Starting in the fall of 2025, Roanoke College implemented the ASPire program to support neurodivergent students. ASPire (Autistic Support Program) provides resources for students at the school to navigate and adjust to the college transition.
According to the Child Mind Institute, students with autism and learning disabilities often have a hard time transitioning to college, because in high school they were supported by individual education programs (IEPs). These IEP plans allowed for students to be supported in their neurodivergence while maintaining a healthy learning environment. Students had testing and classroom accommodations, supportive counseling services, and a collaborative relationship with teachers and staff.
The transition to college without this plan can sometimes come as a shock. The ASPire program seeks to supplement this loss, and help assist students in excelling in their academic endeavors.
However, the Roanoke College website states the program is designed to support more than simply academics. It is also centered around developing social and personal skills “needed to thrive in college and beyond”. Several features of the program help build confidence and independence in students.
To achieve their goals of supporting academics and social skills, the program offers peer mentorships that pair a student with an upper-classman at the college. In these mentorships they are given constant support and guidance. Mentors help students create definable goals, routines, and habits. They are there to be a coach, but also a familiar and friendly face on campus.
Junior Alaina Rogers works as one of these peer mentors. When looking for jobs on Handshake, she saw an opportunity to be a mentor. With career goals to work with people with disabilities and neurodivergence, the job seemed perfect for her.
ASPire has given Rogers a clearer idea of the social work field by providing boots on the ground experience.
“It has taught me a lot how autism impacts people’s everyday lives,” Rogers explains. As a mentor, she assists her assigned participants in tasks such as sending and replying to emails from professors, creating weekly plans, and creating resumes. She meets with each mentee once a week to discuss how she can support them in their academic and social lives.
Since starting with ASPire, she has not only gained experience to benefit her future career, but she also feels more connected with students on campus.
“It has been really meaningful watching people I’ve been mentoring grow and succeed,” she states. Rogers and other mentors attend events with their mentees to support their interests and accomplishments.
The program also holds weekly workshops where students focus on more specific skills, like self-care and study skills. These workshops are specifically designed to be beneficial to students with neurodivergence.
Students must be registered with Accessible Education Services (AES) in order to participate in the program. You can fill out an application online or meet with AES to apply for services.
AES also has pre-existing programs designed to benefit students with neurodivergence. Classroom and housing accommodations can be made through them, further creating an accepting and accommodating campus environment. This is in addition to Student Health and Counseling Services, who provide services for students as well.
Several departments, like Psychology, are creating spaces for students with neurodivergence to study, with sensory friendly lounges and study rooms. These rooms have accommodations such as vibrating bean bag chairs, non-scented fidget toys, and sound machines to benefit students in the building.
ASPire is the start of a new initiative at the college of taking into account different learning styles and better accommodating to those.
“ASpire is moving the college in a better direction to support neurodivergent students” Rogers closes.
Kara Hopkins
News Editor
