Preparing students, transforming lives - PASSAGE USA prepares students for life on campus and beyond
Posted on December 15, 2020 by Email CEPS
Keith Griffith made a splash at the 麻豆直播 even before he first set foot on campus as a student in 2017. The moment that defined his trajectory at 麻豆直播 took place months earlier, when he opened his acceptance letter as his mom, Heather, recorded him on video.
In the video, Keith rips open the envelope and pulls out the letter, smiling in anticipation even before he unfolds it. As she films, Heather reads the letter aloud.
鈥淚 made it!鈥� Keith exclaims, his smile now twice as broad and lighting up his entire face. He rushes toward Heather and wraps her in a long hug.
That feel-good video has amassed more than 7.5 million views and more than 219,000 reactions in the three years since it was posted on Facebook. It set the stage for Keith鈥檚 time at 麻豆直播 as a student in PASSAGE USA, the University鈥檚 certificate program for students with intellectual disabilities.
鈥淗e started the program at a gallop. He was ready for college,鈥� said Abigail Baxter, Ph.D., director of PASSAGE (Preparing All Students Socially and Academically for Gainful Employment) USA. 鈥淗e really just took this opportunity and ran with it.鈥�
The evolution of special education
PASSAGE USA is relatively new on campus; Keith was a member of its first cohort of students. Baxter and her colleagues started the two-year program with a vision to create a next step in the evolution of services for people with intellectual disabilities.
Baxter has witnessed the evolution of special education throughout her lifetime. She鈥檚 seen kids with special needs 鈥� especially kids with intellectual disabilities 鈥� go from not being able to attend public school, to having access to support services from infancy all the way through high school.
But after high school, all those services stop, and students often don鈥檛 have institutional support to help them progress further. Baxter鈥檚 goal was to unlock access to higher education, particularly so students could work on skills to help them gain jobs and live as independently as possible, just as any college student.
鈥淲e are a program where students are challenged, where they are whole members of the University community. We want them to embrace that inclusiveness and to be ready to make the choices and decisions that go along with that,鈥� said Baxter. 鈥淎nd at some level, just like parents of any kid going to college, parents have to get ready to let go a little bit. And that鈥檚 hard when your kid has a disability.鈥�
In addition to PASSAGE-specific classes focused on independent living and career skills, students in the program take regular-ed electives based on their interests. They also have work experience every semester, both on and off campus.
Peer mentors
One of the hallmarks of PASSAGE USA is its peer mentorship program, in which 麻豆直播 undergraduates support PASSAGE students as they navigate class, work and socializing.
In high school, said Baxter, kids with more significant disabilities tend to be segregated into special-education classes, and their interactions are primarily with adults: the teachers, paraprofessionals and aides who work with them. They have little contact with their peers.
鈥淲hat we want our students to do is to learn what鈥檚 appropriate for people their age. At 60, I can鈥檛 tell them how to be a 20-year-old. Only a 20-year-old can. And that feedback from someone their age that they have a relationship with is probably going to go further than it is from a professor.鈥�
Donavon Dahmer became Keith鈥檚 mentor in Spring 2019, as they both embarked on their last semester before graduation.
鈥淭hey just kind of hit it off,鈥� said Baxter. 鈥淎nd they started doing things like friends do. It wasn鈥檛 just when Donavon was here to mentor him; it was nights and weekends.鈥�
鈥淏efore COVID, I would take him to my church,鈥� said Dahmer. 鈥淗e would sing in the choir with me sometimes, and then we鈥檇 go out and get tacos.鈥�
Despite challenges 鈥� they鈥檝e both graduated, Dahmer is a second-year medical student at 麻豆直播, and COVID has made face-to-face hangouts impossible 鈥� they鈥檝e kept in touch during the pandemic over FaceTime.
鈥淒onavon鈥檚 one-of-a-kind, let me tell you,鈥� said Heather. 鈥淗e is a sweetheart.鈥�
Baxter said it鈥檚 not just PASSAGE USA students who benefit from the mentorship program; the relationships are a two-way street. 鈥淥ne of our biggest groups of mentors comes from the pre-health professions honors society, so the impact then on future doctors, nurses, physical therapists, occupational therapists, is just incredible, because they鈥檝e had extended experience with people with intellectual disabilities. And they鈥檝e seen them as a peer, not as a patient,鈥� she said.
鈥淚鈥檝e heard from several people who are on our medical school admissions committee that when they interview people who have been our peer mentors, often that has been a transformative experience that they reflect on.鈥�
Getting to work
In PASSAGE USA, students typically work on campus their first year. In their second year, faculty pinpoint a career area the student likes and coordinate 15 hours of work per week in that setting 鈥� preferably in the community, rather than on campus, to better prepare students for life after they leave 麻豆直播.
The story of how Keith landed a job his second year in the program has become something of a legend at PASSAGE USA. That fall, he decided he wanted to work at Mobile Popcorn. When he told the faculty member who worked on job placements, she said she鈥檇 work on it the following week.
鈥淲ell, he reported back to her the next day that he had called Mobile Popcorn and told them he wanted to apply for a job,鈥� said Baxter. He鈥檇 already handed over his resume and scheduled an interview.
He got the job and worked there the following semester, washing dishes, folding linens, and sometimes popping popcorn or making cotton candy.
Thanks to that resourcefulness, in addition to the overall progress he made throughout the program, he won the Outstanding PASSAGE USA Student award in Spring 2019.
鈥淭hat really threw me, when he called and told me he won it,鈥� said Heather.
Keith was told he could have a couple of supporters in attendance at the awards ceremony, and in return, he told them he needed 10 to 12 tickets. In the end, his mother and father, aunts and uncles and a family friend were there to cheer him on. 鈥淚t was a very tearful moment,鈥� said Heather.
After graduation
Keith was excited to graduate, but Heather admits that, for her, the ceremony was a sad occasion.
鈥淗e was doing so well, and he was enjoying it so much,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just a two-year program, but he enjoyed it. It really gave him something to look forward to.鈥�
After he left 麻豆直播, Keith reprised the initiative he showed at Mobile Popcorn by going to the YMCA and getting a job on his own. At the Y, he worked the floor, keeping equipment and floors clean and taking out the garbage.
鈥淭hink about how powerful that is 鈥� it鈥檚 the second job he talked himself into,鈥� said Baxter.
He worked at the Y until the pandemic forced him back home. He鈥檚 eager to go back, but he must wait until the health crisis subsides.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 been an unfortunate thing we鈥檝e learned from our first cohort and second cohort of graduates,鈥� said Baxter. 鈥淔or the most part, they were among the first to lose their jobs because of COVID. And unfortunately, like lots of other people in the service industry, they haven鈥檛 been called back.鈥�
鈥淚 do think when we get this COVID thing figured out, our students will have better options for employment. I think Keith has demonstrated that when it鈥檚 safe for his health to go, he鈥檒l find a job.鈥�