Autism Goes To College
Autism Goes To College
EP53: ABIGAIL HEARTS KENT STATE — Choosing a non-degree autism support program close to home
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Abigail is in her second semester at Kent State University, and she’s thriving. She chose Kent State’s non-degree program for students with autism after comparing several autism support programs and deciding this campus offered the right mix of courses, dorm life, activities, and being close enough to home for weekend support.
In this episode, Abigail shares what took adjusting during her first semester, what’s working now (classes, routines, and campus life), and how she’s thinking about the two-year vs. four-year path. A warm, practical student story about transitioning to college on the spectrum and building a setup that fits.
Do not take classes because you think you should take the classes. Economics and computer science. I took because I thought that it could help me in the professional world. And if it gives you an existential crisis about your identity as a scholar, and then that bleeds through to your other courses, including the ones you're actually passionate about, just drop it. Do not feel ashamed for dropping a class.
SPEAKER_00Having autism isn't something that should prevent people from having a successful college experience. It takes work.
SPEAKER_01Join clubs, find groups, find your people, find ways to fit in. See a peer mentor. See somebody who can help you get involved on campus.
SPEAKER_06There were a lot of black children on the spectrum who were also deaf. She's not the first one.
SPEAKER_07I researched all of the majors and I eliminated the ones that sounded not interesting to me. So then I changed it to chemical engineering to work with chemistry. Then I took an environmental science class and I'm like, I think environmental issues are really important, and I'm really passionate about state sustainability and stuff. So then I changed it to finally environmental engineering.
SPEAKER_05Especially in a college town like OutdoorDash. Like, just go out and get the food. That's good exercise.
SPEAKER_04Hey everyone! Thanks for joining us on this episode of Autism Goes to College. The podcast for students on the spectrum and for everyone who supports us. Navigating college is always a challenge, so here are the hacks, insights, and great ideas you've been looking for to make college work for you. We're a small group of self-advocates. We're all in college or recently graduated, and you can do this too.
SPEAKER_03Hello, and thank you for listening to our podcast, Autism Goes to College. I'm Abigail Pay, and I'm currently a freshman at Kent State University in Ohio. I am also 20 years old, and I'm currently in the non-degree career and community studies program at Kent State. I chose Kent State because this program has a great fit for me. It's pretty close to my family in Pennsylvania. I'm also interested in graphic arts and marketing. I've also, as of now, started a small business and is supporting me with classes in independent living skills, and I'm also getting confidence for whatever is next for me. I'm glad to be here and thanks for having me.
SPEAKER_08All right. Welcome to the podcast Autism Goes to College. I'm happy to bring you this conversation with Abigail. So I know you were looking at multiple schools and you landed on Kent State. Could you share some insights into what schools you looked at and how you made your decision?
SPEAKER_03Yeah. So some of the schools that I happened to look at were Villanova. I looked at St. Joseph's. I looked at Kent State. I looked at another one out in Philly. And ultimately it came down to Kent State was closer to home, closer to family. It wasn't a nine and a half hour drive. I was not, yeah, I was, I was not gonna have a nine-hour drive. That that nope, no, thank you. So yeah, ultimately it came down to I wanted to stick closer to home. I wanted to stick closer to family, especially because I have loved ones who are a little bit older who kind of rely on a little bit more help. So in case anything were to happen, I would be like a 30-minute drive away. I don't currently drive, so my parents do pick me up and drive me back and forth. But yeah, but ultimately how it came down to that was it had the program I was looking for, it had the people I was looking for, it had a lot to do on the weekends, it had a lot to do during the week. Um, I had plenty of classes, you know, like there were plenty of food options around. So ultimately that was also a decision of going to Centon City because there was plenty of things to do as compared to, oh, I also looked at one college in New York City, but that was also too far of a drive. So um, with the decision in mind, I then went back, kind of retraced my steps and kind of eliminated one by one. And then surely I came down to Kent State and I knew that's the one, uh, that's where I want to be. And I have now been at Kent State since August, and I'm currently my second semester.
SPEAKER_08Congratulations. So it sounds like it was a combination of being close to family and also just really enjoying the program.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, it really was. And it's a very interesting program to say the least.
SPEAKER_08Yeah, I can't wait to hear more about it. So it sounds like uh I hear you got some scholarship money. Can you talk to us about how you found scholarships and how that worked?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, so I was very, very, very blessed to know some people in my hometown in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and through the Democratic Committee down in my home state. And they were very, very generous. So they were offered me, I think it was like a thousand dollar scholarship there. And then I applied through OBR. I got one from them, and then I also got one from the organization of autism research through a good friend of mine, and he happened to love my interview and loved what I had to say and offered me the scholarship. And that one I think was also about a thousand dollars or maybe a little bit more. So yeah, that also helped to pay for a very, very large amount of my college tuition to be able to afford to go to Kent State. So that obviously very much helped in a lot of aspects. It helped to not only pay for college tuition, but it paid for my classes. It also paid for some of my food options and whatnot. It's like it covered a large portion of mostly my tuition. Um, I am currently waiting on a couple others, but I won't find out till May if I get them. So as of now, those are the the two, two or three scholarships that I've gotten.
SPEAKER_08Well, that's wonderful. Good luck with your uh upcoming scholarships for May. So you're living on campus in a dorm at Kent State, and you have a single, but the dorm isn't dedicated to your program. What's it been like moving into the dorms and moving out of your family home?
SPEAKER_03Um, it was very stressful. I'm not gonna lie. Moving out of my family home was my whole family was a wreck saying goodbye to me because they've been used to having me for about a good solid 19, 20 years of my life. So leaving home was definitely very scary, the nerve-wracking feeling of like, oh no, what now? But moving into the dorms, once I got situated, I was in love with it. And, you know, like I just it was very much a joy, and I have a really great RA. She is literally the uh one of my best friends. I love her dearly. She, she just, oh, she's such a delight to have around. Yeah, but it is not dedicated to my group. You are absolutely correct on that. It is also with regular college students, so it's actually nice to be able to talk and meet and hang out with some non-autism program people. So I get to see a lot of different faces and meet a lot of different faces and get to spend some time with them. So that's also really fun. It's honestly been really quiet. Um, you know, first semester was a little loud, I'm not gonna lie. But second semester has definitely been more quiet, which has been kind of a blessing in disguise because I haven't had to deal with noise problems at night as much as semester one. It's been nice to sleep.
SPEAKER_08Yeah. And it I'm so glad that you have a good RA. Do you know if your RAs get any training on autism or neurodiversity?
SPEAKER_03Yes, they do. So at the I believe it's like mid summer before we come in in August, they get basically a little like side program outside from the regular students. They get like a little side program and they get trained on autism, what to look out for, you know, um, issues that might come up, which unfortunately we did have a lot of that. Um, between some of my group members, there's a lot of drama, but that's actually subsided now and a lot of us get along finally. Um yeah, but they do get trained on, you know, what to look out for. Um, if there's mood swings, if there's, you know, fights between anybody, like, you know, or how to de-escalate a situation before it escalates. I mean, it's not perfect, and it's, you know, no, no, no program is gonna be that way, but she, I mean, she really does do a good job. And I mean, our floor is pretty good with each other. So, like, our floor hasn't really had any massive problems. I mean, there have been other kids from my program who have come and come up and shaken things up a little bit, but like my RA has been like the highlight so far of living in a college dorm because everyone's different, every RA is different. Like a lot of people will say, like, oh, I didn't have the greatest RA. Oh, I didn't really have the best, like, you know, experience. But I've been very fortunate and very lucky to have a very good support around me. So that's been a huge blessing to be able to feel comfortable and like I fit in. Um, and our college is a very diverse college, so like they're very accepting of people with disabilities. Everyone is very kind. They include us in activities. We get to go to basketball games, we get to go to volleyball games, we get to go to gymnastics meets, like you name it, any activity that there is, we all go. So, you know, it's it's it's been a great experience so far.
SPEAKER_08That's really great. Speaking of the other students and the students in your program, is it a large program or there are a lot of autistic students in it?
SPEAKER_03There are about I think right now there's about 10 to 11 of us. We actually had one, a couple students from the program in general who have left the college and have left the program just because it wasn't at that right time for them where they just didn't they didn't think it was best for them, so they decided to leave. But as of now, I do think that that there is at least 10 or 11 of us, and there's still a good group of people. So and they all range, they all range from different ages to different unique situations. So it's it's a but it is a good group.
SPEAKER_08Yeah. Do you have things that you do to connect with the students in the program beyond classes?
SPEAKER_03Uh yeah. So we all some at the beginning of the year, we all had dinner together, we all had lunch together, we all had breakfast together. We all really do hang out. We are a tight-knit family, so some of us girls will hang out and do like girls' day trip stuff, and like, you know, we'll hang out and laugh, watch movies, you know, we'll dance, have a dance party, we'll do TikTok videos. If you know what TikTok is, everybody knows what TikTok is. I have a really bad addiction to that. Uh it's just it's I mean, TikTok is so much fun, right? Yeah, I spent a lot of time on it. But um, like a lot of us girls will just kind of hang out and, you know, do girl stuff. But we will hang out inside of class and outside of class together as a group sometimes. But at the end of the night, we all are kind of exhausted from a long day. Our days start at 7:45 a.m. and go until about five to five fifteen at night. So, and we have like an hour to break in between our classes. So we're pretty exhausted by the time five o'clock hits and we're like, it's time for bed, good night. Like, and then we all kind of like go our separate ways and we all hang in our in our own dorms.
SPEAKER_08Speaking of the busy days, what classes are you taking? And how do you pick out your classes?
SPEAKER_03So, right now I'm taking one non-autism program course, and I'm taking intro to yoga, which is so relaxing. I I honestly love it. I have a wonderful teacher. She's amazing. I love her. You know, I would spend every day in there if I could. Well, I guess I do spend every day in there. Every Tuesday. Um, or every no, every Wednesday. I'm sorry, every Wednesday I'll be in there. But um, yeah, so I'm taking one regular KSU courses, which they call KSU courses because it's a regular college ed class, yeah, Kent State class. And then I'm taking um human relationships. I'm taking person planet centered planning, so PPC.
SPEAKER_08Yeah, person-centered planning.
SPEAKER_03PCP, yeah. I'm also taking um disability in the laws. So that's also a really interesting class. I just started today, so that one just got started. And then I'm also taking a couple other disability-related courses in the autism program in specifics. So yeah, those are just some of the other courses that I take.
SPEAKER_08Mm-hmm. And I know that you're in a four-year program, but there's also a two-year option in the program. How did you choose between two and four years? Four years might feel like a big commitment to some people.
SPEAKER_03So how I chose that was I it kind of goes year by year. So like I can decide to change it throughout the year. If I decided, hey, I want to stay in four years, great. If I want to change in two years, that's also an option. And at the end of the semester, I can change it and say, hey, I want to do two years. Hey, I want to stay with the four years. So as of now, I'm still doing the four year. Me and my mom have decided, and my dad have decided to take it just year by year. And if I find that at the end of the semester, I'm like, you know, I really don't want to be in the four-year anymore. I want to go to the two year, I have that option. So it's it, I it's very flexible. So I can fluctuate on what I want to do. So if I'm like, hey, I'm not gonna get anything out of four years, okay, great, I can switch over to two years. Or if I'm like, hey, I really want to stay in the four-year and they'll put me in the four year. So as of now, I'm still in the four-year program as of now.
SPEAKER_08Yeah. Do you like the four-year program?
SPEAKER_03Um, yeah, I do. For now, I'm really happy where I'm at now. I say that kind of hesitantly because like every day I kind of think I switch my mind up a little bit of like, I want to do this, I want to do that. I want to like I kind of I go back and forth.
SPEAKER_08Yeah, it's great to have options, but that can also be, you know, how do you commit?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, it's yeah, it's definitely a lot to think about, but like for now I'm pretty happy in where I'm at.
SPEAKER_08That's great. Um and how would you compare high school to college? Like, did you have an IEP in high school? And are you finding similar supports in college?
SPEAKER_03Yes. So I did have an IP from I believe it was third grade, second or third grade, all the way up to my senior year of high school. Unfortunately, high school was very, very challenging, a lot more strict. Like you're you're mandated to take PE and whatnot, which were it's the same way here. You're mandated to take at least a year of like kind of like PE. So I take yoga for my PE course because I was like, I'm not running, I'm not doing track, I'm not doing football. I was like, I'll I'll do yoga. So we also had the option to do ball room dancing, but the teacher is not very friendly from what I've heard in ballroom dancing. So I was like, we're gonna stick it safe and we're gonna do yoga. And I love it, and I don't regret that choice. I love yoga and the teacher's awesome, and it's very relaxing. So I'm very happy that I chose that.
SPEAKER_08It sounds much more inclusive and calm than a high school gym class would be. Yes.
SPEAKER_03Oh, yes, and you get put in with regular like regular students for those classes. You don't have like a, you know, special education room. You have you get to socialize with regular students at Kent State and whatever course you take. So that's also been really nice to socialize with regular kids. Um, and I mean everyone pretty much keeps to themselves. Like everyone's really sweet, everyone's really nice here. Like, there's not been any instances of fights or bullying or like, you know, everybody here is so chill, which is so nice.
SPEAKER_08Yeah. And is that pretty different from high school?
SPEAKER_03Yes. Unfortunately, I went through a lot of physical and mental bullying. Oh, I'm sorry. Um, unfortunately, I was, yeah, we believe it was related to my disability. We don't know for sure. And I'm very lucky at that time that I had a very, very close friend of mine who essentially saved my life. Thank you very much to my best friend, by the way. That was, I will forever hold you high for that. But, you know, college is a lot different in a better way. There's a little bit more freedom, and it's like you're still expected to go to class, but like, you know, if you have good grades, you're allowed to skip one or two courses per week, or like, you know, whatever class you decide you want to skip, but you have to be the one to check your grade to be like, hey, I'm falling down grade-wise, I need to go to class, or hey, I'm on good standing, I can afford to skip a class or two. But I try really hard not to do that because I learned my lesson the hard way for a semester. That was really tough. But, you know, it it everybody's different. But in terms of like social, yeah, social, you get to interact a lot more with regular kids, and kids here are a lot more mature than they are in high school. So that's also really nice.
SPEAKER_08Yeah. And speaking of the social life on campus, are you finding that you're going to events and maybe like sports games or other things? How's that?
SPEAKER_03So I actually have been to a couple really good basketball games, and then I've been to a couple gymnastics meets and like open gymnastics, like before real competition started, I went to like their preseason. So I've gone to a lot of gymnastics and basketball. Those typically the gymnastics are more on the weekends, and then basketball is during the week. So like there's one tonight, but um, I chose to do this instead.
SPEAKER_08Thank you for spending the night with us.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Oh yeah. No, I would not miss this. No way. Um, but um, you know, there it's a little bit more flexibility as to what I want to do at night. So, you know, I typically dinner and then I go hang out with friends, and then I come back and like, you know, I kind of chill up. But so unfortunately, the hard thing is we're not allowed to leave campus during the week. If we want to, we have to ask our program supervisor if we're allowed to. Typically the answer is no, but I'm actually pretty glad that it's that way. But uh, for me, I do also get to leave on weekends because I do a church event on Sundays and there's a church right across the road from my college. And so I have permission on weekends, Saturdays, and Sundays to go off campus to go do those events. And I'm also I'm very fortunate to be a part of two teams at that church. So I keep myself pretty busy um vocal-wise and like schedule-wise. I'm very tight on time. I barely get to sleep on Sundays because I'm always somewhere. So there's that. And I don't regret that either. Best decision I've ever made. And I also have a great support team around that church too. So like I have a lot of very great supportive people who, you know, regardless if I have a disability or not, they're very supported.
SPEAKER_08That's wonderful. And I hear that you've taken up karaoke, or maybe that was a long-standing interest.
SPEAKER_03Uh, so yes, yes. So I am currently doing karaoke at our college. We have like this like a little restaurant in like what we call our student center, or I guess the union, if you if that's what other people call it. We call it the Kent State University Student Center. In the bottom of our student center, there's like a little food restaurant and it has like a karaoke stand and whatnot. And like there's like a stage. So a lot of us will go during the week and do that with the regular like the regular students. A lot of people show up for that. So we love to sing and do fun activities. So there are that's one of our probably my favorite activities that I've done. And the other favorite that I've done is I went to a movie night at our pool. It's just a little bit of a walk, but we watched uh Lilo and Stitch, the new version at the pool. That was my other favorite because we got to like sit in the pool and watch a movie.
SPEAKER_08Yeah, interesting. So you could like float and watch. And like, what are you looking forward to as the semester progresses or next year?
SPEAKER_03Um, next year, I'm looking forward to rooming with two of my other best friends who are girlfriends. So three of us girls are gonna room together in another building. Yeah. So at the end of the year, I have the option to move out of my current dorm and room with someone, or if I decide I want to stay in my room as a single, but I'm actually looking forward to having one of my friends is from the program I'm in, and one of them is a regular student. So us three girls get along really well and we giggle and laugh just about every day. There's not a day we're not talking. So we're gonna room together next year, all the way up until our senior year.
SPEAKER_08Oh, wonderful. And, you know, particularly for students who are looking at similar non-degree programs, do you have advice on how to succeed in college, how to how to make friends like that?
SPEAKER_03Yeah. So honestly, branch out. Don't be afraid to find what you love. Find things that will interest you. Talk to people in your program, try to make a couple friends outside of your program because you never know who you're gonna meet. That's how I found one of my best friends was me and her just happened to like be on the same app for our college, and we started talking and we hit it off really well and became friends from there on. And we found out we live in the same city, which is actually very cool. Actually, I too, my and my other girlfriend actually lives in Pittsburgh too. So all three of us live in the same city, just in separate areas. But we're but we're all about 40 minutes from each other, so which isn't bad. But you know, branch out, have fun, relax, you know, try to sleep. I learned that the hard way. My first semester, I really struggled with sleep. I suffered from anxiety attacks as well. So I was constantly calling my boyfriend and constantly had friends around me to try to chill me out a little bit because I was so anxious for being away from home. So um, that was definitely hard. But I, my second semester, I have gotten better about that and I've gotten better at sleeping. So, you know, don't be afraid to take a melatonin or, you know, whatever might help you. But also rain apps, or if you have like a quiet app on your phone, like one that will play like calming sounds, that also helped me. I'm also on a medication for separate things, so you know, don't stop. Taking your medication that's prescribed by your doctor, please don't do that. I learned that as well the hard way. So but yeah, just enjoy it while it lasts. Take it every moment that you can. I've also been a part of the theater group. So I've gone to see a lot of theater shows and I'm currently trying out their show. Um, I'm waiting to hear if I got in. So, you know, keep yourself busy as busy as possible because then the last time you had to be sad about missing home. It's just that I found that was the best way for me to keep my mind off a missing home was to keep myself busy.
SPEAKER_08That's great. All right. Thank you so much for coming on our podcast. And um hopefully your advice will be really helpful to other students who are looking to consider a program like this one.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I'm I'm grateful to be here and I'm glad that uh you guys asked me to be here. So thank you.
SPEAKER_08The documentary film Autism Goes to College is currently available through many channels, but the easiest way to see it today is to rent it on Vimeo On Demand, which you can access from your Apple TV or most smart TVs by going on the Vimeo On Demand app. You can also find a direct link on our website at www.autismgoes to college.org. The film is also available for educational use and live and hybrid screening events. All the relevant info and links can be found on our website. Thank you so much for listening, following us on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok, and especially for adding your reviews on Apple Podcasts. Our show is specifically for students on the spectrum navigating college, and we really appreciate your support for Autism Goes to College. Thanks for listening.