Eligibility Requirements

Candidate Requirements

To be eligible for the H.O.W.L. Transition Program, a candidate must meet the following requirements:

• Function without attendant care for personal needs.
• Independently and accurately manage and administer their own medications.
• Ability to independently communicate basic needs and wants.
• The applicant must have an identifiable (e.g., IEP, psychoeducational report: must have been conducted within the past two years) intellectual disability and/or autism.
• The age range of students to be accepted is approximately 18 – 26 years of age.
• The applicant must be free of any communicable diseases that are transmissible by causal contact and all immunizations must be up to date. He or she must have health insurance.
• The applicant must have received a diploma or certificate of completion or equivalent from a high school program.
• The applicant must be able to live on campus.
• The applicant must possess enough self-help skills and responsibility to safely and independently function in his/her apartment with minimum to no supervision during all program hours.

Required while in Program

• The applicant must have acceptable social behavior, verified by previous schools, family, and/or agency personnel as well as the ability to get along with peers, follow rules, and accept supervision.
• The applicant must be willing to attend all hours of instruction a week, as well as the supported learning during after-hours and weekends.
• The applicant must have a strong desire to complete the program and live independently.

Who is Eligible?

Intellectual Disability

The Department of Education at Arkansas State University (A-State) will provide students with intellectual disabilities (ID) an inclusive college experience.  Intellectual disability is defined by the Higher Education Act as:

A student—

(A) With a cognitive impairment, characterized by significant limitations in—

• intellectual and cognitive functioning; and
• adaptive behavior as expressed in conceptual, social, and practical adaptive skills; and

(B) Who was formerly, eligible for a free appropriate public education under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

Autism Spectrum Disorder

In addition to students with ID, The Department of Education at Arkansas State University (A-State) will provide students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) social and vocational support through the HOWL Program.

 A student with ASD is described as:

(A) Having a current medical diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) with significant limitations in–

• adaptive behavior as expressed in conceptual, social, and practical adaptive skills; and 
• who was formerly, eligible for a free appropriate public education under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA); and