Flexible Accommodations By Ayden Marietta

How would I feel supported or empowered with my disability? 

  My name is Ayden Marietta. I am 22 years old, and I am currently a student in my senior year at Indiana University – Indianapolis. As a student with an Autism Spectrum Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and Anxiety Disorder diagnoses I do make use of Accessible Education Services (AES) at Indiana University.  This year, the AES accommodation I utilized was extended time provided to complete my exams. This included taking my exams in the AES Lab at the University Library. While I found the accommodation useful and helpful, I found one area of the testing process still presented barriers. As a person on the Autism Spectrum, writing out lengthy answers by hand is not only a challenge due to my poor handwriting/fine motor skills; but also challenging for me to express my thoughts when handwriting answers. For some reason, my mind communicates much more clearly when I type out my answers. Not only that, but with my poor handwriting it takes me much longer to write my answers by hand, making it difficult to complete all test questions to the best of my ability. In this area, I would feel much more supported by being able to type my responses. I did ask about being able to type my responses on a computer with no internet access, but was told that the blue book format was required for grading purposes.

In order to ensure that testing accommodations are more supportive for those with disabilities, I would suggest universities allow more leeway in how testing is done. First, I believe that essay questions should have the option to be typed out. For people like me, typing out our answers is easier as we are able to think and focus more clearly than when struggling with our handwriting and trying to put our thoughts onto paper. Second, asking a student which accommodations they believe they can use to best help them succeed on a test or other assignment, even if different or unusual, should be considered as long as it does not provide an unfair advantage. Finally, allowing a student to navigate at their own pace if they need to slow down to focus on one assignment or an exam can improve their ability to concentrate and allow them to put their best effort in each assignment.

To conclude, I believe that students who are provided flexibility in their choice of accommodations, accommodations that are as unique as the students themselves, allows students with disabilities to feel supported in their coursework and to be able to succeed in their classes.

About the Author

A smiling young man standing on a stage, dressed in a black double-breasted suit and a tie.

Image Description: A smiling young man standing on a stage, dressed in a black double-breasted suit and a tie.

Artist Bio

My name is Ayden Marietta. I am a senior at Indiana University – Indianapolis majoring in Applied Theater, Film, and Television and plan to graduate in May 2026. Since childhood, I have had a real passion and interest in politics,  government, and American history. This passion has led me to volunteer and intern for both local and statewide political campaigns, including Mike Braun’s gubernatorial campaign. I also served as an Indiana State GOP Delegate at the 2024 State Convention. I also co-host, along with my friend Justin George, “The Neurologic Podcast” where we both talk about history, sports, politics, and life on the Autism Spectrum.  In my final year in high school, I received the governor’s work ethic certificate in 2022 for my academic performance.

Autism Perspective

By Ben

Description of Art:
This piece was submitted and created digitally utilizing a tool that mimics watercolor paint. At the center of the piece is a person with long, green, messy hair and pale skin. They are wearing a blue striped shirt and blue pants with blotches of blue-green and purple colors. The person is sitting down, legs bent in front of them, with their hands together at their front. Around them are blotches of blue-green color with a white star inside each one. Among the blotches are 4 different sharks with blue and green coloring, floating around the image with small eyes and smiles.

Description of Art:
This piece was submitted and created digitally utilizing a tool that mimics watercolor paint. At the center of the piece is a person with long, green, messy hair and pale skin. They are wearing a blue striped shirt and blue pants with blotches of blue-green and purple colors. The person is sitting down, legs bent in front of them, with their hands together at their front. Around them are blotches of blue-green color with a white star inside each one. Among the blotches are 4 different sharks with blue and green coloring, floating around the image with small eyes and smiles.

Artist: Ben (He/Him)


Image Description: Ben has short, vibrant green hair, brown eyebrows, and white skin. He is wearing glasses with a brown frame at the top, silver septum jewelry, and a black t-shirt with bold red lettering.




Image Description: Ben has short, vibrant green hair, brown eyebrows, and white skin. He is wearing glasses with a brown frame at the top, silver septum jewelry, and a black t-shirt with bold red lettering.

This project has been exciting for a number of reasons but especially because we had the opportunity to talk to each of the artists about their piece. Here is just some of what Ben (He/Him) shared with us on September 6th, 2024.

Ben (He/Him) is a lover of music, but especially the music you can hear in the 317 hardcore scene he frequents. He is an autistic and trans young adult living in a housing program for LGBTQ+ youth.

Describing their Art:
Ben was very invested in conveying what brings him joy rather than suffering in his piece. The white background with the spaced-out, flowing colors were meant to give the viewer a sense of calm.

The person at the center of the piece is meant to represent Ben, his face intentionally left with a lack of expression. He sits in his room just like the character drawn, with his hands clasped, often fidgeting together. “I wanted to very clearly represent an Autistic person.” The sharks floating around him are representative of one of his special interests.

“It’s like the best coping mechanism because my brain has trained itself to be like, okay that (special interests) means happy and that means engaged, interested and calm.”

For Ben, a safe, stable, and nurturing environment engages those special interests, those joyous parts about being an autistic person. “People who have disabilities and people who are neurodivergent, it isn’t some kind of horror for them. I just drew what represents a big part of my autism. Being autistic doesn’t have to mean that you’re stressed all of the time, that you’re isolated or weird and different. I mean yeah, you’re weird and different but in a good way.”

Ben expressed frustration around people finding him rude or thinking he is unfeeling because there are times where he is not as expressive. He wants people to walk away knowing this:

“If anything else, autistic people, they have more passion and more interest and more affinity for things.”