Second in the nation at a major public university

From the Des Moines Register:

Spurred by the experiences of their son Ronald, who has autism, Jim Autry and Sally Pederson worked to create a program for students with disabilities at the University of Iowa. When it opens this fall, the program will be just the second of its kind at a major public university in the United States. The other is the Pathway Program, which started last fall at UCLA. [Full disclosure: my husband and I are among Pathway's founders, and I'm a member of its Educational Advisory Committee.]

Students with multiple disabilities will be integrated into the student body, live in residence halls, take classes, do laundry, manage their money.

The Iowa program will be called REACH — Realizing Educational and Career Hopes. Its inaugural class will have 25 students. “This is the new frontier for special education,” REACH director Dennis C. Harper says.

Earlier story here.

From NBC: UCLA opens campus to students with disabilities

From UCLA’s Today: UCLA offers college experience to students with intellectual disabilities

From the Daily Bruin: UCLA Extension program opens doors for students with developmental disabilities

More information about college opportunities for young people with disabilities can be found at: Thinkcollege.net

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008 at 1:34 pm and is filed under NOT2BEMISSED, News_2_Use, autism, intellectual disabilities, post-secondary education. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.  Email This Post