From Inside Higher Ed:

A college degree program for students with developmental disabiities is being criticized by parents for allegedly forcing out some low-performing or “problem” students. More than 50 students are currently enrolled

Officials at Bellevue Community College near Seattle, Washington, deny the charges, but are simultaneously studying the possibility of creating a similar program, minus the degree — “an apparent acknowledgment that the degree program the college has prided itself on isn’t a fit for some of the students who were admitted.”

Bellevue’s Venture program had been promoted as offering students with intellectual disabilities, including Down syndrome, a chance to earn college degrees. Unidentified parents said the program hadn’t accepted a student with Down syndrome since 2004, and a former teacher said he felt pressured to build a case against students who were “performing academically but difficult to teach.”

See also: Four grads from BCC are true believers in life skills program (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)

Earlier post here.

From The Associated Press/USA Today:

Students with autism-related disorders around the country are increasingly finding support systems to help them make the transition to college.

Dan Hackett, at left with peer mentor Kelly Coburn, is a 21-year old political science major at the Community College of Allegheny County in Pittsburgh. He relies on a program called Achieving in Higher Education with Autism/Developmental Disabilities (AHEADD) to keep him on track and help with time management.

Families looking for the right college for autistic kids should ask whether a school has a counselor who specializes in autism, if professors receive training about it, and what academic accommodations, such as additional time for taking tests, can be made, experts said. Students also should inquire about social opportunities: Does the school have an autism organization for students? Would the university help find a peer mentor?

Also included: Tips for college-bound students with disabilities.

(AP photo)

From The Independent:

Students with learning disabilities in the UK have traditionally faced extremely limited job opportunities, but colleges are now working to change that. Orchard Hill College, a non-residential school for students with complex needs, deliberately moved to a more urban location in Surrey to get higher visibility for its students.

At first, some of the locals were a bit freaked out, admits Principal Caroline Allen. “It’s interesting because people now often tell us our students are ‘not as disabled’ as they thought. I think they probably are, but their preconceptions about how much people with disabilities can contribute were rather narrow.”

… There’s still a long way to go, believes Hugh Williams, director of education at Linkage College. “You still get people with learning disabilities put into stereotypical work like stacking shelves in supermarkets, but things are changing.”

Other schools are working at strengthening social skills, improving access to technology, involving students in the community, and facilitating work placement.

From the Washington Post:

Washington’s Gallaudet University was torn apart by an angry wave of student protest over its selection of a president two years ago, threatening its accreditation. It’s just been notified that its accreditation will be reaffirmed.

The stamp of approval from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education caps months of work and transformation: new leadership, a new curriculum, a new emphasis on sign language, a new push to prove results with solid data and a new tranquility …

… [The school] never lost accreditation, which higher education officials say is effectively a death knell for a university, but the past months of probation and then a warning from the commission have hobbled its ability to recruit students and keep up enrollment.

From The Bellevue [Washington] Reporter:

Four students with developmental disabilities have graduated from Bellevue Community College’s Venture Program, becoming the first to earn associate degrees in occupational and life skills (AOLS) for completing the program’s 90-credit, college-level curriculum.

The accredited AOLS degree is described as the first and only one of its kind in the nation for students with learning, cognitive and intellectual disabilities. The program is designed to integrate academic, workplace, social, and life skills to better prepare students for independence and employment. There are currently 53 students enrolled, and a staff of eight teachers.

(BCC Venture Program photo)

Learning to deal with PTSD, lost limbs, brain injuries

From the Raleigh News & Observer:

With 1.5 million service members coming out of military duty in Afghanistan and Iraq since October 2001, colleges and universities across the nation have been striving to welcome them to campus. But it’s often not easy to help veterans cope with the consequences of their injuries.

Cheryl Branker, director of disability compliance at North Carolina State University, says many departments at the school have been slow to recognize that veterans may need accommodations for their disabilities. Many vets have returned with diagnoses of PTSD, tramatic brain injury, lost limbs or other chronic medical conditions.

“Not only am I a full-time student,” said one returning veteran, “I’m a full-time patient. It takes a toll, mentally and physically. Sometimes I’m there in class, but only in body. Not in mind.”

From the Ann Arbor [Michigan] News:

Tim Hull is graduating with his classmates at the University of Michigan this week, and will be going on to graduate school at the U-M School of Information. Hull, who has Asperger’s syndrome, has completed the requirements for a major in computer science and will finish the last requirement this summer for a second major in history.

Hull found his own way through U-M, but it hasn’t been without challenges. He was the center of unwanted attention last fall when it was revealed that derogatory comments referring to his disability had been made on a Web site by members of the university’s student government, where Hull had become an elected representative.

For Hull, who also has physical eccentricities — he sometimes rocks in his chair and flaps his hands involuntarily — the experience diminished the sense of belonging on campus he had achieved by serving in student government. The incident led to the resignation of the then-president of the student body, and Hull continued on with his passion for student government.

See earlier posts here and here.