Whether it was the unexplained anxiety he felt in new places or the inability to recognize who to talk to in a crowded room, he chalked up his disabilities to one diagnosis.

But he could feel there was something more. In ninth grade, he and his family decided to seek further answers, and after a few tests, another diagnosis emerged — autism.

“There was a weight on my shoulders, but now I know what it was,” he said. “Other people could actually see that (now), rather than me carrying around this invisible burden.”

Now an environmental biology junior at MSU, Treadwell is one of millions diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder across the nation, and one of 38 students with autism registered at MSU’s Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities, or RCPD.

As the worldwide diagnoses of autism increases, campus resources and research on autism is growing.

Small setting, big campus
Renee Craig, psychiatric and autism spectrum disability specialist at the RCPD, said the autism spectrum can affect students in a number of ways.

“It can range anything from not picking up on social cues or difficulty in social situations to (impaired) executive functioning skills, like organization and time management, or (difficulty) navigating the campus environment,” she said.

According to the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, an Autism Spectrum Disorder, or ASD, diagnosis includes autistic disorder, Asperger’s syndrome, childhood disintegrative disorder and pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified.

Although many students with ASDs attend community colleges after high school, Craig said more students are breaking the pattern and enrolling in larger universities.

“Higher education is something that is more in the picture now and something that is being pushed more,” she said. “There are higher expectations.”

Craig said more students are beginning to realize MSU still can provide smaller communities of support for individuals on the spectrum, such as the Building Opportunity for Networking and Discovery, or BOND, program established in 2010.

Media and information sophomore Elliot Zirulnik, who was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome in middle school, said because of his disability, the first few months at MSU weren’t the easiest.

“I was eating by myself, I was riding the bus by myself, I was sitting in class by myself and spending a lot of time by myself,” he said. “I really needed to ask myself why that was, because everyone else I saw was with someone.”

After joining BOND, he now spends time with the group enjoying water parks, visiting cider mills and going out other local venues, while working toward his goals for overcoming his disabilities — complimenting someone each day and trying harder to maintain eye contact during conversation.

Zirulnik also said he gives a Verified Individualized Services and Accommodations, or VISA, form to his professors each semester to inform the instructor of his specific academic needs.

Treadwell said students also can arrange to take an exam in another room, creating a focused setting with few distractions, where they can have more time to take the test or even have someone from the center read it to them.

Social stigma
According to a recent report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in 88 American children are diagnosed with an ASD, an increase from 2006’s report of one in 110 children.

Assistant professor of special education Summer Ferreri said there are several possible causes for the increase.

“Whenever you have a reduced stigma around a disability, you might find more individuals will seek that support,” she said. “Some parents would rather have a diagnosis of their child of autism rather than mental retardation.”

In regards to the stigma, Zirulnik said the connotations around the word autism make all the difference. When he tells someone he has Asperger’s syndrome, he said they might say, “That’s cool, you must be like Rain Man,” the main character in a popular movie about an autistic savant.

But when he says he has autism, it’s a different story.

“People say, ‘Aw, that’s so sad, you don’t seem autistic,’ which is such an ignorant thing to say,” he said.

Because his ASD is not as severe as many others’, Treadwell said it sometimes can be a hindrance in social situations.

“People might recognize me as just being a bit different but not actually having a medical disorder and expect me to act more like any other person,” he said. “If I don’t actually identify as a person having Asperger’s, then they’re much less likely to be understanding and accommodating.”

Moving forward
Through work by students and faculty such as Ferreri, the emphasis on autism research on campus is growing.

In spring 2011, Ferreri founded a master’s endorsement in Autism Spectrum Disorders, and after recently accepting a third wave of applications, she found many more applications than the program could take.

“We’ve had an huge increase in terms of all areas related to autism at MSU,” she said.

After graduation, Treadwell hopes to find a dream job working in a position that combines ecology with public policy and law. Despite his inability to escape his symptoms, Treadwell doesn’t plan on letting it keep him down.

“It’s a diagnosis I’ll have to live with for the rest of my life,” he said. “But … I can try to overcome the specific limitations of it and set a goal that would be traditionally seen as outside the realm of a person with an Autism Spectrum Disorder.”

Before Zirulnik found the support he needed in high school, he never saw himself at a school like MSU because of his autism. But now that he’s here, he can’t picture himself anywhere else,

“Through the years I’ve come to realize it’s just a word,” he said. “It didn’t change who I was or who I am. I’m still the same person before the diagnosis.”