I suppose in this very first blog, I should explain why I named this blog Access to Learning. Actually, I've had this blog site for a while (several years in fact), but between work, kids, and all the craziness that we call life, it sat empty. I got the idea for this blog when I was teaching in the Transition to Work (TTW) program at Foothill.
Teaching in this program got me thinking about all of the benefits that the college experience brings to students. TTW is a program serving young adults who have developmental
disabilities. Most of our students won't ever go on to earn a 2 year degree or vocational certificate. Our best graduates get jobs at retail stores or at the local cinema as ushers. Others wind up as volunteers with non-profit agencies folding mailers, looking after animals or shelving books. These are, by no means, your poster children for student success.
And yet, every year, at graduation, parents and our alumni gush at their accomplishment of finishing one year at Foothill. "My son has friends!", "My daughter loved going to school and she has never loved school ever", "She's taken Caltrain to Foothill the whole year and never got lost!". Two years ago, one parent had tears in her eyes because that was the first time her son was asked to speak on behalf of the class. This young man, who rarely speaks at home and went to therapist after therapist to get him talking, nailed his presentation in front of an audience of 200.
That got me to wondering why this group of young adults always get left out of college. No one ever recruits them, they don't see college counselors in high school (I suppose the assumption is that they'll never go anyway). Instead they have transition specialists, job coaches, to help them transition out of school to "life". In other words, as soon as high school's over, their access to formal education, is gone. If you are a parent of a child with special needs, this is the day you dread the most. What are they going to do? While everyone else has access to some form of education beyond high school, this very group that needs it the most, has virtually none. It really infuriates me- those who need school and education the most, get shut out. The smartest and brightest are always going to land on their feet. It's those who can't, that we need to help, who need this access.
So why Access to Learning? Why the blog you say? Well, I really wanted a place to document and record the stories of these students- not just TTW students, but many of the at-risk students I work with. Some have pretty severe disabilities, some are veterans who can't understand civilian life, and some who just plain drive you crazy but you know have no where else to go. I hope to do them justice by telling their stories, and while everyone else has their had wrapped up in big data, I hope no one forgets those who never quite make it into the dataset.