Class on the Spectrum: MayX immerses students in autism community

Greenville, SC – Gray Bradach ’26 takes a break from a noisy atmosphere in a Furman University North Village pavilion to talk about autism. Before this summer, she didn’t know much about people with autism, and was unsure even how to interact with them. But it’s a cool, cloudy Friday afternoon, and soon four young men with autism from the Mary Sunshine House in Central, South Carolina, will arrive for tours of Furman, a little pickleball, and some grilled bratwursts with students in the MayX course Autism in the Community.

Increasing Awareness and Creating a Workforce

The course introduced Bradach and 12 other students to life on the autism spectrum. More importantly, it made them more aware of jobs available to new college graduates that are desperately needed in the autism community, positions such as behavioral therapists, early interventionists, and others. “There’s a huge need in our community for people who understand autism and service providers. There are long wait lists, and families cannot get services,” said Erin Hahn, professor and chair of psychology at Furman.

Building Compassion and Understanding

Over the three-week MayX, students visited the Mary Sunshine House in Central, South Carolina, several times, as well as the Trailhead Community Farm School near Furman’s campus and Hope Academy in Greenville. They also met with someone from the state’s Department of Disability Services and participated in a family panel that featured individuals with autism. Students were initially nervous about interacting with people with autism, but soon recognized how much they had in common with these individuals, allowing for meaningful conversations and understanding to emerge.

Impacting Future Careers

While the hope is that Furman students will go on to make significant policy changes or open funding for people with autism, simply knowing that students will take awareness and understanding into whatever careers they pursue is progress. Even in everyday situations, such as witnessing a child having a meltdown at the grocery store, the increased awareness can lead to a different level of compassion toward the individual and their family.

Expanding the Reach

Each year, through SC LEND, Furman sends undergraduate students to advanced training for working with people with autism. Furman is the only university allowed to send undergraduates through the program. The MayX course aims to give more students a shorter version of this type of training, with the hope that it can become a model for other universities across the country to reach undergraduates.

Personal Growth and Connections

In the pavilion, students and individuals from the Mary Sunshine House engage in activities together, breaking down barriers and fostering connections. What started as uncertainty and nervousness for many students turned into eye-opening experiences and increased awareness. As Gray Bradach remarked, “It’s been surprising that my eyes haven’t been as open before. I’m definitely more aware than I was before. I came in wondering how I was going to interact with them.”