By Jim Smilie

It never hurts to ask.

That point was proven when the parent of an autistic child asked Louisiana State University of Alexandria Chancellor Dr. Paul Coreil what the school could offer as a program for special needs students like her daughter. The result was the creation of the LSUA SPERO program, the first inclusive program for students at any LSU System school.

“She wanted equality for her daughter,” explained SPERO Director Brittany Soden, noting the woman had twins and wanted each to have the same opportunities even though one was diagnosed with autism. SPERO stands for Special Program for the Enhancement of Resources and Opportunities. “SPERO translates to ‘I hope’ in Latin,” Soden added, noting the innovative new program provides hope and new opportunities for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Speaking to members of the Alexandria Rotary Club Tuesday afternoon, Soden explained SPERO is a four-year post-secondary education program open to students 18-28 with identified intellectual and developmental disabilities that launched in the fall of 2022. To participate, students must have earned a high school diploma, career diploma or equivalent and be ineligible for regular college admission. Rather than an academic degree, students completing the program earn a Certificate of Completion.

Soden said the program focuses on three specific objectives: improving daily living skills, social skills and employment skills. Daily living skills include things like learning to wash clothes, wash dishes, proper nutrition and how to cook. Regarding social skills, Soden said it is often more difficult for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities to make friends because they don’t always communicate in traditional ways. “Here, they have access to groups of friends, which is a whole new ballgame,” Soden said.

The goal is to empower the students to be able to care for themselves rather than relying on a parent or caregiver to do things for them. “We teach advocacy skills so they can learn to stand up for themselves,” Soden said.

Regarding employment skills, Soden noted that employers are having trouble finding people who want to work and these students are eager to work. The program teaches basic skills needed to get a job, including how to handle an interview, how to shake hands with an interviewer and how to make and maintain eye contact — all things that are often a challenge for those with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

“They are teaching us more than we ever knew we needed to know,” Soden said. “They have the capability, they just haven’t been given the opportunity.”

While the students are not pursuing an academic degree, they attend classes to have the classroom experience. “They audit the classes, so they don’t take them for credit,” Soden said. They also get to work with student mentors and participate in on-campus events and activities like any other student.

Melva Villard, the mother of one of the SPERO students, said she has seen significant benefit from the program for her daughter. She said her daughter, who was diagnosed with autism as a freshman in high school, has become more independent and her academic skills have improved during her first year in the program. Villard said it was “a gut punch” when her daughter discovered she didn’t have the same opportunities as her friends and peers. “And there were no programs unless I moved somewhere,” she said.

Soden said funding for the program comes primarily from grants and donations. In fact, planning for the program started just before the COVID pandemic and they took two years to raise enough funds to launch the program. In addition to private donations, SPERO has received funding support from the Blue Cross & Blue Shield Foundation, the U.S. Department of Education, the Coughlin Saunders Foundation as well as a grant from the LA Board of Regents. Recently, the program was designated as a Comprehensive Transition Program, making SPERO students eligible to receive federal financial aid.

A number of SPERO students joined Soden for the meeting. “It’s surreal to see them here today,” Soden said. “They just completed their first year of college, and now they are sitting here today with members of the Rotary Club.”

For more information about the program visit www.lsua.edu/spero.