Think College – Playhouse will host discussing this fall on the Building Blocks for Success

Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel, August 21, 2014:

Eight students with cognitive disabilities had the chance Thursday afternoon to do something few of their peers get to do: move into a college dorm.

That’s because Concordia University Wisconsin, in partnership with Bethesda College of Applied Learning, will be housing the students through a new program aimed at developing independent living among adults with intellectual disabilities.

“They will have the whole campus at their fingertips,” said Wanda Routier, assistant professor of education at the Concordia Mequon campus. “The friendships that develop — going to the hockey game and eating dinner with others — those are going to be life-changing opportunities.”

The students will take part in a two-year curriculum that blends regular campus living courses offered to all Concordia students with courses geared to the Bethesda program focusing on developing adult living skills and career preparation.

Concordia is not alone. Similar programs, spurred by federal money from the Higher Education Act, are emerging at universities across the nation. They are aimed at improving access to postsecondary education for students with cognitive disabilities and reducing their unemployment levels.

“They want to be contributors in society,” Routier said, “but the opportunities are not there.”

Fewer than 10% of Wisconsin adults with intellectual disabilities have paid employment, according to data provided by Think College Wisconsin, a group that advocates to expand college options for state students who are disabled.

That figure changes dramatically when disabled students take part in postsecondary programs. Of the students who completed the independent living program at Edgewood College in Madison last year, 80% went on to obtain jobs at or above the minimum wage.

It’s a trend that follows national numbers, and it’s the reason why many Wisconsin colleges are teaming up with public school districts to channel students with cognitive disabilities to campuses around the state.

Those campuses include Madison Area Technical College, Nicolet Area Technical College, the University of Wisconsin-Manitowoc, UW-Baraboo, Northeast Wisconsin Technical College and Milwaukee Area Technical College.

The biggest obstacle in the way, however, is money.

“We need to build expectations across college administrators and parents, and figure out the funding stream,” said Molly Cooney, a project coordinator at Think College.

Cooney noted that many of these programs do not qualify for federal student aid like regular four-year degree programs. For that reason, Think College Wisconsin has lobbied the state to add more money into schools that provide these programs.

That, she said, would be worth the investment and would go beyond just employment numbers.

“For student without disabilities, if they have opportunities to learn from these students, they’ll be more open citizens of society,” she said. “It’s about intellectual diversity.”

The latest trend in the movement involves giving students with disabilities the chance to interact more fully as college students, working with other students and integrating into dorm life.

Schools like Concordia highlight this interaction as a way to benefit all students.

“It’s so much better when we learn from real people,” Routier said. “Most of these people have been in special education programs since birth, and to learn right from that person can be so valuable.”