Meet Billie

This persona is a fictional profile of a 91福利 student. It was created using data to reflect the challenges, successes, and overall experiences of some of our students.

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Young fair skinned individual with light brown eyes, short and curly dark blond hair and well kept beard looking directly at the camera

Age: 26 years old

Work: Works at Sam鈥檚 Club in Bangor

Major: Forestry

Family: In a relationship, youngest of four siblings

Challenge: Autism Spectrum Disorder, Diabetes

Language(s) spoken: American English

Location: Veazie, ME

Home is: Veazie, ME

Pronouns: they/them

Assistive Technology: Smart personal assistant, noise filtering ear plugs, phone app to track blood glucose

Billie was born and raised in the greater Bangor area in Maine. This year is the first time they live alone, outside of the family home and they are still adjusting to their new living conditions and schedule. Living independently is a big step for Billie.

鈥淪ometimes people who learn that I am on the spectrum don鈥檛 ask about me as a person and assume that I don鈥檛 want to connect with others.鈥

鈥淧eople often make assumptions about what I am feeling based on their misinterpretation of my non-verbal cues. It is tiring work to try to 鈥榝it in鈥. I just want to be myself.鈥

鈥淚 use my cellphone to help me manage my diabetes, but in some of my classes cellphones are not allowed. This makes me nervous because I am afraid to miss an alert or reminder.鈥

鈥淥ne of my professors uses euphemisms in class all the time and I don鈥檛 get it. Why not say things clearly? Then everybody can understand!鈥

鈥淥ne of my classes this semester has more than a hundred students in it, and everybody makes so much noise all the time. I can never focus and it stresses me out.鈥

  1. Ability to record lectures or review videos/materials after class
  2. Very clear directions using plain language
  3. Low-distraction testing environment (lighting, soundproofing, etc.)
  4. More small group/or individual instruction depending on preference
  5. Allow students to make reasonable use of technology in the classroom (note taking, assistive technology, emergencies)

Many more students can benefit from these teaching strategies. 

鈥淚 joined a few student clubs about the outdoors and the environment.鈥

鈥淚 like that the third floor of the Fogler library is a quiet zone. I can study more easily there.鈥

  •  is a great resource. The network published: 鈥淣avigating College A Handbook on Self Advocacy Written for Autistic Students from Autistic Adults鈥 which you can find under the 鈥淩esources鈥 tab on their website.
  • Explore resources and training sessions offered by CITL by visiting the Events and Programs section of the CITL website
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