EPISODE 31 Accommodations are available. Just ask.

Students on the spectrum often decide that because college is a fresh start, they aren't going to ask for accomodations before classes even begin. Instead, better to see how it goes, and ask for accommodations if needed. That makes sense, but in real life, it's sometimes hard to fix a situation or make it work better on the fly. That's the observation of Dr. Maria Keller, Associate Director of Disabled Student Services at UCRiverside. Better, she says, is to put the accommodations in place from day one, and if it turns out you don't need them, that's great. Getting accommodations in a hurry can be more of a challenge, and can't change previous academic outcomes - like test scores. Dr. Keller was in the documentary film Autism Goes to College, and she says since the film was made, campus culture has really shifted. Hear all about how UCR is evolving programs and policies focused on inclusivity for neurodiverse students and even modeling campus cultural shifts for other colleges.