![\"Austin](\"http:\/\/www.clarksvilleonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Austin-Peay-State-University-APSU.jpg\" "\\"Austin")
Clarksville, TN<\/strong> – Chloe Sybert didn\u2019t want help. She\u2019d heard about the new Full Spectrum Learning (FSL) pilot program at Austin Peay State University (APSU), which assisted students diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, but she hesitated filling out the program\u2019s application.<\/p>\n![\"APSU's](\"http:\/\/www.clarksvilleonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Austin-Peay-State-University-Full-Spectrum-Learning-program-helps-Autism-Spectrum-Students-succeed-2.jpg\" "\\"APSU's")
<\/a>APSU’s Marea Blake, senior biology and social work major, became a mentor to support students with autism.<\/p><\/div>\n
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\u201cOriginally, my mom bribed me to do it,\u201d she said. \u201cI didn\u2019t want anything to label me as autistic because I had a pride problem. I wanted to be able to do college without any extra help, but then I realized that having extra help, there isn\u2019t anything wrong with that. And I met friends and realized it wasn\u2019t that bad at all.\u201d<\/p>\n
Three years later, Sybert is an APSU sociology major earning straight As each semester, and the pilot program she joined is now a full center within the University\u2019s Eriksson College of Education.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe help students on the autism spectrum be successful in college,\u201d Emmanuel Mejeun, FSL director, said. \u201cIt\u2019s purely academic. We offer them individual peer tutoring, peer mentoring to help with socialization, faculty mentoring to help with career development. We monitor study hours. We meet at least twice a week, to see how they\u2019re going.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Austin Peay State University Full Spectrum Learning program mentors Lillan Pllard and Diamond Brant want their mentees to “be their best selves.”<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cAnd we offer a required course one hour a week every semester in which students learn academic responsibility, personal organization preferences, interpersonal communication, mastering executive functioning skills and professional development. During the final year, the course focus is on career readiness and a final job shadow assignment.\u201d<\/p>\n
While in high school, students diagnosed with autism follow an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) to help them succeed. At the college level, no such plan exists.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen they get into college, they have no structure,\u201d Mejeun said. \u201cFSL provides that structure, but only on the academic side of it. In addition to the FSL services, we work closely with Jamie McCrary, director of the Office of Disability Services, to ensure that FSL students receive the proper accommodations to be successful.\u201d<\/p>\n
[320left]Dr. Gina Grogan, APSU associate professor of education, first noticed this discrepancy between high school and college programs back in 2013. Two years later, she developed a campus focus group to study how the University could better support students with autism.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe received input from so many different people, including professors, students with and without autism, APSU staff and even community members as we tried to see what the University needed,\u201d she said in 2015.<\/p>\n
That fall, the pilot program was launched, and Grogan eventually hired graduate assistants to help oversee FSL. Mejeun was one of the graduate assistants. Now, as the program\u2019s director, he\u2019s working to expand the number of participants and FSL student mentors and tutors.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are benefits for the peer mentors, too,\u201d he said. \u201cPeer mentors can encounter different situations that call for compassion, decision-making and good listening skills. These transferrable skills can be used in any aspects of life, including any career path as mentors interact with classmates and co-workers.\u201d<\/p>\n