Marian College's new Spectrum of Knights program helps students with autism

When Ardea Russo and her son Justin started his college search, the Granger mom looked for a school that would offer support for students on the autism spectrum.

She found a few but they were all far away. Then the Granger family learned about a new program at Marian University in Indianapolis tailored for students just like Justin.

This fall, Justin, 18, is looking forward to matriculating at Marian and his mother feels secure that the school will provide him the support he needs to flourish.

“At a few of the other schools, the programs seemed really good but they were mostly student-led, which could be great, but for someone like Justin, he needs really structured help,” Ardea Russo said. “We did not find many other schools that were doing something like this.”

Marian’s new Spectrum of Knights program, which will have fewer than 10 members a year in its early years, will offer one-on-one coaching, peer mentorship, as well as social programming for participants, college officials say. As far as Marian officials know, theirs is the first four-year college in the state to offer anything like this, though there are about 100 similar programs across the country.

Many young adults on the autism spectrum have the academic ability to succeed at college but struggle with executive functioning skills such as organization and time management, said Hannah Melton, Marian autism coordinator. While high school may offer handholding for these students, college professors expect students to be independent.

“Our program helps fill that gap and provide students with extra support,” Melton said.

The idea originated more than five years ago when Kenith Britt, Marian’s COO, heard Microsoft and Amazon officials talking about how they were employing an increasing number of adults with autism in their companies.

Britt realized this trend presented an opportunity for the school. Some students on the autism spectrum attended Marian, but the school could do more to help them succeed at college and beyond.

“It just seemed like it would be very helpful to students with autism and help me get organized and make the transition,” Julianna said. “It’s been really nice. I have gotten on top of my homework and tackled tough assignments.”

About six months ago, When Marian unveiled its program six months ago, Britt’s daughter Julianna was herself with autism. A home-schooled high school student who planned to start at Marian this spring as a dual-enrolled first-year student, Julianna became the first student to participate in the program.

Julianna meets with Melton once a week and attends weekly workshops with students enrolled in a similar program at Marian’s Ancilla College, a two-year school in Plymouth in northern Indiana. This semester she’s on campus three days a week, taking civics and government. Next year, she’s looking forward to taking more classes and having more people in the program.

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Six students will be in the program in the fall, Britt said. Eventually the school hopes the program will have from 70 to 100 students enrolled and become a factor in students’ choosing to attend the west side college.

“This will definitely draw students from other areas that just didn’t realize Marian had these opportunities,” said Britt, chancellor of the Indianapolis campus.

Spectrum of Knights participants must first apply and be accepted to Marian and then apply to the program, said Melton, who is based in the college’s Personalized Learning Center. The program costs $6,000 a semester. Scholarships are available and students registered with Indiana Vocational Rehabilitation are reimbursed up to 75% of the cost.

Students do not need a formal medical diagnosis to apply but must self-identify as autistic or neurodivergent.

In addition to regular one-on-one coaching, the program includes weekly study tables and skills development workshops. Significant time is also devoted to talking about personal relations with others, Melton said.

“College is a very social time of life but that can also be a challenge for a neurodiverse student,” she said. “We talk about everything like what is going on in life, what is going in classes, how are you doing as human, to make sure that they’re adjusting to college well.”For now, the program also includes neurotypical peer mentors but in the future students in the program may serve in these unpaid positions.

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A program like this one would have been an immense help had it existed when Cam Davison, a 2021 Marion grad who self-identifies as being on the autism spectrum, attended college. At Zionsville High School, he earned straight A’s with ease.

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But when he came to college and, he found himself suddenly living on his own and having to take care of himself, he struggled to maintain his grades without the clear routines of high school. A program like Spectrum of Knights might have eased the transition.

“In my case we didn’t realize how much of an issue it would be at first…. For me, it was like I jumped off a cliff,” said Davison, who has an internship at the OneAmerica Personalized Learning Center. “The Spectrum of Knights won’t solve things for them but it will give them the resources they need to learn how to do it without feeling like they were pushed off the deep end.”

Contact IndyStar reporter Shari Rudavsky at shari.rudavsky@indystar.com.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Marian College program to help students with autism succeed in school