Mercer student Julia Simko has an Autism Spectrum Disorder. ASD covers a range of challenges with behavior, social interaction, communication and learning. She went from taking in person classes like developmental math to taking a semester off as the college shifted to remote learning.
While the sudden change to online learning during the pandemic has been hard on everyone, for neurodiverse students with ASD or other similar issues, online education presents unique challenges.
Following social cues, which can be difficult in person, can become even more disorienting over Zoom. Many students are now having to solve issues with technology without assistance, stay focused and on task when their disability includes being easily distractible, and forgo the in-class human contact that can be motivating.
“I have autism and ADHD so I go between being hyper-focused and then not being able to concentrate at all very easily. For online classes, there is so much going on at once. You have whatever is going on on your computer and then you have whatever the hell is going on in your house. I have a dog who barks every time someone crosses the street. At school it was just easier separating things,” says Ben Levitt, a Computer Graphics major. (Full disclosure, Levitt is also a VOICE staffer.)
Arlene Stinson is the Director of the Center for Inclusion, Transition and Accessibility (CITA), the department at the college that is responsible for ensuring students with disabilities’ needs are met.
Stinson says “Students with [learning] disabilities or disabilities in general, suffer from the same challenges, you know, that everybody else does. It is very difficult, there’s not like a basket of this is how kids with disabilities act, or are impacted. It really all depends on lifestyle, on comfortability with technology, on access to technology, on responsibility at home. You know, just like it would with non-disabled peers.”
Sharise Katrell-Abdullah is a peer mentor at Mercer. Peer Mentors are trained to support students who have disabilities by doing things like attending classes with them to help with note-taking, tutoring, and improving study skills. These tasks get trickier in the remote environment.
Katrell-Abdullah says since classes moved online peer mentors are helping, and students can receive extended time on things, but she said one of the issues with online learning is that it is not universally accessible. She says she thinks there should be more auditory and visual aids.
Laurie Gallagher, who was born with Down Syndrome, is in MCCC’s DREAM program for students with intellectual disabilities which is run by CITA. She says so far she has had a positive experience with online learning.
“I kind of like it online because I can take my time. I have more control with time management.” Gallagher says.
However, she says she does miss being on campus and interacting with professors and classmates.
Simko says she wishes that for students like her, there was an in-between option. She isn’t qualified for the DREAM program but needs the additional support and resources that the DREAM programs offer.
Another student, who asked to remain anonymous and also has Autism Spectrum Disorder said he’s having a very difficult experience.
“[For my English class] I have to sit with a writing tutor, and obviously because of COVID everyone is using it online, so you’re not gonna get a tutor as quick as you need it. Not for nothing. It would take me five days probably to get a response instead of like less than two [if we were on campus].”
So what has Mercer done so far in accommodating these students?
Stinson says that all services are still available and that getting accommodations have not changed, things are just done remotely.
“What I’d like to see added, is the opportunity to provide technology to all students, [to] alleviate the stress of the economy that has burdened folks with.” Stinson says.
According to previous VOICE reporting, in terms of access to technology, Mercer has worked with Comcast to get internet service to students who need it and there is a program to get free refurbished computers. CARES money is also available to students who need emergency financial support due to COVID.
Ben Levitt said purchasing a planner where he is forced to map out his time really helps.
“The main thing is that you actually have to look at it and follow it. You can put everything in as much as you want but nothing helps if you don’t look at it,” Levitt says.
Levitt says he would rather not take classes online but he will in the spring because he has no other choice.
A piece of advice Stinson offers is, “The other thing we try to tell students…is that it will get better. You know that what seems completely impossible on Monday if you stick with it, it may not be great, but is doable by Friday.”
