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Fall 2015

When the fall semester began, more than 3,700 new freshmen showed up for classes. Among them were six who are considered exceptional. Or rather, they are 鈥渆xceptional,鈥� and 鈥渟pecial,鈥� and a lot of other euphemisms for the label of 鈥渋ntellectually disabled.鈥� They鈥檝e spent their lives defined by that diagnosis, limited by聽law and social convention, and challenged by exclusion and lowered expectations.

Now, thanks to Inclusive Education Services (IES) 鈥� an initiative that for the first time offers people with intellectual disabilities the full college experience at UCF 鈥� the only label defining them is the one they choose to wear on their T-shirts: Knights.

鈥淲e didn鈥檛 even want to call it a program, which implies something set apart,鈥� says Rebecca Hines, associate professor in the College of Education and Human Performance, who was one of 30 faculty and staff members to help create IES. 鈥淲e began with the belief that our inclusion program meant full inclusion. We created something that isn鈥檛 a group of people with intellectual disabilities walking around in a cluster, but individuals with intellectual challenges throughout the university who are supported just like their peers.鈥�

This program is not unique in聽the United States 鈥� 243 colleges聽and universities have tracks for students with intellectual disabilities according to Think College, a project of the Institute for Community Inclusion at the University of Massachusetts Boston 鈥� but it鈥檚 designed to be one of the most fully integrated.

鈥淸IES is] a group of committed people who have come together and created a vision for what this could be,鈥� says national expert Debra聽Hart, director of the Education and Transition Team at the Institute for Community Inclusion. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e fully committed to making every student successful, including students with intellectual challenges.鈥�

Adam Meyer, director of UCF鈥檚 Student Accessibility Services (SAS), which oversees the program, states simply, 鈥淭hey are UCF students, and we see them as UCF students.鈥�

A Dysfunctional System

In 1975, the U.S. Congress passed聽the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). It established the right of children with disabilities to attend public schools and to聽have their educational needs met within a regular school classroom as much as possible. That integrated practice became known as 鈥渋nclusive education.鈥�

鈥淭wenty or 30 years after that聽act, we weren鈥檛 educating,鈥� says IES committee member Lisa Dieker, Pegasus Professor and Lockheed Martin Eminent Scholar Chair in聽the Department of Child, Family, and Community Sciences. 鈥淚n Florida, we were growing so fast that we had trouble finding teachers just to stand up in front of kids, making it difficult to聽have a clear plan to meet the needs of kids with disabilities.鈥� Students with intellectual disabilities often stayed in high school until they aged out at 22, she explains, at which point they were issued a cap, a gown and what was known as a Special Diploma to mark the end of their special education. Not only was that diploma not accepted by state institutions of higher learning for admission to a degree program, it actually precluded the auditing of classes.

Dieker came up against those restrictions when she met Elyse Mundelein, who graduated with a Special Diploma from Central Florida鈥檚 Oviedo High School in 2007. 鈥淓lyse wanted to audit my class, but she couldn鈥檛 because she had a second-class citizen diploma.鈥� Though state law prohibited Mundelein from auditing Dieker鈥檚 class even as a noncredit student, she began working for Dieker in 2011 as a teaching assistant, a role she continues to fill. According to Dieker, Mundelein has thrived in the UCF community and proved that the rules needed to be changed. If others were going to get a similar opportunity, the Special Diploma had to go.

In 2013, Florida Senate President Andy Gardiner, whose son Andrew has Down syndrome, sponsored the Exceptional Student Education Bill. It demanded real efforts toward inclusive education in regular classrooms and also allowed parents to have more say in the creation of individualized education plans 鈥� including giving students the option to work toward a regular high school diploma, rather than the 鈥渟pecial鈥� one.

Gardiner鈥檚 wife, Camille 鈥� who co-founded the Down Syndrome Foundation of Florida to advocate for her son and others like him 鈥� credits that change in Florida law with creating a change in attitude. 鈥淥nce our young adults have the opportunity to attend college, then the assumption becomes that they will go if that鈥檚 the path they choose, which will hopefully change the expectations of parents and professionals during the K鈥�12 years,鈥� she says. 鈥淎ll individuals, whether they have a diagnosis or not, tend to live up to expectations.鈥�

The First Class

By the time the six new IES students moved into their residence halls, they had already cleared significant hurdles. Because none of them are degree-seeking they didn鈥檛 have to apply through the traditional admissions process, but each had to go through a competitive application process reflective of the program鈥檚 vision and target audience, including face-to-face interviews with 香港六合彩开奖结果 faculty and staff.

鈥淭hese are students who are highly motivated, who want to further their academic knowledge,鈥� says Meyer. Each聽of them arrived with individual goals, and the program will define success by how聽well the students meet them. According聽to Meyer, all six are career-driven, and聽the knowledge and social skills that they learn at UCF may gradually translate into internships both on and off campus, leading to improved employment potential 鈥� and hopefully careers. The students will only audit courses, likely two per semester, though they may take more if they so choose. And as with most undergraduates, many important lessons will take place outside of the classroom.

For the IES students, the college experience will include living on campus. 鈥淭hey鈥檒l learn to handle meals and laundry just like any other freshman, and will go through the same workshops to learn about wellness and health, alcohol awareness聽and sex education,鈥� Meyer says. 鈥淲e鈥檒l first ask how other UCF students learn what聽we believe these students need to learn. If there鈥檚 an existing resource, they鈥檒l use that resource just like any other UCF student.鈥�

In short, life will be a bewildering array聽of choices, filled with important decisions that seem trivial and trivial decisions that seem life-altering 鈥� just as it is with every freshman. 鈥淲e鈥檙e providing students with the opportunity to have the full collegiate experience,鈥� says Christi Hartzler, executive director of Housing and Residence Life. 鈥淭hey will learn from others, and other students will learn from them.鈥�

UCF already has a robust campus chapter of Best Buddies, an international organization that fosters friendships for people with intellectual and developmental difficulties. These campus volunteers are finding opportunities to assist, adding their numbers to the IES students鈥� phones to make plans for laundry nights, trips to the gym and conversation.

Andrea Carreno, a junior elementary education student, has signed on to be an IES resource facilitator, working as聽a mentor. She won鈥檛 be assigned to a specific student, but will host group chats that encourage the students to be both independent and interdependent. 鈥淭he problems that these students are going through are the same as [what] any other student will go through,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 nothing special. It鈥檚 just ordinary student life.鈥�

But there are skills beyond laundry to be mastered and opportunities beyond auditing classes. 鈥淚n college,鈥� says Hart, who also serves as an adviser to UCF鈥檚 IES program, 鈥測ou learn a lot of聽academic information, but you also learn a lot聽of skills that are harder to measure. You make bad decisions and accept the consequences. You go out and stay up too late, or start studying the night before an exam. These are executive functioning skills, and college is a safer environment to learn them.鈥�

While there will be accommodations聽for the six students, they will follow the same guidelines used for any student聽with a disability who connects with聽Student Accessibility Services. The聽SAS process involves identifying聽the academic or classroom barrier聽to learning and creating reasonable聽access through an accommodation. Creative solutions can often be found聽when instructors converse directly聽with the student about a course鈥檚聽barriers. And the university鈥檚聽Karen L. Smith Faculty Center for聽Teaching and Learning 鈥� which聽offers regular workshops on topics including classroom management, course design and technology to enhance teaching effectiveness 鈥� can provide specific training in partnership with IES for educators聽who request it. 鈥淔ew faculty members are formally trained as teachers, and even fewer have special education experience,鈥� Hines notes. 鈥淔aculty won鈥檛 be changing their courses; they鈥檙e already teaching to a diverse group of students.鈥�

Indeed, the whole university may pick聽up a new set of skills, says Dieker. 鈥淢y work for 25 years has been about including kids, and it鈥檚 the things we don鈥檛 measure on tests that happen when we include students with intellectual disabilities,鈥� she explains. 鈥淭he rest of us learn empathy, understanding and friendship. Those are as important as reading, writing and math.鈥�

鈥淚t works because that鈥檚 the real world,鈥� echoes Gardiner. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 just walk around talking to people with only the same major or the same IQ.鈥�

A Better Plan

鈥淯CF is doing it right, maybe better than most,鈥� says Dieker, reflecting on what she鈥檚 seen put in place at other universities. 鈥淚 give the leadership here credit for making sure every stakeholder 鈥� housing, student government, board of trustees, teachers, professors 鈥� has been here for design and implementation.鈥�

鈥淭here are a number of standard resistance points,鈥� says Hart. 鈥淥ften institutes of higher education are concerned about liability, worried that it will water down their reputation or think they need more funding to do this. But the way聽that Adam [Meyer] approached this was comprehensive at every level. He took the time to be thoughtful about planning and involved all aspects of the UCF community,聽and this has made a significant difference.鈥�

IES is a small program that touches every aspect of life at UCF. But while it offers immense opportunities for the six students involved this year, it foreshadows even greater opportunities down the road.

鈥淚t鈥檚 difficult for most people to say what inclusion means and even harder to put it into action,鈥� says Hines. 鈥淚nclusion, as we think of it聽in education, grew up with the civil rights movement. It鈥檚 about a person鈥檚 right to have access to the same things everyone else does. That鈥檚 a big piece of why this is happening聽in higher education. But the other piece of it is that education is changing and is being distributed in new ways. We have programs for seniors and for people who take classes as audits for pure education and love of learning and developing skills. They don鈥檛 have to attach the expectation of a degree to that.

鈥淔or me, the exciting thing is the opportunity to build new ways for participation in our UCF community of learners. Why wouldn鈥檛 we want everyone to have access to education?鈥�