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An article in South Coast Today has an article about Bristol Community College in Massachusetts (www.bristolcommunitycollege.edu):
College is a little scary for most freshmen, but for those with disabilities, the new level of independence and responsibility can be especially daunting.
“I do realize that I have special needs, and it is a learning delay,” said Victoria Botelho, a 2007 graduate of Westport High School. But she wasn’t about to let that get in the way of her desire to attend Bristol Community College.
“I’ve always wanted to go to BCC. I love learning new things and wanted to further my education,” Ms. Botelho said. “I want to make something of myself.“
And she doesn’t have to do it alone.
The Office of Disability Services at BCC provides students who have learning, physical and psychological disabilities the support they need to succeed in a college environment.
“The staff is a very high-functioning team. They are willing to work with the resources they have to do what is needed for students,” said director Jan Baptiste. “We also have a broader perspective than what is strictly in the (Americans with Disabilities Act) guidelines. We are geared to not only have students access education but to do everything we can to see that they are successful.”
Ms. Baptiste explained that the college offers a wide range of services, including interpreters for students who are deaf, an assistive technology lab with various devices helpful to the disabled, note takers and tutoring, among other offerings.
Many students opt to go through the college’s Program for Academic Support and Success. PASS kicks off every year with a Family Night that provides students and their families with an overview of support services.
PASS students also attend a Summer Transition Academy with workshops on learning styles and self-advocacy, as well as an assistive technology demonstration and other pertinent activities.
Ms. Botelho’s father, Rich Botelho, appreciated the college’s efforts to inform parents because it allows him to more effectively support his daughter. He describes her disability as a broad conceptual problem with learning.
“Vic will never learn the concept of weight or time. If you say a half dozen or 5 pounds to her, she can’t conceptualize it and has to prove it to herself each time,” said Mr. Botelho.
He said teaching a student such as his daughter is not necessarily difficult or expensive, but does require good technique. For example, in order to teach her about shapes, he bought $12.50 worth of plywood and pegs so she could manipulate the materials into various shapes.
Mr. Botelho said Victoria was successful in high school because of accommodations, such as extra time and the use of a calculator, the dedication of teaching assistants and the caliber of teachers in the special education department.
“You can have the same program in three schools, but what makes one a success and not the others are the teachers. (Westport) just happens to have the right crew,” said Mr. Botelho.
The Botelhos also had positive things to say about the staff at BCC.
“The same type of communication is happening between us and Vic’s adviser at BCC,” her father said. “Vic had to sign a paper because she is over 18. The adviser fills me in on how she is doing and we talk about how I can help,” he said.
The Botelhos recently celebrated Victoria’s first semester of college, during which she earned As and Bs, with a C in history, her most challenging class.
Mr. Botelho said before the holiday break, Victoria was “doing five hours of homework for every hour of class … She’s got guts. Vic loves history, but it made her a full course load, which is a lot for her. She was frustrated a few weeks ago. I told her that she could drop a course, but she looked at me right in the eye and said ‘Hell no.’ “
He later suggested that his daughter make an appointment with a tutor from QUEST, a federally subsidized program on campus. A QUEST tutor has since been helping Ms. Botelho with writing assignments.
A fairly common accommodation for students with documented disabilities is extra time for tests and quizzes. Because the class schedules often do not allow for extra time during a regular class meeting, the Office of Disability Services will step in and proctor the exam.
“I need to go to a certain building, and I need to talk with them ahead of time to set up a time,” Ms. Botelho explained.
She said one of the challenges of transitioning to college was managing time and becoming responsible for attending proctoring and tutoring sessions.
Learning specialists from the Office of Disability Services keep track of student performance and are available to help students create a schedule and take appropriate action if they are receiving low grades.
Sometimes an assistive technology adjustment can make a big difference for a student.
Ms. Botelho has upgraded the technologies she uses a number of times, and most recently has benefitted from Dragon Naturally Speaking, a program that converts her spoken language into text.
After BCC, Ms. Botelho may go on to pursue a bachelor’s degree at UMass Dartmouth or another university.“We are in contact with the office at BCC since we have had so many students come from that school,” said Mary Beckwith, associate dean of students at UMD.
UMD offers the Center for Accessibility and Success, which provides assistance to students with various disabilities.
“We look at the (individual education plan), and our professional staff assess a student’s needs. This is all done on a case by case basis,” said Ms. Beckwith.
Changes in teaching methods, technology and attitude have created a much more accessible higher learning system than in years past.
“This is all part of the concept of universal design learning,” said BCC’s Ms. Baptiste. “If the classroom is well-designed, everyone benefits.”
source: online www.southcoasttoday.com article on 1/8/08
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