WKU Public Broadcasting is launching a unique work study initiative aimed at WKU college students on the Autism Spectrum. The David Brinkley Student Employment Fellowship program will provide hands-on job training for WKU students with autism.
A leading expert on guiding students with autism through the college experience, Dr. Jane Thierfeld Brown, said 80 percent of autistic college graduates are unemployed, and that needs to change.
"I was fortunate to be involved at Drexel University, that was a summit on autism at work with a lot of companies from the northeast," said Brown. "What they were really saying is colleges help us prepare students for the world of work, not just academically, but all those other skills that folks need. Help us give exposure so that this population can be ready."
The first two students in the David Brinkley Student Employment Fellowship program will begin work in the fall of 2019. The initiative is a joint partnership with the WKU Suzanne Vitale Clinical Education Complex and the Kelly Autism Program Circle of Support.
