that we saw a lovely tour of the campus, and we got to see what what it was like there. We saw a preview of the of the dorm rooms, but we also had an appointment to talk to one of the coaches at UCamp, which stands for University Coaching and Academic Mentoring, which is this program that's very unique to the West Coast. And essentially, I went there and after chatting with the lovely people there, it sounded a lot like the disability program that I was in in high school, but basically college level, and I had to pay for it. Okay. What was similar? Well, access to all sorts of different resources. For UCAM, it was an exclusive tutor that does writing and math. You get your own coach that you work with, in which uh their job is to help ensure that you are basically succeeding academically and on track to graduate. So essentially you meet with them weekly and be like, hey, how's it going? Did you turn in that assignment on time? What's the new project coming up? Things like that.
SPEAKER_05So it sounds like some good executive function and organization support built in.
SPEAKER_06Oh, absolutely. And not just in the academic sense, but also the social aspect. You also had exclusive social events for UCAM students. And in fact, there's a position, UCAM student mentor, which is exclusive to UCAM students, where essentially your job was to create and run those exclusive social events. And I actually got that position uh my senior year.
SPEAKER_05Oh, very cool. So you worked to create opportunities for younger UCAM students.
SPEAKER_06Absolutely. Although I will note that that year it was the first time they ever hired two people for that position. So it was me and the same guy who was the UCAM uh student mentor last year. So we got to tag team and uh run uh events. I mostly did craft events, but he did the other events. And I also worked on the social media. I finally convinced him to get an Instagram page because no one uses Facebook. Ugh, yeah.
SPEAKER_05So, how did you approach having a dual diagnosis in college? Did you need did you think about your supports more in terms of ADHD or or more in terms of autism? And what did you ask for?
SPEAKER_06Because I was given the amazing opportunity and just good fortune to grow up with parents that maybe knows, huh? I have basically lived my entire life having accommodations uh and diagnoses for as long as I can remember. Like, I had an IEP during public school. So when uh going to college, we essentially took my IEP from high school and asked, hey, what are the college equivalents to these accommodations? And you're like, oh, they're these accommodations. And I'm like, awesome, I'll take them. And I even got some amazing new ones that my high school didn't offer, like, for example, for their note-taking service, instead of having to just like uh get a copy of their slideshow, I got to audio record the classes and essentially send that to an exclusive note-taking service called NTE. Uh, and essentially how that worked was I sent them the audio recording, and then a few days later I would be sent back notes.
SPEAKER_05Wow. So what specific things did you have besides fancy note-taking? Did you have social uh accommodations in your dorm or academic, like extended time?
SPEAKER_06Mostly they were uh towards academic stuff, like uh note-taking accommodations. This includes taking your tests in an alternate location so that you're not in a distracted place, taking the tests with extended time and being able to use testing help stuff when able to. Like, for example, when I would take math tests, I would have a list of formulas and a multiplication table because I was absolutely terrible at multiplication facts.
SPEAKER_05That's a really helpful one. Did Southern Oregon University feel like a great fit and the right choice when you got there right off the bat?
SPEAKER_06Oh, absolutely. And uh part of that is because my mom and I had the great idea of like, hey, since I'm gonna be rooming in a dormitory for the first time ever, why don't I, first off one, get a room to myself? So I was essentially living in uh like a studio apartment, I guess. Shasta, which was the dormitory I've lived in my freshman year, it was like a suite. So essentially I was sharing a bathroom with one other person, perhaps the regular double rooms, so you would have a roommate and then share a bathroom with that person and two other people, so four people total in that bathroom, versus sharing a bathroom of an entire floor, like the classic communal dorms that you would think of of a college dorm.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, so tell me a little bit more about freshman dorm life on campus. How did that go?
SPEAKER_06It actually went pretty well. Uh, the dorms that people love and tend to flock to are the newest ones which were built in 2013, along with the uh new dining hall that is also there. And Shasta is mainly marketed towards freshmen, so it's like mostly freshmen in that dorm. And I roomed with another person who was also a freshman student in UCAM. I had the marvelous idea of asking UCAM, hey, can I room with a UCAM student? That'd be awesome. And they're like, I can't believe we haven't thought of that before. We should totally ask UCAM students to roommate with each other because that way they would totally understand if they walk in to me having an autism meltdown.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, I think it's a a great idea, and I am glad that you thought of it, and a little surprised that no one thought of it before.
SPEAKER_06Yeah. Vivian was amazing. I recall uh we went to a dance event. It was like some sort of like rave in the student union, and we went to that, uh we're at there for like an hour or two, and then we're like, okay, we're socially exhausted. Let's go back to the dorm. And I'm like, hey, when we uh go back to the dorm, you want to like uh do something together? And she's like, Yeah, sure. And because Incredibles 2 had just come out then and she had never seen it, I popped up my pet and we watched it on Disney Plus, and it was super fun, relaxing.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, so you had to live at home probably for part of college, like many college students did when the pandemic hit. So when you moved back to campus, were you able to live with your uh same suite mate from UCAM who was so good to be with?
SPEAKER_06Yeah, although she did move back until spring term, and this is sophomore year. Uh, but in the meantime, I uh had another UCAM student that I actually met previously because one of the exclusive perks of UCAM is a college transitions class where essentially you got an intro course of this is how to college. And so it was you and other UCAM students taking that class. And one of the these UCAM students, Michael, we roomed together uh in McLaughlin, which is the other uh dormitory in the same complex, and it was more apartment style. Uh and specifically, we chose a single which had a very similar layout to the double, but instead you had doors on your bedrooms. So you could uh lock your bedroom if you wanted, you shared a bathroom with one other person, and four people were sharing a common area which had a living room and a kitchenette. But Michael, by spring term, we just uh kind of got sick of each other, uh, and like we were still friends, but we were bickering like siblings, you know?
SPEAKER_05Mm-hmm. It was maybe too much togetherness, being friends and living together.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, but honestly, it was a lot better than junior year. Oh boy. Junior year was a burning dumpster fire. What went wrong? Uh, so I so Michael just uh said, Hey, I'm gonna live off campus next year. I'm like, okay, and Vivian transferred, uh, so I had to find new people to room with. And uh, and so I turned to one thing, Dungeons and Dragons, because we had uh a an exclusive UCAM Dungeons and Dragons group uh that was all run and operated by a UCAM student. And uh this guy, he was awesome. And I got to meet some other people, and I decided to room with one of the other players. And at first it was fine until I got a notification saying, hey, because he left two spots open, we're gonna toss in these randos in your dorm room. Like, oh, okay, I'm gonna try and be positive.
SPEAKER_05Okay, so you had roommates that you didn't choose.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, and first day it all seemed fine. But then Halloween, I found myself crying in my room because these two dinguses threw a Halloween party on their side of the dorm in our shared dorm, but excluded me, basically did not want me to be be in that at all. They just wanted to be with the friends. And it was like middle school all over again, being purposely excluded for being the weird person.
SPEAKER_05So they had a a party in your shared space and told you you were not welcome. I'm really sorry. That's that's really tough.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, I uh held an intervention with them and the RA through a meeting, and looking back, the RA was way too nice and was trying to make everyone compromise rather than be like, hey, stop being jerks.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. So how did you end up resolving that? Did you did you move or did you stick it out?
SPEAKER_06I tried sticking it out at first because I was honestly scared of uh moving out. Because what if I had had another situation like that? Yada yada. Uh and they say that sometimes it's best to stick with the devil you know. And so I tried sticking it out also because uh uh the UCAM guy uh I thought I was friends with him. Until winter term.
SPEAKER_05I'd like to talk more about your academics in college. So you said you studied the arts, and I've heard you started out uh with a plan to study ceramics. How did ceramics go?
SPEAKER_06In hindsight, the teacher was ableist. She took one look at my cupboard. And then decided to severely underestimate me, which honestly is a fear my parents had when I was much younger. And actually, one of the reasons why I didn't get diagnosed uh with autism early on in my life, because they were worried that someone would look at my accommodations and be like, yeah, I am going to uh underestimate you and thus limit your potential. Uh, and so I basically worked my ass off and got C, which I am still peeved about. And she didn't quit until my senior year, and my university had to basically hire someone last minute. What's funny is that the person hired last minute, she was a better teacher. She actually revived my love of ceramics back.
SPEAKER_05I see. So, did you end up changing your major to a different art form than ceramics, or were you able to complete?
SPEAKER_06So, when you're an art major, you are assigned a mate and an advisor to your major, and and you selected uh who that was depending on what your focus was to be. After the fiasco of ceramics, I tried sculpture, and this was before everything locked down for COVID. And this guy was a new hire. He had previously taught uh at a school down in California, and this guy was the person I needed. He pushed me in just the right way, whereas the previous teacher pushed me way too much. For example, she forced me to be super abstract for a project when I uh had my protest. Hey, I struggle with abstract concepts, I can't do this. And yet on the final day, I realized, oh my gosh, you let other people be literal for this project. What the hell? Uh, and shout out to Michael Parker, uh, the sculpture professor at SOU. He is the MVP, not to be confused with Michael Parker, the science instructor. Totally different person, no relation.
SPEAKER_05Okay, so tell me more about what the sculpture uh Michael Parker did that was so special.
SPEAKER_06He just got me. Uh he was uh very accepting and welcoming and always did his best to let students not just like challenge themselves in the way they wanted to, but evolve as an artist to become the best versions of themselves.
SPEAKER_05So he really centers the student at the process of teaching. That's wonderful. And outside of the arts classes, how did your general end class requirements go?
SPEAKER_06I tried uh minoring in uh other things. I tried first women's, gender, and sexuality studies because I really loved the women's studies class I took in high school. So I took it during lockdown. And oh my god, it was the hardest thing ever. I even had my parents try to help me with this class. Mind you, both went to Portland State University with history majors, graduated in the 90s, and my dad also has a doctorate in law. They couldn't even understand what the hell my textbook said. Because it was using such high academic language.
SPEAKER_05So the the material was just not accessible at all.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, I did manage to get a B in that class, but in hindsight, I should have dropped it.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, so congratulations on graduating on time despite COVID.
SPEAKER_06That is I graduated cum Lati.
SPEAKER_05I am proud of that. You should be. Congratulations. Cum Lati is a big deal. Oh absolutely. Yeah. So since graduating, can you tell me what you've what you've done? Have you been able to get work experience?
SPEAKER_06Uh, I was able to get a small time gig. Uh so uh funny enough, my university had an event where we watched Autism Goes to College and then had a QA panel afterward. And I'm like, I'm autistic, I need to be in that panel. And they're like, okay, you can be in the panel. And there were some uh people there from some disability groups, programs from uh around the Rogue Valley and also around the state. And one of the people from the state side was Fact Oregon, which is a program that helps people navigate disability stuff. And I met this gal who is from Fact Oregon, and after chatting with her a little bit about my own experiences and stuff, she's like, hey, I have an autistic son. Why don't you mentor him for the summer? Because I have him attend the youth camps here at SOU, and I think he would be really great. And I'm like, awesome. And so I did that remotely, and I basically got paid and a great reference.
SPEAKER_05Awesome. So you were her her child's mentor, and and you mentored him as he was doing the summer transition program.
SPEAKER_06Uh it was summer youth camp. Essentially, here's a bunch of fun classes you could take, but targeted towards students in like elementary, middle, high school, that kind of stuff. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05School-aged summer camp. So the subject isn't college level, it might be something like forensics for middle school students or you know, something cool.
SPEAKER_06Yep.
SPEAKER_05Absolutely. Got it. Are you looking for a full-time work that is also with with children? Or what's your uh what's your goal?
SPEAKER_06So there are two different careers that I would like to do, and uh they are graphic design and disability advocacy. I have to do some more graphic design learning because they didn't really teach much graphic design at SAU. They don't have like a robust program. And so I am uh looking into classes uh that can get me a graphic design certificate so that I can actually know, okay, this is how the industry works and how programs and stuff work. Uh but in the meantime, I am centering towards uh disability advocacy and I'm looking toward jobs that uh do that, whether it be uh disability case manager, what have you, except looking for those type of jobs on Indeed? No, why am I getting nursing jobs? No, I am not qualified for that. That's not what I'm asking for. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05How are you approaching the job hunt besides on Indeed? Do you have other ways that you're going about it?
SPEAKER_06So there's the workforce recruitment program because apparently, as soon as you graduate, you get a notification in your email box saying, hey, because you just graduated and you have a documented disability, you're eigible for this program. And it will help you get job placement. And so I signed up for it and I have heard crickets. So they probably like glanced over my little resume and like eh, this person is not oh shoot, this other person looks better.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, or or possibly um the the state, uh the state database is not being checked by employers. I don't know that that is a reflection on you or your resume.
SPEAKER_06I totally get it. Like, there's so many stories online of uh people like literally applying for tens of hundreds of jobs a day, and they only hear back from like five, and only like two of them are for like an actual interview. And that does make it kind of a little bit disheartening and also fearful of applying and getting a rejection.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, um, it's important to keep talking to people and keep applying. Um, my my first job out of college I got through a neighbor who mentioned that her her lab was hiring, and so I applied to that because I think having a personal connection can definitely help get your resume considered more strongly.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, and actually right now, uh because I don't have an actual job job, I'm kind of doing some work for my mom uh on a as needed basis. My mom is a best-selling author. She writes historical romance, and occasionally she'll be like, Hey, I need a graphic. Can you do this? I'm like, Yeah. And I have designed like some logos for her. She's like, Okay, uh, I've heard of Canva. Can you use that to make graphics for like BOGO sales of my books and stuff? I'm like, yeah, I can do that.
SPEAKER_05Um, so I love that you're designing for your mom because it sounds like it's a great way to build your portfolio uh as you work into the field. I always ask guests on the podcast if there's any wisdom that you've earned uh or learned while in college that you want to pass on to students that are earlier on in their college journey that might be autistic or ADHD. What would you tell them?
SPEAKER_06Number one, ensure that you have access to good medication and that you are getting good generics. There are studies that show that some generic brands actually suck more than others. I uh have been severely impacted by the ADHD medication shortage, and honestly, that sucked.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, the ADHD medication shortage has been very, very difficult.
SPEAKER_06Because of that, I got to experience ADHD medic uh like unmedicated ADHD symptoms for the first time ever. Like I've been medicated for so long, I forgot what it was like to be unmedicated.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, uh a lot of my friends within the past calendar year experience what they are like without medication for the first time in over a decade. It's been really rough. I'm glad you're talking about this.
SPEAKER_06Another uh piece of advice: advocate, advocate, advocate when something uh isn't going your way, or something just doesn't seem right, talk to the people at Disability Resources and advocate, advocate, advocate for your accommodations, for uh your academic career, and also just yourself.
SPEAKER_05Advocate, yes, absolutely. Thank you so much, Quinn. This was a really great conversation. Of course. So 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. Write a review of Autism Goes to College on Apple Podcasts. 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 the podcast. Just a couple of sentences about what you'd like best. Thank you. And thank you for your support of Autism Goes to College.