Date: Wednesday, November 20, 4:00-5:00 pm ET.
Cost: Free for College Autism Network members. $50 for non-members.
Join us for a conversation with an experienced university attorney as we explore the challenges and responses to disruptive student behavior in the classroom and beyond. Questions we’ll address:
- What role does disability play in determining appropriate (and legal) strategies for supporting a student whose behavior in a classroom and elsewhere is seen as disruptive to the learning environment?
- Characteristics often related to autism (blurting, stimming, disproportionate responses, unexpected social interactions) present challenges to faculty and peers who wish to be supportive. How do we balance empathy and expectations?
- Other environments are relevant as well: residence halls, dining facilities, student organizations. What are obligations and strategies for supporting autistic and other neurodivergent students when their behaviors make it challenging to conduct “business as usual?” How far can we go, should we go, and must we go, to reconcile sometimes-competing interests?
Attorney Madelyn Wessel will be joined by John Caldora, Assistant Director of Student Accessibility at Sacred Heart University and Alli MacNamara, Director of College Support at the Kinney Center for Autism Education and Support at St. Joseph’s University for a thoughtful discussion about a challenging topic. Lee Burdette Williams, Executive Director of the College Autism Network, will facilitate the conversation. Audience members will have an opportunity to ask questions of the speakers.
About the Presenters
Madelyn Wessel
Madelyn Wessel is a higher education lawyer who has held numerous positions at private and public universities. Most recently, Madelyn was Cornell University’s General Counsel, where she supervised and directed all legal services for the University. Before Cornell, she served as University Counsel for Virginia Commonwealth University and as a Senior Assistant Attorney General for the Commonwealth of Virginia. She is currently Senior Counsel at the law firm Hogan Lovells.
John Caldora
John Caldora is Assistant Director of the Office of Student Accessibility at Sacred Heart University in Connecticut, Previously, he was the creator of the Neurodiverse Educational and Social Initiative at the University of Kentucky. John has over a decade of experience training college staff and faculty on supporting neurodivergent students. John has previously worked in student conduct, residence life, and behavioral intervention and threat assessment.
Alli MacNamara
Alli MacNamara is Director of the ASPIRE Program, part of the Kinney Center for Autism Education and Support at St. Joseph’s University where she has provided counseling, case management and education and career counseling support to autistic students since 2019.
Lee Burdette Williams
Lee Burdette Williams has been Executive Director of the College Autism Network since 2019. Prior to working with CAN, Lee was the Dean of Students at the University of Connecticut and the Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students at Wheaton College (MA). In both of these roles, Lee frequently moderated situations involving disability, disruption, student conduct and Title IX concerns.
