College Autism Summit 2020

The College Autism Network is pleased to announce our opening speaker, Robia Rashid, creator of the Netflix series "Atypical," and our closing speaker, Anthony J. Pacilio, Vice President and Global Head of Autism at Work for JP Morgan Chase. They will be joined by Perry LaRoque, author of "Taking Flight: College for Students with Disabilities, Diverse Learners and Their Families" and founder and president of Mansfield Hall. 

Registration as a member is based on individual membership status. If you are employed by a college or university that is an institutional member, you can join as an individual member at the $75 rate. This gives you the conference registration and a year of membership for less than the non-member registration fee. If your institution is NOT a member, then you will need to join at the associate affiliate rate of $242 and then you can pay the individual member rate for conference registration. Visit the Membership section of the NASPA website to learn about membership types.

Registration  (through October 26)

NASPA/CAN Member

$149

Non-member

$249

Family Member or K-12 Professional (non-higher education employee)

$100

NASPA/CAN Student Member

$75

Preconference Workshop

$50 (each)

We are pleased to offer two preconference workshops at the Summit. Both will occur on Tuesday, October 27 and each involves about 3 hours of content. It is possible to participate in both.

Session 1: Building, Expanding or Improving a College Program for Students with Autism (Tuesday, Oct 27, 11 am-1 pm ET with an additional hour of asynchronous content)

Many colleges, universities and programs for students with autism are looking for unique ways to provide supports. This preconference workshop will assist participants in planning creative supports using examples from around the country. Topics will include: establishing a campus wide response; options for developing a mentoring program; the importance of keeping a career ready focus, and using key performance indicators to evaluate program effectiveness. 

The presenters will address many of the above issues, and more, in a unique virtual environment.  The initial session will be a pre-recorded information sharing session followed by a one hour open dialogue, giving participants an opportunity to share ideas and learn from one another. We will end the pre-conference with a moderated panel of service providers and students discussing important considerations, emerging best practices, and ways to improve existing supports. 

Jane Thierfeld Brown, Ed.D has worked in Student Affairs, Disabiltiy Services for 40 years and specializes in working with college students with autism.  

Laurie Ackles, MSW is Director of the Spectrum Support Program at Rochester Institute of Technology and a leading authority on college autism programs.

 

Session 2: Preparing Students to Transition to Employment: It’s Not the End but the Beginning (Tuesday, October 27, 2-4 pm ET with an additional hour of asynchronous content)

Many programs across the country push for successful graduation of their neurodivergent students.  For others this is just the beginning of the road to achieve positive outcomes data and to have those graduates obtain sustainable and meaningful employment.  This preconference workshop will assist professionals in planning and following the road map that leads to successful transition out of college programming and into vocational endeavors.  Topics will include 1) Curriculum areas that a vocational transition program should contain, 2) How to build relationships and partnership with corporate entities, 3) How to build in vocational opportunities before students graduate 4) Pinpoint Planning and other lessons learned.  

Bradley McGarry is Director of the Autism Initiative at Mercyhurst University  

Teresa Thomas is The MITRE Corporation's Program Lead for Neurodiverse Talent Enablement

 

 

Join any or all of the four Research Symposium sessions happening during the Summit. Each session is an opportunity for scholars working on the cutting edge of autism-in-college research to share their current work, inviting attendees to share their insights and prompt questions about research related to the scholar's area of expertise. In the Capstone session, four scholars will provide an overview of the state of autism-in-college research based on what they have heard throughout the Summit.  

All events are in Eastern Standard TIme. A more detailed schedule will be posted as information becomes available.

Interested in sponsoring this event? Click here for the application. Have questions? Contact Kristie Jerde, Assistant Director, Advertising and Exhibits.