Hello and welcome to Arkansas Week I'm Chris Cain.

This week our focus is on autism.

Later in the program you're going to hear from educators and a university leader in a recent college graduate about living with autism and how Arkansas schools and communities are helping people on the spectrum succeed in the classroom, on campus, and in the workplace.

But first, we're focusing on understanding autism itself, from recognizing the early signs to finding resources and support.

We'll discuss what families need to know and how Arkansas continues working to improve services.

Joining us to discuss this, doctor Jane Doe, pediatric psychologist and professor at UAMs and also co-director of the Community based Autism Liaison and Treatment Project known as cobalt, and Diana Verdi Project director of the Arkansas Autism Resource and Outreach Center, parent of an adult son with autism and a statewide trainer who helps families and community leaders understand autism better.

Thank you both for joining us and to talk about this topic.

Looking at autism itself, let's just first start with you, doctor.

Before we get into the data and some of the newly released reports, how do you explain to someone who has never had a personal connection to autism what it is?

It's so important because there's so much misinformation out there.

The way we talk about autism at the center that I work at, the James L Dennis Developmental Center, is that we talk about the core features, which is social reciprocity, that ability to have those and understand those social relationships.

Autism is a word that means aloof.

It is not always a lack of, but it may be a difference in the quality of that.

So those are really the key features that we're looking at.

And then there are some associated features that actually individuals that don't have autism, individual individuals that have developmental concerns may also have things like maybe having some repetitive sort of movements, like having special interests, having some sensory issues.

So those are the things that we are having to prove when we're giving an autism diagnosis and all that is dictated in our manual as a diagnostic manual that worldwide we have to go by.

And, Diana, I know you lead the Arkansas Autism Resource and Outreach Center.

What is the mission of this center?

Well, the technically the mission is hope, direction and support for individuals and families on the spectrum.

And we were founded back in 2008 to provide assistance to families who were new to navigating the process.

As a parent of someone who is diagnosed with autism.

I would say that that was kind of the biggest headache of all, just learning how to navigate the system of services and supports that are available and learning who to reach out to and and becoming a kind of a case manager, for lack of a better word.

And I will vouch every child that is seen at the DDC.

We refer them to you guys.

We get a lot of phone calls.

Yes you do, because they are awesome about the collaboration and really the joint efforts that we're seeing now.

More and more, I think that we worked beautifully together as a team.

And when I when I came to Arkansas in 2006, that basically we were giving a diagnosis and saying, kind of good luck to you.

You know, there really wasn't that much.

And it was to me, it's a symphony of of the UAMs and partners and the state, the autism state legislative task force working together.

And it didn't happen overnight.

But over the past 20 years, there is so much there's so many more resources for families.

And it just it makes my heart sing to know that.

So, Diane, I'm sure that's something that you feel too, right?

Yeah, absolutely.

When our son was diagnosed, we were handed a packet about an inch thick of information and told, you know, go see our financial counselor.

And we did, and we learned about everything that we didn't know and immediately became overwhelmed.

So the reason why a rock was and that's our acronym, a rock was founded, was to provide that next step for families.

So now families who get that diagnosis are given our telephone number.

They reach usually Chelsea, who's the first person to answer the phone.

She's also a parent of two children with autism.

She and I both walked the walk.

We understand what they're going through and we mostly just listen.

And so we give families a moment to to talk and to process what they're going through and start to think through next steps, because it's not just one thing that you do, it's multiple steps that you have to and hurdles you have to jump over to get where you want to go over some of the data.

So the CDC reports about 1 in 34 Arkansas eight year olds has been identified with autism.

Whenever you look at historical data, where are we tracking on this right now?

And what are the trends saying about the new data has not come out, to my knowledge.

So I think we're still there.

I'm proud that our our faculty do the Adam data for for CDC, for the state of Arkansas.

So I feel like that gives us for the firsthand peek into kind of what's what's going on.

One, you know, one thing that really is important is that when you look at the national data and even the state data that many children are not getting the evaluation to get that diagnosis until they're older, you know, 5 or 6 years old.

And what we want to do is, is identify children at a younger age because their brains are we use the term plastic, but they're malleable.

There's so much going on and being able to get them identify, to get them into the appropriate services really can make a big difference in development and family support.

At what age are we talking about here?

What are some of the age ideal ages that you would want to start that evaluation process?

If we're able to get children, I think by by two, 24 months, we're not going to really diagnose children, you know, at 12 months.

But 18 to 3 years is really, I think, a good time to be talking to the child's pediatrician, getting those screens.

That's where it starts.

That's where it starts.

And then when it comes to early signs, what are some early signs that parents should or guardians should watch out for?

I'm the one that we saw was a delay in verbal language.

So not just verbal language, a delay in communication.

So many children, even if they're not communicating verbally, we use gesturing to to communicate with their parents.

And our son really didn't do that.

What what I say to parents is that what's tricky about it is my parents are doing all the things that they're supposed to do with their children, but what they don't know in that moment is that their child learns differently.

And so how to play to their strengths is super important.

And as soon as we understood that he had autism, then we started getting the supports we needed from the experts who said, okay, well, you're you're you're working with them, you're down in the floor with them every day, but try doing it this way so that you can connect with them, because connecting with him was really difficult.

But once we did, he was off to the races, changed.

The whole dynamic changed.

Absolutely.

It really what we have found is it's just all about figuring out how he learned.

And each child is somewhat different.

Absolutely.

And so playing to his strengths, playing to his interests, and not worrying too much about whether or not they were the same interest as other children.

Right.

We've come a long way in 20 years.

You know, 20 years ago the goal was kind of to, to, to make a child at the end of treatment, quote unquote, indistinguishable from their peers.

That should never have been a goal of treatment.

It's no longer, I think, a goal of treatment.

It's just about teaching them the skills that they need to get their wants and needs met, and to communicate well with people and get along in the world is independently as possible to empower them.

Really, skills bring out their best.

And doctor, is there any other signs to be mindful of?

We mentioned communication.

Is there anything else that a parent would be able to say, hey, let's get this examined.

You know, one of the things that we find so much is that that families come in and bless them, they, they, they are trying their best.

They don't they don't know the particulars.

But what they see many times are those symptoms of those behaviors that are not necessarily autism specific.

So things like maybe hand flapping or having meltdowns if you change the routine or being over focused on one particular toy.

And those are the things that many families come in and tell us about.

And, and there, there, there are good indicators for us to know.

So we're happy that they're looking at those things.

But where the sort of the, the meat of it is, is looking at that child's ability to, to, to engage socially, eye contact, having a hard time with contact, looking at people like, right now I'm looking at you and you're smiling back at me and nobody told you you had to smile back.

It's just something that just happens naturally.

So seeing if children are having a hard time with those things that should have been on board at birth, because one of the criteria, well, two main criteria is for autism is that it's a neurodevelopmental disorders.

So it's not something that you just start seeing, you know, at age 3 or 5 or ten.

It had to have been there all along, but also that you have to be able to prove it's not better explained by something else.

So when we're doing evaluations, we're having to assess for intellectual or language delays or maybe trauma or other kind of things that might impact social development, but it's going to it's going to impact it in a, in a more subtle, different kind of way.

And this may be getting us into our next topic, but that's why our evaluations take about 3 or 4 hours, because we're having to do a whole lot of asking questions and observing the child and gathering information from parents and school teachers, and trying to figure out how to make that good differential diagnosis.

Let's if there's someone watching right now and they're listening to what you're saying and saying, okay, I want to start that process of getting an evaluation.

What is the first step right now?

What do they need to do to begin the process and get to that evaluation standpoint?

You want to go?

Sure.

I think there are multiple ways you can go about doing it.

If it's a very young child, one of the quickest ways to get going is to make a referral to First Connections, which is the part C intervention program for the state of Arkansas that can immediately provide some developmental assessments.

Sometimes that is that's what happened with our son.

That is the moment when somebody, a professional, like a speech language pathologist, does an evaluation and says, you know, I think that this is more than just a simple developmental delay.

Let's do some more in-depth evaluations.

So that's a great way to get started.

You can, of course, have your pediatrician call and make an appointment with the James L Dennis Center.

But really, the gold standard for any diagnosis is a psychological evaluation by a PhD psychologist who can do a full range of testing, including IQ and then an adaptive language assessment, pragmatics, language assessment for a child who's a little bit older, who may be really verbal, there's no I mean, you may be on a waiting list for Jamesville Dennison or for cobalt for a while, but if that's the case, there are other things you can do while you're waiting.

And you mentioned a moment ago.

You know, ideally you want to catch this before five years old, but is there are there moments or are there instances, I guess, where this could be missed?

Have you seen that before?

Where they get into middle school, high school even.

You know, one of the things that we know is that all all individuals that that ultimately get a diagnosis of autism or all different.

So there are some individuals who are very bright and they are doing a really good job of kind of doing doing the world and doing their own thing, managing what you see, though.

And again, it's written in our diagnostic criteria that sometimes you see where the, the social demands of the world exceed that person's capacity.

Okay.

So for those children, you know, the story may be the family comes in and says, oh, you know, Susie is so smart and but she's always, you know, she's always been a little having a hard time with, with friends.

But the challenges that you have at two years old in terms of making friends is very different than at 12 or at 20.

And at that point it may become so difficult.

That's where you start seeing some of the, the challenges that, that that individual may have.

I want to talk a little bit about just the changes that we've seen over the last five, ten, 15 plus years in both diagnosis, terminology and Doctor Belinda kind of walk us through how, you know, identification on the spectrum has widened, how terminologies have changed to identify these, these individuals kind of you've seen a lot of it over the last couple of decades.

I am of this.

I'm not this old.

Well I said a decade.

I said to, yeah, I'm going to start with the old because, you know, back in the 50s and 60s, there was not a term of autism.

Children were being called childhood schizophrenic.

Or they or were they were being called these horrible terms that now we say is intellectual disability.

It wasn't really until the 80s that the term pervasive developmental disorder came around, and we had the term autism in the nomenclature, and I am old enough to remember that.

And I remember my colleagues that are in this field.

It was like everybody was aghast because it changed the way we were able to see and to be able to diagnose children.

So it was pervasive developmental disorder or Asperger's disorder or autism.

And then that in 2013 changed.

So now it's under one umbrella called autism spectrum disorder.

So everybody is under that umbrella.

And then there are specifiers.

So you specified as a child have intellectual disability or not.

Do they have language delays.

And then how much support do they need.

And that's in levels.

You know one of the things and I'm never on TV so this is my chance to to say is that many times we have families coming in and saying, well, it's my child level three there.

And I think that they've heard that that means how severe their child is.

And that's really not what it means.

It means how much support does a child need?

And that changes over time, because our goal is never to put a cap on a child's future.

We want to make sure they're getting all the support that they need.

But that severity score can change over time with everybody's hope that that gets lower, that they're not going to need as much support as they as they get older.

And Diane, I know this is something to that.

You help walk people through when they come in and maybe say something like that and you kind of let them talk, but do you ever kind of slow them down and guide them through this process with the ability, like you have and like Chelsea has, who works with you to say, we know what you're going through and here's how you need to navigate this.

Absolutely.

Sometimes when they hear that first diagnosis and they they hear level three, or they hear intellectual disability, or they look at the age equivalencies on IQ tests, they start to really panic.

And and what we try to sit down and talk with them about is the fact that, that your child can learn and as they as they learn, that's going to change quite a bit, you know, as they learn language, it's highly likely that the next time they take an IQ exam or an IQ test, that the score is going to be slightly different.

And not to put too much emphasis on that, it's it's not with the right support.

Your child is capable of all kinds of success in this world.

Don't start setting your expectations low right now.

There are children who surprise people every single day.

You know, just because a kiddo isn't having conversations with someone doesn't mean that they can't go to college and, you know, make A's in college algebra.

They still may be socially awkward, but, you know, they may be your next best engineer.

Yeah.

That's right.

Yeah.

And, you know, I think one of the things that a gift that being in this profession for a long time gives us is seeing children when we first diagnose and then fast forward and they come back and it's just you makes you want to cry for gratitude.

And, you know, and for the families because it is I mean, it's it's a scary day.

You wait a year and a half to come see somebody to do this evaluation.

And as much as we're trying to say we're nice people, we're trying to help you, it's scary.

It's your child, it's your child.

And we have to make sure that we are honoring that for every family that comes in.

And it's something that used to start and end in a doctor's office.

And now it may start there, but it ends with all these resources like the ones you've talked about that carry on and continue and grow.

Tell us a little bit, Diana, just about the resources that you've seen grow as not just someone who works in this profession, but as a parent, and to see them continue to get bigger and more resourceful over time.

I think that the most powerful people in our son's life and in in our lives as parents have been people in the community who don't know anything about autism, who didn't know they're not professionals, they don't provide services and supports.

That's what we would call natural supports.

So those are the people.

His classmates over the years he went to public school, he starting in kindergarten, and we never looked back.

He was in theater in high school.

He's in college classes right now.

We have a really strong church community that supports him.

And you know what?

What I try to tell families is, yes, there should be an emphasis on teaching skills.

Like 50% of my job as a parent is teaching him the skills he's going to need to get through life, right?

Because I can't be here forever.

But the other 50% of my job as a parent is teaching the rest of the world how to support him.

He doesn't need specially trained, highly qualified professionals to support him at church.

At school, he just needs people to be a little bit patient.

If they aren't sure he needs people to ask questions, he will gladly answer questions.

Him need me and if he won't, then I will.

And to not make assumptions or set their expectations too high or too low for him.

There's real power and natural support.

And I think that's that is for me that's the next frontier.

And not just autism, but developmental disabilities in Arkansas is developing those natural supports so that people just in the community feel empowered to do what they need to do.

The job is never done, which is which is a wonderful thing, right?

Right, right.

Tell me about cobalt.

I will be happy to tell you about COBOL.

This is my favorite thing I know.

This is this is a partnership with title five.

So Arkansas Division of Developmental Services and UAMs and our Department of Pediatrics, because we know that many times we are part of the problem, families are having to wait a year, a year and a half or more to come see us.

And what what our research has shown is that there are many, about 60% of the children where parents say, I think my child has autism, they don't have autism, they have a speech delay, they have global developmental delay.

They have a behavioral issue.

So there's no sense in 60% of the children that are referred to wait for a year and a half for our team to say, you have a speech delay.

So what we have done is we have trained PD.

This is a program that's led by pediatricians, pediatricians, pediatric nurse practitioner affiliated with a pediatric speech pathologist to it was to screen children around the state.

So we have our teams.

These are most of them are general pediatricians who have hearts of gold.

And they take some of their time.

And that we've taught them about autism, taught them how to screen children.

So that takes 60% of the children out of the queue to get that screening close to home with people that they know to be able to get into services, which leaves spaces for the children that need to come to a comprehensive center like us to come.

Many of our teams now have been with us for more than five, 6 or 7 years.

And so now we have taught most of our teams to actually do the autism diagnosis.

The COBOL is just for children, young children 12 to 42 months.

And so so this is not everybody's they're diagnosing and they're screening everybody.

But this is for the very young children and the children that they are feeling comfortable giving a diagnosis to those very young children that are more highly symptomatic.

If they're feeling like it's a it's a complex case, they're always going to send them to us to the developmental center.

But we have been really pleased.

We care.

We we have key data.

We we I'm telling you, I talk in email with these teams all the time and I love them.

But we have between what did the children that they send to us and the DDC testing.

We have about a 94% agreement rate, so we feel like we're training them well.

And so there's fidelity with what we're doing.

And we it's a small program.

There's only ten teams around the state.

I think it would be too much to have more than that.

But if people are interested in looking it's cobalt AR or or and there's a there's a drop down line that says team locations and you can find a team because they're all around the state for we go only about a minute left.

Diana, if you would just speak to anyone out there who may be sitting there right now on the fence saying, I don't know, what should we do?

Questioning because every parent has questions about their kids.

Is there growing up right.

Especially if it's your first child that may be with you.

Right?

Everybody's been through that goes, are we doing this right?

Is this right for anyone out there who may be who watch this and say, okay, what should we do?

What would you tell them?

As far as getting started, I would talk to your pediatrician, make sure that you've expressed your concerns to your pediatrician.

If if you don't get a response that that you think is is good enough, then give us a call.

We can help kind of help you sort through your concerns.

We don't make diagnoses.

What we do is we help point you in the direction of resources.

So that may be to a cobalt team somewhere.

That may be to just a speech language evaluation somewhere.

But give us a call.

We're on the internet, you can find us and we'll be happy to help.

Whether or not your child's been diagnosed yet.

Thank you both so much for coming in today.

We appreciate all your time, wisdom and expertise in this, and we look forward to talking with you next time.

Thank you.

When we come back, we're going to shift our focus from diagnosis to daily life.

We're going to hear from an educator, a university leader, and a recent college graduate about creating opportunities for students from the classroom to the workforce.

Stay with us.

Now, before we continue our conversation on autism acceptance, we want to share what Cabot Freshman Academy is doing at their school.

Take a look.

Autism acceptance is seeing no difference in the students.

Seeing everybody is equal.

If you come our friends.

Hey, we put you guys with me and they have their activities ready for you.

So we with k so c2 g something that they do with the general education students.

And when it originally started it was a way for them to get extra help extra support on work.

So we started implementing downtime in our room during CTG for them to work on the rec leisure skills or the social skills.

And then this year, we were able to get me hooked up on the RT program, which is where they go in and schedule to come in and start slowly integrating some of those students into our class for games, for puzzles, we've done cooking lessons with them.

We've done arts and crafts.

It's just a way for our students to have some social interaction with their own peers, without us all in their business.

Am I in my plans?

It is.

Yes, yes, yes.

We've had some type of program like this in various aspects since I've been here since 2014.

Ten years now.

So our students with autism can learn how to have successful opportunities in those general education settings in the community, and that they are typical peers are learning how to engage with them and support them and just be good friends, developing empathy and learning to work together, which they're going to have to do at all points of life.

We've gone from seven consistency students coming in at C2 g and talking to our students at lunch to I think we have 20 that are fighting for spots right now to come in.

So we've seen it grow throughout the year, and I think that comes from them seeing their peers interact with them and knowing that there's no difference.

It allows our students to see a different light and to feel like they're making an impact.

But at the same time, our autistic kids to feel like, hey, I do have a place in this school, even if I'm not in, you know, general ed classes.

It just creates a sense of community.

It creates a sense of belonging, which is truly what we're here for.

So it's my turn.

So I'm going to go, okay, I got a yellow.

Why am I getting all these yellow today?

Okay.

I'm just building up stuff.

She probably didn't shuffle.

Hey.

Nice.

Okay.

Hey, what color is that?

There's a lot of support schoolwide from other teachers, from the administration, from parents.

The students all get along.

They're very engaged in what we do.

We have just an amazing road ahead.

That's going to be a lot of work.

We're changing a lot of mindsets for changing.

A lot of this is how it's always been, and it is hard work.

But when we empower our teachers to teach all students, when we support our parents and we give them the training they need, when administrators are familiar with how to help all students, it is going to be incredible to see how the outcomes for our students with special education services change.

You need to push your teachers to go outside of their comfort zone.

You need to push push your teachers to understand that autism or disabilities are not in exclusion from everyone else.

So you have to be able to teach teachers first, and then you start working on the students.

And once once you get the students and teachers involved, it's easy.

Whether they're agen ed, special ed, it doesn't matter.

Everybody should have a place and we need to focus on that.

So yeah, you know, your body.

Just see everybody is equal.

I mean in my eyes nobody is different.

And I wish the world would see that.

Nobody's different.

It takes some of us longer to learn things.

It takes some of us different ways to learn things.

And I think that's my biggest thing, is just to be a role model, that we're all equal.

All kids deserve for people to look at them and think, what's next?

What's possible?

And what do we need to do to help them get there?

And when we have our mind set on that, these kids are going to have opportunities and it's going to change the world.

An autism diagnosis is only the beginning of the journey, as you saw there for many children, young adults and their families, the next steps often involve navigating school, building friendships, preparing for college, and then entering the workforce.

Joining us now to talk about all this, Jessica Som, you may recognize her from that video.

She is the collaboration and inclusion coordinator with the Special Education Office of Cabot Public Schools.

Also the 2022 Arkansas Teacher of the year.

Welcome, Jessica.

Also, Doctor Patricia Smith, dean of the Honors College and Learning Communities at the University of Central Arkansas, where she oversees the Ascend program for students with autism.

And Ethan Smith, a recent graduate of Central Baptist College who is on the autism spectrum and recently began an internship while pursuing his goal of becoming a meteorologist.

Welcome, all of you.

Thank you so much for being here with us, Jessica.

We'll start with you as an educator.

We saw there in that video someone who's been in the classroom and is seeing the classroom grow to be more open and more communal to students of all ages and all abilities.

What do you think is the biggest misconception with autism, and what have you and your staff and your team been doing to break those misconceptions?

That's a great question.

I think oftentimes there is the misconception of that diagnosis immediately means eligibility or need for services, or sometimes a need for a separate placement, and that's not really the case.

We need to look at each student individually, build on the strength, look at those needs, and determine first if that diagnosis really does mean they need school based services, they're eligible for school based services and then really focus in on what do those services look like, where do they need to occur.

Is it for every subject?

Oftentimes it's not.

I think about 80, 85% of our students with autism are receiving a regular diploma, graduating high school and going on to pursue interest, you know, like we're seeing talking about here today.

And so really understanding that diagnosis doesn't mean the end.

It's the beginning of looking at what can we do, how can we prepare that student and what's next for them.

You just mentioned not going to be the case for everybody.

Ethan, what did you get in physics again at Central Baptist?

Nah, nah.

To which the rest of us around the table were like, yeah, we're not.

We're not getting an A in college physics.

Ethan, take us back to what you recall about school before college, especially in elementary and middle and then into high school.

Tell us about the resources that were available and how it changed over that time.

What are some of the changes you saw as far as resources and opportunities available?

Okay, sure.

So I started school in 2008.

So it was like during this weird time where they were kind of like figuring more things out, but like they still were like, we don't know what we're doing.

I actually attended in class most of the time.

I rarely got pulled out.

I, I was more like given extra time over the years, I will say elementary school was probably my favorite because, you know, more kids are more, you know, accepting there's no social pressure to just target the ones who look different.

So I would say in terms of services, I got extra time.

I got, you know, more time just to do homework on stuff to make sure that like, you know, I could actually get an A because like, the problem for me, it wasn't that I was, you know, didn't understand the assignment.

It was just I was very slow and I just had a hard time just, you know, doing a lot of things at once because it would just make me feel frustrated.

Let's now go to you, Patricia, when it comes to college and this Ascend program that you lead here at UK, you know, what is the goal of that?

Why was it created and what success have you seen come out of it?

Sure.

Our ascend program, it stands for the Academic Success Center for Executive Functioning and Neurodiversity.

And our goal is really to help students with the transition coming out of high school into college.

Many students with autism and AD and other neurodiversity have had parents and teachers, counselors who have advocated for them through their 504 and IEP.

But as they're entering adulthood, they now have to learn to advocate for themselves.

And so a lot of what we're doing is programing that is focused on their transition into adulthood, into university life.

Our Office of Accessibility, Resource and Services, the Authors office helps students to identify which accommodations are needed and helps to communicate that with faculty.

But the students also need to be able to talk to faculty to help them understand why, when it's necessary, or to figure out exactly how best to accommodate what it is they're needing.

And so we're helping students to find their own voice and to figure out what accommodations they need and where.

And beyond that, we're also helping to create a space where these students can socialize with one another and find support from residence hall staff, as well as our learning community staff to help them navigate the campus and learn what resources are available to them, whether it's student organizations that they may have interest in.

We do have an Autism and Neurodiversity Alliance that is a student organization on campus that is both students with neurodiversity and allies who want to potentially work with individuals with autism in the future or just want to have an opportunity, you know, maybe have been touched in their lives by someone with autism and want to be a part of that community.

And so it's, you know, bringing all of these resources together and helping our students know what is available to them as they navigate this change is a big goal for us.

Jessica, how important is it whenever, you know, especially in lower school, right, where you're addressing some of the early challenges, but really making it apparent that not just Ethan, but many others?

College is not out of the question here, which I'm sure, like you mentioned a moment ago, people think, oh no, there's limitations now.

It's it's not limitations.

It's just other avenues.

Absolutely.

And we talked about this briefly before we all sat down here today, that a lot of times that diagnosis immediately for a parent is going it's going to there's going to be fear involved.

It's scary.

It can be overwhelming.

It's not always clearly communicated what the future looks like and the future can feel uncertain.

So we're seeing a lot in our schools this push for inclusion or meaningful access for students.

And I think that's what's really important, is starting at an earlier age.

That is where it's easier for students to get along.

It's more natural.

Friendships are developing.

But when we start those programs and when we have systems in place at a young age, it becomes much more natural and for lack of a better word, normal for all students to be learning together.

And so as students get older, those are peers that they've been in classes with all along, side by side.

Some of those things that our students with autism do.

Some of the stems, some of the different behaviors are are accepted because everybody's always been around it.

And then parents are seeing true friendships and relationships form.

There's a trust with the school staff, there's a trust with classmates.

And then there's, I think, more of a hope for a future.

And when we have programs for students to move through, not just through our K-12 systems, but looking forward to college for parents to hear there are opportunities when you graduate, sometimes incredible opportunities that they never thought was possible.

But when our schools, our colleges are providing spaces to support students, that potential for the future just become so bright.

And parents need to know that they need to hear that, that yes, there's special ed services in our K-12 systems may end.

They may look different as a student graduates, but there's opportunities for support, and there is a career and community or whatever that student wants to do when they graduate.

And I love what you said about learning to advocate for themselves and lend their voice.

Ethan is the best person to say what he needs and wants out of a classroom and from a teacher, but we need to set students up to be able to do that and support their parents and giving them that voice.

You can tell us about that transition from high school to college and what that was like for you.

So in high school, I really it was kind of difficult because like before, like all the stuff you all are talking about now, like, you know, it didn't exist.

So there was more like the social hierarchy of, you know, you know, more falls you have, the more bullied you get.

But like in college, that all went away.

Everyone was just nice and they just didn't care.

And everyone was just talking about, you know, what they were doing today, what video games are going to play, you know, or hey, let's go out to eat at canes.

Yeah, right.

It's more communal, right?

Yeah, it's more communal.

I would say college is just much more accepting.

And just because everyone is just, you know, they're together.

And, you know, for me, I think college is like that weird melting pot of where you can just be weird without having a fall.

Like weirdness is celebrated.

And that's what I like about college.

And Patricia, I know that that's something you probably see as high schoolers make that transition to college, where it really is an open world, right?

It just opens up for them.

Yeah.

And I'm so glad that that is the experience that Ethan had.

I'm sure that's probably not the case for every student as they're transitioning, but I do think many individuals find, you know, the college campus to be one that is welcoming and understanding.

And for the most part, you know, like you said, kind of everyone's in this together on this college journey.

And so, you know, I think there's a lot of, you know, peers and students who, you know, just, you know, see a student with autism just as another student on campus who's, you know, on this avenue with them.

So how do you help bridge that kind of oversight, you know, through elementary, middle school, high school, there's a lot of support, right?

Certainly a little bit more targeted.

Yeah.

But once you get to college, there's still support that you all offer.

But at the same time it is a chance for growth and independence.

Right, right.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And you know the ascend program is really geared towards, you know, doing exactly that with.

So we do have a housing component to the ascend program where the students can choose if they want to, to live in housing with one another.

So with other students, you know, with autism or other neurodiversity, and, you know, those rooms come with some extra accommodations, you know, the opportunity to have kind of covered lights and dimmer lights or things that might be a better sensory experience for some of those students.

But we also are offering regular programing that brings these students together with other students who are interested.

There's no program we do that is limited only to a student with autism, but that they're open to a community, and we're giving these students a chance to socialize and be with other students who are there to find their, you know, the space that they feel welcome and feel like they develop a sense of belonging.

And Jessica.

Speaking of accommodations, what are some simple accommodations that you've seen that go a long way, especially in the school alignment?

And again, it's going to be different for every student.

But one student needs another student might be adverse to.

But really, I think it's going to take a shift in our teachers to be more flexible.

We're looking for our students to be flexible.

It's the educators oftentimes that need to do that.

But providing is the is their light sensitivity is their sound sensitivity.

Finding out what that student needs, having access to fidgets or other things that can support them throughout the day, and really understanding if a student needs a break.

Let's get in front of that break and provide that accommodation before a student becomes dysregulated or overwhelmed.

But there's a lot of really simple, easy things teachers can do.

But we have to shift our classrooms from what we maybe have always done to what our students who are here and now need and provide those accommodations, especially if a student can ask for them in articulate this is what I want and need, let them have it.

Ethan.

Looking back, who are it?

Could be one or several teacher or mentor you had that really impacted you in a positive way.

Built confidence, helped you out.

Who is someone that you would highlight?

I like to highlight and Gardner at CBC shout out if you're watching this.

Well, she was just always there.

She was like one of the most nicest people you'll ever meet.

Like, she let me have extra time.

She actually made sure everyone understood the assignments, including me, you know, and like, when I went to visit her, like to ask for help, she would always just get me help.

And I also like to shout out Melissa Starkey.

She helped me out during one of the worst times of my life, when I was going through a mental health crisis, and she was always there just to calm me down.

I also want to give a shout out to Blake Duffield.

He is the history professor there, and I had very fun conversations talking about history and poly sci, because that was a very fun thing to learn.

So when you hear that, Patricia, it must really speak to you as an educator and YouTube Jessica.

But in the college level, knowing that it's something that you're going to you no help these individuals carry with the rest of their life.

Remembering these moments, remembering those conversations and how they really do have an impact.

Yeah.

Knowing, you know, we have a lot of advocates on campus, right, that I think, among one another have been working for years to try to raise awareness.

And so being able to bring this to a more organized effort, where we have a program coordinator and a director of our learning communities that oversees the program to be able to start bringing these faculty advocates.

When we hear these stories from students, that's how we, you know, we know where the faculty allies are, right?

And and they become a part of that group with us that helped to spread that messaging, that help educate other faculty on on what these student needs are because every student does need something different, right?

And sometimes different in a different moment, you know?

And so it's really wonderful, I think, to to know that there's these faculty out there making a difference.

Jessica, how have things changed from the standpoint of inclusion and awareness in the classroom since you've started teaching to now?

Absolutely.

I think even looking back at college at my undergraduate, it's changed a lot, and there's been a lot of changes at a state level through Arkansas.

And it looks different in every school, every district you're going to go in.

But I think teachers, even if there was a little bit of resistance at the beginning or teachers who were ready to go from day one, they're learning to work together more.

And as a special educator, if I'm working side by side with a general educator, I have this content expert that's incredible, that can give the knowledge and the instruction that students need.

But I can come alongside and I can provide the support, the accommodations, the scaffolding to help a child get there.

And you're seeing these two experts in education come together, and then you pull in our speech therapist, our occupational therapists, those are related service providers.

You have a team of just brilliant minds who are committed to making sure every student successful.

And I've seen a real shift in classrooms universally designed.

And so we're anticipating we know some students will need certain supports.

We know there's barriers we're going to have to address.

But when we look at our classrooms and we start designing for those barriers, in the beginning we're removing things that might cause problems for other students that we don't even know.

So our classrooms are becoming spaces where students are successful day one because they're set up for student success, not just teacher preference.

And that's been really encouraging and exciting to see.

What about you, Patricia?

What have you seen?

Yeah.

You know, similarly the classroom design, being able to add spaces on the college campus, there's plenty of high sensory spaces.

But, you know, we have at least five low sensory lounges on campus that have been added at UCLA and then in the classroom as well, being able to think about student needs while those classrooms are being set up and anticipating things.

You know, for a student who isn't even yet on our campus, is something that's grown a lot more prevalent.

All right, so, Ethan, I mentioned at the beginning that you are interested in becoming a meteorologist.

Tell us how that started.

What piqued your interest in it, and why?

Is it something you want to pursue?

Okay, so this story begins back in 2011.

So the hurricane season was going on.

I just remember I was at Slim Chickens for some reason.

I don't know why I think I was eating there.

And then they had the Weather Channel and was like, oh look, it's a hurricane that looks interesting.

And they were talking about this name, Irene.

And it's like, that's interesting.

Yeah.

And so I just watched it every day and I would tune in to the local news and national news just to see what would happen.

And then I started watching, you know, daybreak every morning since I pretty much had to go from Conway to Greenbriar, so I would get to see, you know, Melinda, I'd get to see you.

I'd get to see Allison.

I also get to see Todd and Barry sometimes.

Yeah, but.

Yeah.

I was just able to see this, and I was like, I really want to do that.

I just really like whether it's just really freaking awesome.

You know?

It's something that I can't wait to introduce you to those folks so that you can learn more about it.

And it is, you know, it's a it's obviously the most important thing in local news.

So there's there's definitely an avenue for it to continue on for a long, long time.

Jessica, I want to talk about some of the things you see in the classroom in terms of opening these pathways and doorways to students who maybe think, oh, I can't do that.

And then you show that, like, we're going to show Ethan, no, meteorology is an that's absolutely a goal you should go for.

How are you able to kind of change preconceived notions about future goals and show them the path to reach the dreams that they want to get to?

I think there's a common term in education of presumed competence, and we are going to believe that a student can.

Now, there are going to be times when we find out that they can't yet, and we're going to need to adjust our instruction, our supports and services.

A lot of times that starts with the family.

They may have been given that medical diagnosis at a young age and have that set in their mind.

This is not going to be a pathway for my child's whether to be to college, a career, and we need to change that in the parents.

We need to show them what their child can do.

And a lot of times we can build on a student's interest.

You have a high interest in whether let's talk about the careers, the opportunities that can come from that.

And instead of sometimes we'll say, well, students just focus on this one thing.

So we're we're shifting that negative connotation around.

Some know they're just always talking about this one thing to it's a strength for them.

So how can we build on that?

I had a student that could teach himself multiple languages.

I never taught him that.

That was not my skill.

He learned them himself.

Yeah.

And so what?

What career opportunities?

He's not really social.

That doesn't not a job translating that he has to deal with a lot of other people.

And so really opening parents minds to what their child can do has just been so powerful.

And then they're seeking other opportunities, other experiences to help their child pursue those dreams.

But it really just comes for talking about what students can do and not focusing so much on the deficit areas.

We're going to we're going to address those we need to address those.

But and everybody.

Absolutely.

Absolutely.

Just like physics, I'm not the a student in the I can't be a meteorologist tell you that right now.

Yeah.

That's not my not my real house.

No.

Well Patricia, I'm sure you see it too, on the collegiate level.

Right?

When we really are starting to get into.

Okay, let's go from not just getting good grades, but figuring out what course in your career you want to get to and seeing those different things open up and their eyes open, everyone's eyes open to, oh, this is possible for me now.

Yeah, yeah.

You know, I don't know if we see it as much.

I think individuals who have found their way into the university have already maybe overcome some of those challenges, but there is still certainly a mindset, and particularly among some of our high achieving students with autism, because they've never encountered something they couldn't do.

And when they get to college, they're going to have a moment, right?

Whatever that class is, is the first time that they have an obstacle and and they don't yet know how to overcome.

Right?

They, you know, or they see that as, you know, oh, I'm a failure because I don't, you know, you know, I've always been able to do well, I and all of a sudden there's this one thing I can't do.

And so a lot of, a lot of times we are working with, with students on mindset, and you know, that there's an opportunity to learn from those failures and, and to move on and, you know, and find exactly where your strengths are and how we're going to work through it.

Jessica.

Executive functioning something many families hear about.

Explain what that means to folks at home.

Executive functioning is having a set of skills to be able.

There are so many different things you could look at organization, time management.

And I will just say executive functioning is an issue and a deficit.

I feel like across the board for all students right now, because we're not teaching students the skills they need to be successful with that.

There's a lot of great research around it.

I feel like educators are really getting on board with it.

We're seeing more training directly for teachers on the on executive functioning, but making sure students learn because like we said earlier in school, they've got teachers, therapists, parents support all along the way, but we're preparing students for that.

What's next?

And when you go to college, yes, there's resources.

Yes, there's things on campus here, but we really need to make sure that student understands their schedule if they're going to miss work.

Have we prepared them to know who to call, how to show up to work, how to balance their time, to be able to complete assignments?

And it's really just there's so much organizational thought required in that.

And I think it's something that teachers as early as pre-K and kindergarten need to start reading up on learning more about and setting their students up for success.

With Ethan, what advice would you have to anyone watching right now making that transition from high school to college like you made, and you're close to graduating college as well.

But that's that's still that's a big jump going from high school to college.

What advice would you have for anyone watching right now for that?

Well, for if you're watching this, I would like for you to actually, you know, tour your campus early, meet all your professors early, you know, get to know them and, you know, also get to know some of your future classmates because it really does help when you just meet someone you already know who's there and your shyness doesn't kick in.

It's like, oh, I can just talk to you and you're not going to be mean about it.

It's like, what?

This is normal.

Yeah.

No, it's definitely also just, you know, you're just going to have a fun time.

Just just take a deep breath, relax and just enjoy your time in college.

That's all I had to say also.

And you feel like something bad is going to happen or like, you know, there's an obstacle.

Just remember I was able to get through it.

You can do it too.

You could do it.

Patricia, how do you take what you have done here with the sand and make it replicable?

How do you expand on it, continue to, you know, allow other universities to have the same stories of success that you've seen come out of UK?

Yeah, certainly.

You know, we share what we're doing with other universities very openly, both with our living learning community model and, you know, the Ascend program.

You know, a lot of what we're doing is because we've listened to our students and, you know, so you've got a student body, you know, ask them what it is that they're needing.

You know, we found a few moments that are particularly overwhelming for students and have figured out ways to offer them an experience differently.

So, for example, if you've moved into a college campus, moving day is, you know, extremely crazy.

There are cars and furniture and things being moved everywhere and traffic going every which way.

And it's on a very hot day in August.

The hottest day of the year is moving day.

And, you know, so, you know, with that experience, you know, one of the things that we're looking to add as of this fall is an early arrival program for, you know, RSM students so that they can move in almost a week early and during that time be introduced to campus resources, individuals and other student leaders that will be there for them throughout the year.

And so they'll have a chance to get acquainted.

But, you know, the really the way to to scale this up is, you know, to listen to your student body and, and find out what their needs are.

And because each campus is different in terms of what they're currently offering and, and has opportunities to grow.

Not a lot of time left.

But I have a question for all of you, and I will start with you, Jessica.

It's just simply what's one thing that someone watching right now can do to help create a more welcoming community for anyone who is on the autism spectrum?

I think the partnership and collaboration between students, caregivers and schools, whatever that school level is, is what matters.

Open that conversation, keep it respectful and listen willingly.

Listen to what is being said.

Elevate that student and family voice.

And let's create environments where all students, no matter their needs, can thrive.

Trisha.

Yeah.

Our goal is at the university level, is to create a space where every student feels like they belong, but every students needs are different.

So, you know, talk to the student and find out exactly what it is that they need.

And that student.

Ethan, what would you say?

I just say, you know, treat us like you would treat a normal person.

Autism is not like for me.

It's not like an inhibitor.

I just am a person who has autism.

And that is exactly how we're going to end this.

Thank you so much, Jessica.

Thank you Patricia.

Ethan, thank you so much.

Can't wait to introduce you to the meteorologist and get you on the green.

While I was asking, where is where's the green wall around here?

We don't have a meteorology.

We don't have a weather segment here on Arkansas.

Maybe that's coming in the future though.

But again, thank you so much for coming in and sharing your wisdom, your expertise, your experiences.

We appreciate all y'all.

We'll see you next time.

All right.

That is all for Arkansas Week this week.

Thank you so much for joining us I'm Chris Kane and we'll see you again next time.