Ohio State program provides pathway for students with disabilities to continue education

TOPS students partaking in a social event at the TopGolf driving range. Credit: Emily DeMooy

Transition Options in Postsecondary Settings, commonly known as TOPS, is working to aid students with disabilities as they forge their career paths. 

TOPS, a two- to four-year Workplace Development Certificate program for Ohio State students with intellectual and developmental disabilities, provides a space for students to take college courses, be a part of the social community on campus, gain work and internship experience and live independently. 

Jessie Green, research assistant professor in the Nisonger Center, the program overseeing TOPS, said the ultimate goal is community employment after graduation.

“We are looking at the opportunity for students to have that undergraduate experience with the added support that the program provides,” Green said.

This semester, Green said four out of the 27 students enrolled will graduate and 13 more will join in the fall.

“We’re actually looking to expand a little bit to increase the program size,” Green said.

TOPS offers resources and classes to help students discover and explore their interests with the hopes of turning them into future careers, including courses focusing on topics such as self and career exploration, budgeting and time management. 

Students also take courses from the Ohio State course catalog. Green said there are over 300 different courses from Ohio State’s catalog that students have taken over the years.

“We are constantly adding courses that students are like ‘Hey, I have an interest in this,’” Green said.

Krista Lowden, a first-year in the program, said she originally never planned to go to college before hearing about TOPS. Lowden said the program has allowed her to explore her interests, become a part of the Ohio State community and learn important skills.

“If it wasn’t for the TOPS program, I wouldn’t even have gotten into college,” Lowden said.

Lowden said she has taken classes on finding her interests, motivation, and stress and time management. She also participates in TOPS community service events and volunteers with the Buckeye Food Alliance student-run food pantry. 

“I don’t think I would have had the opportunity otherwise,” Lowden said about her campus involvement.

Lowden is also a member of the student organization RallyCap Sports, which provides a space for people with special needs to play sports.

“It’s just great that we have the opportunity,” Lowden said. “It’s helping me learn to interact more socially.” 

Colin Batten, another first-year in the TOPS program, said he has enjoyed his experience at Ohio State, but one part in particular stood out to him: learning what it means to be a Buckeye.

Batten said that means helping to create a community on campus by being a member of student organizations. 

To Batten, the most impactful thing about Ohio State for him has been “just getting involved with different clubs around campus.” 

He is a member of several groups, including Block O, the official student section for athletic events, Buckeye Buddies, which promotes inclusivity through sports, Friendship Circle at Ohio State, providing a positive space for children with developmental disabilities and Best Buddies, a nonprofit fostering friendships between individuals with and without disabilities.

In selecting from this growing catalog of classes, Green said students work with their instructor to develop a path for completing the course that works for them. The program also offers accommodations so students can demonstrate what they learned in a course, such as reducing the length of papers for TOPS students or finding alternative exam formats for students with test anxiety. 

According to Green, many of the courses TOPS students take are audited, meaning they are not taken for a grade, but Green said this is done so they can modify the coursework. 

“The expectation that we start with is that they are completing all assignments as if they were taking the course for credit,” Green said.

While there are over 320 other inclusive postsecondary education programs like TOPS across the country, Green said TOPS is special as it heavily considers students’ wants and needs. Sometimes policies — such as the lack of inclusive housing options for TOPS students and the GPA requirement for Greek life participation — hinder the ability for students to participate in communal opportunities at Ohio State, so Green said students work with administrators to come up with creative solutions to support TOPS students. 

Green said one of the most successful examples of this is working to provide an inclusive on-campus housing option for TOPS students. In 2021, they were finally able to offer the option and are currently working on allowing its students to participate in Greek life.

“They are right alongside other students at the university in housing,” Green said. “We would love to expand that because we have a lot more interest than the beds we have right now.”

The program also has undergraduate student mentors who help to offer many services to TOPS students. Student mentors can serve as educational coaches who accompany and help students to class and with their coursework; tutors in the productivity lab at McCampbell Hall; and can work with students in TOPS-only classes and as social coaches who help facilitate social events with TOPS students, Green said.

“We rely heavily on mentors,” Green said. “We don’t want it to also be a token friendship, either. But our students and our mentors often form friendships that go beyond the mentorship component.”

Sully Stois, a first-year in psychology, said he has been a tutor in the productivity lab and social coach since January. He said he typically works with two to six students a day on a variety of assignments, including workforce development and the job application process.

“I love it, it’s one of my favorite parts of the day,” Stois said.

For a social event, Stois said he worked with five students to plan a trip out to the restaurant First Watch, which was a rewarding experience as he forged a relationship with TOPS students outside of the classroom.

“We’re able to talk about stuff other than just work,” he said. “Talk about our actual lives, goals and what they want.”

He said this experience has inspired his career aspirations.

“Now that I’ve been involved, I plan on working back home with people with developmental and intellectual disabilities,” Stois said.