Schools of Study

About CAA

College of Adaptive Arts is a viable, sustainable, scalable and replicable model that could be positioned on every campus of higher learning around the world – starting here in California at West Valley College in Saratoga, CA. 


The vision is to be as widespread and accessible for lifelong learning opportunities for adults with special needs, just as the international Special Olympics infrastructure provides for lifelong athletic opportunities.


The World Health Organization reports that 15% of the world population are individuals with disabilities. Adults with disabilities mandated out of the school system report routine feelings of being marginalized, lack of equitable access to employment, and loneliness and isolation.


College of Adaptive Arts, founded in 2009, provides a lifelong collegiate experience to adults with intellectual disabilities who historically have not had access to college education. At age 22 adults in the special education system are mandated out of the public schools. After this time if adults are not able to access an Associate’s Degree on a community college campus with the afforded accommodations such as extended test taking time, taking tests in alternative, quieter spaces, or having a note-taker, their opportunities for continuing education essentially cease to exist. Programs for this population are focused on vocational training, independent life skills, and the traditional day program model.


College of Adaptive Arts is filling this need of access to higher education by giving adults with special needs a safe and equitable lifelong learning environment to learn at their own pace and rate. Privately accredited, non-transferrable diplomas are bestowed based on attendance and exposure to concepts in the classes they choose. This adaptive collegiate model provides a person-centered approach where adults choose the classes they have an interest in.


Mission

CAA provides an equitable collegiate experience to adults with special needs who historically have not had access to college education.

Vision

Empowering the student body to creatively transform the way the world views individuals with disabilities. CAA creates successful contributing citizens through the arts.

Student Motto

Showcase Ability!


Inclusive Collegiate Partnerships.

Bedrock Beliefs

  • We believe in our students’ competence and unique abilities
  • We foster a culture of active engagement and high expectations
  • We empower students and staff to expand their strengths
  • We never give up on any individual
  • We celebrate organizational diversity
  • We maintain a safe space for creativity and expression
  • We build bridges for positive, successful community relationships
  • We treasure and celebrate each moment of the journey
  • We honor our introverts

Schools of Study

CAA offers 1-hour classes in 10 Schools of Instruction, simulating a full liberal arts education that you will find at any campus of higher learning.

Schools of Study

CAA offers 1-hour classes in 10 Schools of Instruction, offering a full liberal arts education that you will find at any campus of higher learning.

Take a Tour

CAA Story

In 2009, DeAnna Pursai and Dr. Pamela Lindsay joined up to begin a nonprofit entitled College of Adaptive Arts (CAA). They realized there was a rich pool of talents and abilities among adults with disabilities waiting to be illuminated.


The vision of CAA is to empower adults with special needs to creatively transform perception of disability. CAA plans to become as widespread and robust in the education space that the Special Olympics model provides in the athletic space. This is an institution of higher education where adults have opportunities to learn from a diverse and rich curriculum that will enable them to live a full and empowered life as successful, contributing members of the community.


CAA started in the summer of 2009 with 12 adult students in a single musical theatre class. As of the Winter Quarter 2021, student enrollment has climbed to 140+ adult students taking over 75+ course offerings in 10 Schools of Instruction happening exclusively online over Zoom during the COVID pandemic.


College of Adaptive Arts represents a unique model of adult service delivery that the CAA Mountain Movers Leadership Team believes is desperately needed. College of Adaptive Arts allows individuals to channel their passion and achieve competency to the best of the individual’s ability in an arts discipline such as the fine arts, dance, theatre, digital arts and video/television as well as in the academic disciplines of Communications, Science & Technology, Library Arts and Health and Wellness.


Unlike typical therapeutic recreational programs that offer a smorgasbord of services the College of Adaptive Arts provides a curriculum that coherently builds upon each course, allowing the adult learner to grow in the particular area of their choice and interest.


CAA is not an adult day home model; it is an equitable model of higher education, serving as a natural extension to the community college model. It is designed to be a value-added model based on the interests, choices, talents, and desires of the adult students with differing abilities. There is a defined curriculum, and the intent is to teach new skills to adults who are interested in improving in a particular area of the arts.


It is CAA’s belief that for individuals with special needs, many of them may develop at different rates that than their typically-developing counterparts. Consequently, many adults are just finding out who they are, where their interests and passions lie, and how they can be of maximum service to the community at just about the same time that so many services are discontinued because they have aged out of the public school system.



It is our belief that these adults have an incredible wealth of talent, ability, and community contribution capacity when people in the typically-developing world can create a safe, engaging, and creative outlet for their abilities to be optimally illuminated and capitalized upon.

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