Programs and services
One-to-one support for autistic students in an accredited college or continuing education program, already enrolled or about to be.
College is one of the first times most people are really on their own, and that's hard for anybody. A navigator meets a student regularly, usually on their own campus, and works on the parts of college that aren't the coursework: building a schedule that survives the week, booking the advisor appointment, getting between two classes that are back to back, and finding where your people are.
It costs your family nothing.
We can't tell you the square root of pi. We can help you work out how to find your own answer.
Autistic students who are enrolled in college, or about to be.
The service is funded through the Massachusetts Department of Developmental Services (DDS), so a student needs DDS eligibility too.
Who it fits
Enough independence that getting to class on your own is realistic, a rough idea of what you want next, and goals you actually want to reach. You don't need a career plan or a declared major to start.
At a college
Two-year or four-year. Most of what a navigator works on there is shaped by the campus itself: two classes back to back, finding the advisor's office, working out where your people are.
Continuing education, or a trade
Any accredited program counts, including continuing education, a trade school or an apprenticeship.
Three things have to be true. A student needs an autism diagnosis, needs to be receiving DDS services or be eligible for them, and needs to be enrolled in an accredited program.
Where you live
Your family needs to live in our service area, which runs from the tip of the Cape up to Quincy and west to Attleboro.
Where the college is
The college doesn't have to be in our area, but your navigator has to be able to get there and back. Past about a thirty to forty minute drive, that stops working. A college out of state is a conversation with your DDS service coordinator, the person at DDS who arranges your services, about what DDS will fund.
Enrollment first
You can start talking to us before you enroll. The service starts once you're enrolled.
Not sure your town is in our service area? Check the map on our About page.
If you're not sure where you stand with DDS, call us and we'll find out with you. Our Family Support team helps families apply.
If you're not sure college is the right step yet, say so when you call, and we'll talk through other options first.
What a navigator actually does
About an hour, usually in person, usually on your own campus, in the gaps between classes.
How an hour is spent
The first meeting sets goals: what to get done this term, the larger things behind that, and why you're at college at all. After that each session is whatever you decide to work on.
Usually one-to-one. Where several students are working toward the same thing, we'll run it as a group instead.
Some of what that looks like
Planning a week of coursework in an order that holds up.
Learning how to book an advisor appointment, then booking it.
Writing the email to a professor you've been putting off.
Finding campus support services, working out what to ask for, and going.
Learning the campus: which building is which, and how long it really takes to get between classes. Five minutes often isn't enough.
Working out how you study best. Index cards work for some people and not for others.
Finding out how a course is run before you commit to it, taught in class or mostly from the syllabus, so you can plan the term.
Finding your people: clubs and groups, from art to D&D to a history club. Most campuses have them, and they're hard to find from outside.
Sitting quietly alongside while you work. Some people call this body doubling. It doesn't help with the task itself. It helps you start and keep going.
You run the hour
The session belongs to you. A navigator can suggest a direction but won't pick one.
The information belongs to you too. We don't contact anyone about you, parents included, without your permission. The only exception: DDS requires us to share service information with your service coordinator, and we include you in that wherever we can.
What it is not
Not tutoring. Not academic support. A navigator doesn't sit in on classes and doesn't do the coursework. Finding you a tutor or a note taker is squarely part of the job. Doing the work for you isn't, and wouldn't help.
Someone to talk to
Often the hardest part of college isn't the coursework. It's having less energy some weeks than everyone around you assumes you have. A navigator is also someone to think out loud with and to vent to, and that's part of the service.
Starting over socially
You can be known and liked by everyone in high school and arrive somewhere nobody knows you. That's a real loss even when nothing has gone wrong, and it's something you can bring to a session.
How to get connected
Most of it looks like this
One person working, another alongside to help keep it going.
Questions people actually ask
College Navigation is one-to-one support from Community Autism Resources (CAR) for autistic students in college or another accredited program. A navigator meets with a student regularly, usually on campus, and helps with the parts of college outside the coursework: getting around campus, keeping a schedule, talking to an advisor, finding friends, and knowing what to do when something goes wrong. It's funded by the Massachusetts Department of Developmental Services (DDS), at no cost to the family.
There's no cost to your family; DDS funds it. A student needs an autism diagnosis, needs to be receiving DDS services or be eligible for them, and needs to be enrolled in college or about to be. If you're not sure where you stand with DDS, call us and we'll find out with you.
Readiness looks like enough independence to get to class, some idea of what your student wants next, and goals they want to reach. They don't need a career plan. If you're not sure college is the right step, CAR's Gottschall Access Program (GAP) is a three-year college experience on the Bristol Community College campus, funded by DDS at no cost, where a student can try campus life first. Call us and we'll talk through which fits.
No. A navigator doesn't tutor or sit in on classes, but helping a student find a tutor or a note taker is part of the job. Navigators help with everything around the coursework: a schedule that leaves time to study, the email to a professor, an appointment with campus support services, and knowing where to go when something isn't working.
Email Jackson Costa at jcosta@communityautism.org or call 508-379-0371. We'll help you find your DDS service coordinator if you don't know who that is, and you'll ask them for College Navigation through CAR by name. Your coordinator sets the hours and level of support with us. Then we arrange who your navigator will be, and when and where you'll meet.
About an hour, usually in person on the student's campus, often between classes. The first meeting sets goals for the term. After that the student decides what each session is for: planning the week's coursework, booking an advisor appointment, or working quietly alongside the navigator to get a task started, which some people call body doubling. Sessions are usually one to one, and when several students share a goal we sometimes run a group. The navigator can suggest a direction; the student chooses.
It's set with DDS. Your service coordinator chooses a level of support. Low covers the social side; medium and high add things like emailing professors, working with campus support services and getting around an unfamiliar campus. Some students want half an hour a week and others need several hours, and the first semester usually takes more time than later ones.
Your family needs to live in our service area, and the map on our About page shows every town we serve. The college can be outside it, as long as your navigator can reach it. We've worked with students at Bristol Community College and UMass Dartmouth. A navigator has to be able to get there and back, and past about a thirty to forty minute drive that stops working. A college out of state is a conversation with your service coordinator about what DDS will fund. Any accredited program counts, including continuing education and trade schools. DDS has approved navigation for a student at an accredited mechanics apprenticeship school.
Only with your student's permission. We don't contact anyone, parents included, unless the student agrees. The one exception: DDS requires us to share service information with the student's service coordinator, and we include the student in that wherever we can. If your student wants you kept informed, that's easy to set up.
Yes. GAP is on the Bristol Community College campus, so a GAP student who takes a college course can have College Navigation for that course. Individualized Support can also run alongside College Navigation, for things outside college like budgeting and getting around. Healthy Relationships & PEERS® runs on its own schedule, so it fits alongside either. Each CAR program has its own approval from DDS. Tell your service coordinator what you'd like to try next. Because DDS already knows you through CAR, that's usually a short conversation, and we handle the rest.
Already in GAP?
You can do both. A GAP student adding a single college course can have a navigator for that course.
Life outside college: budgeting, getting around independently, building a life off campus. That's Individualized Support, and students often do both at once.
Friendships, dating, relationships: that's Healthy Relationships & PEERS®.
