Jenna Olson is a 2020 MICC graduate and current Community program member.
MICC participant Jenna Olson joined a recent episode of “Today’s Autistic Moment,” hosted by Philip King-Lowe! Jenna shared her journey to independence through MICC’s College program and the two discussed several topics affecting the autistic community today, including leadership, inclusivity, careers, interdependence vs independence, and more.
Here are a few highlights from Jenna’s interview!
How did you find out about MICC?
My mom was the first one who found MICC. My high school was throwing a resource fair, and my mom attended, and then she later looked online and was just like, “this existed? How were you supposed to know that this existed?” So, she went online, and we went through it, and we set up an interview, and we went and, well, the first day that we went, it was more like a question to answer, you know, like, what is MICC? What do we offer? How can we support you? Stuff like that, and then the second, the second time I visited, it was an actual like spend a day here at MICC, where I spent some time with staff, and then we went and we spent some time in what’s called the Student Center, which is like a normal hangout area for participants, and I got to see, I got to tour an apartment which was really nice, a three bedroom apartment with roommates. And it’s basically, I got to feel what it would be like to be on the MICC campus, which was really nice.
What helped you know that you were in the right place?
I think having an instructor or advisor that you could go to if you had any issues, and then validating you saying, “Yeah, that sounds that sounds like a tricky situation. Let me help you through it.” Instead of saying, this is how, this is how you should handle this. This is how you need to think about this.
How did MICC help you engage in leadership?
Freshman year, there was a class taught by an instructor…called The Summit. And it was all about learning leadership skills….One of the opportunities that came from that class was to the opportunity to become a camp counselor for True Friends. Camp Friendship. It’s a non-profit organization based in Annandale, and it was a summer camp for everybody, for anybody with any kind of disability…Being a camp counselor did make you a leader in such that you were taking care of people with any kind of disability, and they really counted on you to be their leader because you were, you were basically their caretaker for a week…You know, I wish I had that when I was in high school, you know, someone who is Autistic or other learning differences, who graduated from high school, who’s been in the world to just sit down and talk about, you know what to expect? Because I didn’t know what to expect when I graduated high school. I didn’t have any plans. I didn’t know what I was going to do.
Is there something that you’re particularly thankful for having attended MICC that you haven’t really mentioned?
I’m thankful for MICC, in the sense that there is more than one type of Autistic person. When I was a freshman, I remember at the time that our class was one of the biggest classes that MICC ever had. Every single person either had an Autism diagnosis or was or had other learning differences. And that was an eye opener for me, because there are a lot of different ways that Autistics express themselves, right? That was, that was an eye opener for me, because I had never experienced that before…One lesson that MICC taught me, and the Autism Mentorship Program taught me is that just because somebody is quiet, it doesn’t mean that they don’t have anything to say. Right. Sometimes it takes a minute. Sometimes you have to slow down and let them think for a second before assuming that they don’t know what they want to talk about. Yeah, we’re assuming that they don’t have an answer.
Listen to the full episode here.
MICC and “Today’s Autistic Moment”
As a sponsor of “Today’s Autistic Moment,” MICC’s partnership with the podcast has been valuable in promoting a positive narrative about autism and supporting the neurodiversity movement. Philip King-Lowe, the host, has created a space where autistic individuals can share their stories and provide insights into their unique experiences. Through this partnership, MICC continues to demonstrate our commitment to autistic and neurodivergent adults creating and living the lives they want to live. Learn more about the podcast here.