Helping Students Reach New Heights: The NOCRC ARISE Lab
Consortium News
March 06, 2019
According to the latest data from the California Department of
Education, approximately 97,000 California public school students were
diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in 2018. That’s a 700 percent
increase since 2001.
The reasons for this dramatic rise are yet unknown, but may include a myriad of factors, such as the broader definitions of ASD and improved screening practices.
While K-12 schools across the country have been adopting practices to address the needs of this growing population, North Orange Continuing Education (NOCE) and the North Orange County Regional Consortium (NOCRC) are at the forefront of providing services that benefit all students, especially post-secondary students living with ASD.
“There’s this huge population of kids with Autism Spectrum Disorder coming
up through the K-12 system that wasn’t there before,” explains NOCE Disability Support
Services (DSS) Counselor Casey Sousa. “While it is not unusual to have labs or ‘sensory
rooms’ at K-12 schools, it’s still generally not an option in post-secondary
schools and colleges.”
NOCRC’s ARISE Lab is leading the charge to change that.
NOCRC’s DSS Workgroup developed ARISE, which stands for Academics,
Relationships, Independence, Self-Advocacy, and Emotional Health. The lab
itself, which was established on NOCE’s Anaheim Campus in late 2016, provides a
physical space where students with ASD can decompress, seek guidance, and
socialize with their peers. The ARISE Lab started as a place to serve the needs
of students with ASD, however, it soon became a tool utilized by a variety of
students with different needs.
“Many people can filter out the things we don’t want to pay
attention to, but a student with ASD might hear every tapping shoe or clicking pencil
and not be able to filter these things out in order to keep their attention
focused,” explains Sousa, who has an M.S. in Counseling with an emphasis in
Marriage and Family Therapy from California State University, Fullerton.
“You think about a college campus and all the sights, sounds, smells,
and you can see why this might be a struggle for someone who has attention or
sensory processing issues.”
The space that Sousa and her colleagues designed includes two
“low-stimulation” cubes with wing-back chairs, a small computer lab, and a
station with decompression tools such as art supplies, stress balls, fidget
cubes, headphones, and various other items. The lab is also home to an on-site
academic counselor and staff members for students who need guidance or just want
someone to talk to.
“A lot of students make the ARISE Lab their first stop when they arrive
to school,” says Sousa. “Some want to just sit, others want to talk, but they
come here, orient themselves, mentally prepare for school, and then go to
class. Routines can be important to people with ASD and it’s nice to see that some
of them feel safe enough to make us part of their routine. It’s rewarding to
provide this service to them.”
In addition to providing a sensory-friendly space, the ARISE Lab employees
also help students who need special accommodations.
“Our first objective is always to figure out what a student’s needs
are, and then we look for a solution,” says Sousa. “We had one student who was
having a really hard time with [classroom] noise which was leading to explosive
behaviors. The solution was pretty simple. We gave him some earplugs to cut out
the noise and had him sit at the front of the class so he could better hear the
professor.”
To date, the lab has helped more than 150 students and has been such
a success that NOCE has added their own “mobile” ARISE Labs at the Wilshire Center
and Cypress Center. Sousa is working with administration to find these new labs
permanent homes and is excited about the future.
Although the lab was developed for students with ASD in mind,
students who simply feel anxious or overwhelmed can access the free and
supportive lab. The counselors have developed a peer-mentoring program.
“NOCE serves approximately 30,000 students annually, which means
there are potentially a lot of students who could use our services,” says
Sousa. “So far, the majority of the students we serve are from DSS Program classes,
but over the last 6-8 months, more students from other NOCE programs are
starting to access the lab, and that’s rewarding.”
The ARISE Lab has been so successful, it was honored with a 2019 “Excellence
in Continuing Education Award” from the Association of Community and Continuing
Education (ACCE), the professional association dedicated to supporting California’s
noncredit community college and community services programs.
“I didn’t realize how much of a privilege going to school was when I
was young,” reflects Sousa. “It’s exciting to see how hard our students are
working to show others that they can be independent and overcome obstacles. Everyone
at NOCE seems to feel the same way; we all want to see these students succeed.”
Sousa and the DSS Workgroup are excited about what the future holds
and remain committed to helping all students by providing them with the tools
they need to reach their educational and career goals.
For more about the ARISE Lab or the DSS Workgroup, contact Ivan
Stanojkovic, DSS Special Projects Manager, at 714-462-4554.