UConn student Josh Pinnolis, a 1st-semester graduate student in engineering who graduated from UConn in Dec. 2007, will be appearing on Good Morning America this morning to give viewers insight into the everyday life of college students living with autism.
To raise awareness of the disorder, today will mark the inaugural World Autism Awareness Day, the official kick-off to Autism Awareness Month, which runs through the end of April.
Autism spectrum disorders affect as many as one in 150 children and adults. Its diagnosis has increased tenfold in the past 10 years, making it the fastest-growing developmental disability in the world. Boys are four times more likely to be affected than girls, according to Autism Speaks, an autism advocacy organization. The group's Web site describes autism as "a complex brain disorder that inhibits a person's ability to communicate and develop social relationships, and is often accompanied by extreme behavioral challenges." The disorder has no known cause or cure.
Pinnolis is just one of about a dozen current students at UConn who have identified themselves to the Center for Students with Disabilities as having an autism spectrum disorder, according to CSD Assistant Director Christine Morello. UConn has had students with autism spectrum disorders on campus since 1995, she said.
"Of the students who have identified with us, we only have a few come in on a regular basis," she said. "There could still be others that we may not know of."
The students who do come in on a regular basis receive the same general services as any student affiliated with the center, according to director Donna Korbel, but the services are very individualized because each student's needs are different. The center offers students extended testing time and notetaking assistance, but Morello said that some of the students who have autism spectrum disorders come in just to check in and talk, which is also an exercise in social skills. Many of these accommodations are the same as were available for students in high school.
Other accommodations for students with autism spectrum disorders are specifically collegiate in nature. Many of these accommodations have to do with the campus environment outside the classroom.
Some students may request through ResLife to live without a roommate or may request a quieter, less social environment for on-campus housing, Korbel said. She cautioned, however, that all the accommodations are made on an individual basis.
"It's so individualized because people fall in different places in the spectrum," Korbel said.
"The social piece is often the most difficult," she continued, adding that many students with autism spectrum disorders can find themselves misunderstood. She mentioned issues with boundaries and reading nonverbal cues, such as a student following a teacher out to the parking garage to talk after class, or not realizing that it might not be the best time to ask about a test when the teacher is rushing to leave after class.
Sometimes the structure - or lack thereof - in college can be a challenge as well.
"In high school, students have their parents to wake them up in the morning, bells to tell them when to be at and when to leave class," Korbel said.
Morello added that "going from such a structured environment to a non-structured one can be problematic."
But professors and teachers are less shocked now to find out that they have students with autism spectrum disorders than they may have been in the past, and many are better prepared to assist these students.
"It's becoming more mainstream," Morello said, mentioning books written by and featuring characters with autism spectrum disorders and TV shows featuring the same. "There's more awareness now between books and TV shows.
But even with all the awareness about the disorder, some students still choose not to identify themselves as having autism spectrum disorder.
Morello said she couldn't say for sure, as students have different, personal reasons for choosing to identify or not identify themselves, but they are not legally required to do so. In fact, it is illegal to ask on a college application if a student has any disability, including autism.
In high school and K-12 settings, the law (the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act or IDEA) requires that schools seek out, identify and provide assistance to students with disabilities, including autism. In college settings, the legislation is designed to help students be more self-dependent, Morello said
Contact Aly Shea at Alison.Shea@UConn.edu.
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