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The College Connection is your guide to all things college. It will provide parents and kids with useful tips, helpful insights and up-to-the-minute information about preparing for college, surviving the admissions process, as well as trends and life on campus. Stick with me, and the transition from high school to college will be a breeze.
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A successful transition from high school to college and the subsequent adjustments are a challenge for everyone, but particularly to teens with special needs and their families.
The Jewish Child Care Association’s (JCCA) Compass Project provides workshops and individualized career assessment and testing for graduating seniors and their families.
The workshops offer a wealth of information about available programs, schools and services to help each child achieve their maximum potential. It also provides special needs college students with services to help them with the adjustment to college. If a young adult is not ready or interested in going to college, Compass offers the opportunity for pre-vocation situations, jobs and employment.
To help ease the transition to college for students with non-verbal learning disabilities the JCAA’s Compass Project and Bridges Program (18 to 26 year olds) offers individuals with LD and ASD and their families the following services:
- Assessments
- Counseling/Support
- Referrals
- Socialization
- Vocational Preparation
- Entitlement Counseling
- Executive Coaching/Life Skills Development
Students with Asperger’s syndrome are provided many personal services on the K-12 level, but when they finish high school and enroll in college, there are no such support services required under the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 4 of the rehabilitation Act. The Bridges Program offers counseling, academic support and mentoring to help them adapt. The program’s professional staff helps interpret the world to students with Asperger’s, accompanying students to visit with professors to ensure they understand the assignments and pointing out their classrooms in advance. Compass Bridges provides exceptional students with the support services necessary for them to succeed in college. As part of the goal of diversity, they help sensitize the college culture to the needs and emotions of these students. Bridges is now at 9 colleges throughout the metropolitan area including Long Island, Queens, Manhattan and Westchester.
This year’s Get Ready, Get Set, Go! Conference and Workshop for students and parents will be at CW Post on Oct. 30. For more information contact:
Elise Hahn Felix, LCSW
Jewish Child Care Association
Director of the Compass Project
Felixe@JCCANY.org
Anita Glick is a freelance writer and college essay consultant. She can be contacted at stoa4@aol.com
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