Our History
Full Spectrum Learning (FSL) grew from Austin Peay State University's recognition that autistic students who possessed the academic ability to succeed in college often encountered a very different support environment once they left the structured services available in K–12 schools. Dr. Gina Harness, then Dr. Gina Grogan, was the program's principal architect and founding leader. Working with university colleagues and drawing on her background in special education, she helped translate that concern into an organized campus initiative.
In October of 2013, focus groups brought together APSU faculty and staff, students with and without autism diagnoses, university administration, parents, and community doctors and therapists to identify how Austin Peay could better support autistic students. Those conversations helped establish the program's early priorities: academic success, guidance for social and transition challenges, executive-functioning support, and greater understanding of autism across the university community.
From the outset, Grogan shaped FSL around a student-centered approach — the program would be student-driven, research-based, and responsive to the individuals it served. Students and mentors helped shape program components and even voted on the name "Full Spectrum Learning." The model that emerged incorporated peer mentoring, individualized tutoring, coaching, faculty support, and intentional preparation for life and employment beyond college. Grogan was directly involved in mentor selection and training, recruitment, and the early research used to evaluate and improve those supports. By 2016, APSU's student newspaper identified her as FSL's coordinator.
The first group of mentors was chosen and trained in the spring of 2014, and the first cohort entered the pilot program that fall. The 2015–2016 academic year was FSL's first as an official program at APSU. Today, the center is self-sustaining and a permanent part of Austin Peay's services.
Full Spectrum Learning Center at APSU continues to grow
Research
Three tenets that are central to Full Spectrum Learning are that it is student-driven, research-based, and self-sustaining. Having the program research-based ensures that results are measured and documented in such a way that they can be best used for continuous program improvement. Below are some of the current research projects being carried out at FSL to make sure we are providing the most effective program possible to students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD):
Using an adaptation of the teacher efficacy for inclusive practices (TEIP) scale by Park, Dimitrov, Das, and Gichuru, this study seeks to measure the effects of mentor and tutor training on their self-efficacy in addressing the cognitive, behavioral, and social skills of students with ASD. If we can empower student mentors and tutors to believe that they can work with and make a difference for students with ASD, then the recruitment, retention, and graduation of these students may improve in addition to the disposition and approach of those who work with them.
Because there may be a difference between the self-efficacy and the actual effectiveness of student mentors and tutors, we are also attempting to gauge the coaching ability of mentors in working with students with ASD and investigate differences, if any, between the two constructs. By examining the individualized goals and progress of mentees and how their mentors were able to facilitate the completion of those goals, we hope to provide guidance on improving the mentoring experience over the life of the program.
It is also important that students and faculty have empathy with those who are different from them. Using the La Monica Empathy profile by Rigolosi, this study seeks to inform program decisions on how to expand the empathy of those who work with individuals with ASD and advance the working relationships for all involved.