When Lori Rickles packed up her family’s life in New Jersey and moved to Miami during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, she wasn’t chasing sunshine or a new job — she was chasing a dream. Her son, Benjamin Do, recently graduated from high school, was eager to go to college, and needed something New Jersey didn’t offer.
That future came into focus through the Embrace Center for Advancing Inclusive Communities, a program created at Florida International University that supports individuals with autism and other developmental differences.
“There was nothing like this in New Jersey,” Rickles said. “We uprooted our family entirely […] we just knew that we couldn’t delay my son’s future, any success he might have.”
Do, 22, has autism, and began as a non-degree seeking student in the education program in 2021. He was living on campus while learning independent living skills and receiving tailored academic support. Due to the support Embrace has offered, today he’s a full-time degree-seeking student, studying digital animation and minoring in art history, building a career path rooted in creativity, technology and hard work.
“I am becoming more independent and confident,” Do says. “ I am also learning skills that can help me find full-time work and make meaningful contributions to our community.”
Created in 2014, Embrace was initiated with the goal of providing medical and behavioral health care to adults with autism and related conditions. By 2016, it had expanded to offer training opportunities with partnered companies, independent living skills and pathways into FIU education.
Students in the program receive individualized guidance from an assigned mentor who supports their academic, personal, and social growth. This mentoring often includes weekly check-ins to help organize their course loads, navigate their assignments, and build time-management skills. Beyond academics, mentors also provide additional support in the dorms and classrooms to provide students the tools they need to live independently and succeed on campus.
The program also includes workshops where skills are developed by attending seminars on life skills such as budgeting, job interviews, and mental health. They learn to cook as a group, shopping for ingredients and preparing meals on campus. And they ride the bus between campuses, learning to navigate the city the same way any other student would — just with a bit more guidance.
“Embrace is helping me realize my dreams. I saw my sister and cousins go to college. I wanted that. It’s only here that I can make that happen,” Do says.
For parents like Rickles, the program is a game changer. She pointed out that the most impacting part of the program for her son was learning how to make independent choices and how to truly live on his own. She says he’s been able to grow through Embrace and is extremely focused on his academic future.
“Living under our roof, he would defer to us. But now he’s making his decisions,” she said. “That’s a big factor in independent living.”
Nicole Attong, director of FIU Embrace, has seen stories like Ben’s unfold again and again.
“Our mission is to help people with autism and other developmental disabilities to live engaged lives as independently as possible,” she said. “And we do that through research, through services we provide at FIU, and through partnerships in the community.”
At its core, FIU Embrace functions like a mini-city within the university. The program blends clinical services, housing, workforce training, and academic development into a model of holistic support. Students in the education program can live in Everglades Hall, take classes with the general student population, and work toward micro-credentials in areas like hospitality and healthcare.
The program, which serves adults between ages 18 through 28 with autism and intellectual or developmental disabilities, is divided into two pathways: non-degree and degree. The tuition cost for non-degree is $7,052 per semester for three years while degree seeking students pay about $3,010. The program’s goal is to expand to 200 non-degree seeking students on campus by 2026.
Embrace has numerous partners and collaborators for both learning experiences for students in the program but also for future career opportunities. Embrace has partnerships with the FIU Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management, Citrus Health Network, and Sunrise Community Inc.
“If we want to make an impact for people with autism and other kinds of developmental disabilities, we cannot do it alone,” Attong said.
For example, Citrus Health Network provides students with medical care ranging from primary care and gynecology to psychiatry and individual therapy. Embrace also works closely with Citrus to train their providers on best practices for hiring, supporting, and working alongside individuals with autism and other developmental disabilities.
“If we have organizations trained and willing to hire people with disabilities, at some point, they are going to be ready to hire a person with autism or developmental disabilities,” Attong said.
Though the program has support from the partnerships, Attong calls them a “coalition of the willing,” pointing out that not all providers have the capability or bandwidth to experiment in creating a new program. Additionally, she pointed out that it is difficult to find the right employees to participate in the program.
“This is really hard, taxing, emotional work, and so you have to find the right people who are willing to deliver,” Attong said.
As for the future of the program, she hopes it becomes more integrated within FIU itself. In fact, the program is celebrating the recent approval of Embrace students being able to walk the stage at graduation with the rest of the student body. She points out that inclusivity and recognition that these people exist on campus is essential to the future.
“It goes beyond education,” Attong said. “It’s about changing the hearts and minds of individuals to be able to look at a person with autism and intellectual disability and say, ‘That’s an individual, that’s a human being. I’m going to give them a chance.’”
