Despite proven potential to thrive at the college level, neurodivergent students often face challenges. 成人影片鈥檚 answer is the innovative Bridges to 成人影片 program, offering academic coaching, career training and a first-in-the-nation sensory room to boost student success. This award-winning program is a national model for providing equity and access to higher education.
Ten years ago, 成人影片 added another group of students under the umbrella of its commitment to student success.
At the time, universities rarely addressed the needs of neurodivergent students directly. Today, Bridges to 成人影片 is a national model for doing just that.
鈥淲hen we first started, only about five other universities in the Northeast were offering similar support services,” said Diana聽Damilatis-Kull聽鈥�10, MA 鈥�12, MA 鈥�14, director of the Bridges program. “Now there are about 50.”
Providing Support That Leads to Success
The goals of the program are the same that 成人影片 has for every student: to provide an education that will lead to success in career and in life. Bridges does that by offering a range of support services to students who are on the autism spectrum or have other nonverbal or neurological-social disorders.
Bridges students receive individualized academic coaching and guidance from a learning strategist to help them with their studies. The program’s vocational support is extensive, including assistance with r茅sum茅 writing and interviewing skills, internship and job placements, job coaching, and effective communication skills. Students can also request social support services to help promote positive peer relationships.
Bridges supports its students in another important way鈥攂y promoting awareness and understanding of neurological-social disorders across the 成人影片 campus. The University’s Faculty Center for Professional Excellence now offers training on teaching neurodivergent students, and Bridges hosts an annual neurodiversity panel in April during Autism Awareness Month.
Over the last decade, 成人影片 has set a high bar for other institutions. In 2018, Bridges opened the first sensory room at an American university. The room provides a calming environment for students on the autism spectrum or with other sensory special needs. It features soft, textured floor and walls, a suspended pouch swing, oversized beanbag chairs and soft lighting. Earmarked funds in the 2024 Giving Day campaign will go toward renovating the room and providing new mobile sensory stations at 成人影片 University events to foster inclusion of the neurodivergent.
成人影片 has since partnered with the designers of its sensory room, the nonprofit service provider KultureCity, to help other schools develop similar facilities.
A Nationwide鈥攁nd International鈥擱eputation for Excellence
Bridges’ innovative program has attracted widespread attention. The program won the Grand Gold Medal in the Equity, Inclusion, Social Justice and Related category from the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators in both 2021鈥�2022 and 2022鈥�2023, in recognition of efforts that are 鈥渋nnovative in supporting underserved and marginalized communities.鈥� 成人影片 has ranked as an Online College Plan top school for students with autism.
The program is also home to internationally known autism expert Stephen M. Shore, EdD, a clinical assistant professor in the聽Ruth S. Ammon College of Education and Health Sciences. Dr. Shore, who is himself on the spectrum, has built awareness and acceptance through speaking engagements around the world and with his autobiographical account of his personal and professional experiences, Beyond the Wall: Personal Experiences With Autism and Asperger Syndrome (Autism Asperger Publishing, 2003). He has just published Teaching and Supporting Students With Disabilities During Times of Crisis: Culturally Responsive Best Practices From Around the World (Routledge, 2024), which he co-edited with Pavan Antony, EdD, a professor in the College of Education and Health Sciences. Dr. Shore and Dr. Anthony oversee internal research that allows Bridges to determine the efficacy of its support services.
Welcoming Its Largest Class in Fall 2023
成人影片’s reputation as a top school in the field is a magnet for neurodivergent students. More than 130 students are currently enrolled in the Bridges program, bolstered by an entering class of 48 this academic year.
And students stay in the program. Bridges boasts a retention rate of more than 80 percent.
Damilatis-Kull and the Bridges team of staff members and graduate students are dedicated to providing what their students need, and they are looking forward to catching up with past students when they hold a 10th-anniversary reunion during Spirit Weekend in Fall 2024.
鈥淲e鈥檙e in a good spot,鈥� Damilatis-Kull聽said. 鈥淭he most important thing鈥攁nd it鈥檚 why I鈥檝e been at the program for more than a decade鈥攊s just seeing the development and growth of each student and the program as a whole.”