Kim’s Story – CAA’s Inaugural Valedictorian of 2013

September 10, 2019

CAA Kim’s Story


In early September 2009 my daughter Kimberly and I heard about a new performing arts college & were told by a friend that the directors were beginning to hold interviews at a dance studio, in a mall, for folks interested in this newly formed college. I thought that was very interesting. My daughter, Kim, was 31 years old at that time. She had Down Syndrome and a Tracheostomy tube for breathing. My expectations were both high and low regarding this college. Kim was very high functioning…. She had many years of dance training but her trach?????


Her trach held her back from many opportunities, as she needed me or her Dad or a respite care nurse, to be with her at all times, to monitor her breathing. What did we really have to lose by going for an interview, I thought, plus Kim couldn’t wait to see what this college was all about! If it included dance & performing, she was “all in 100%”.


As we approached the dance studio, I could see two women sitting there waiting for us! I was nervous but Kim, being Kim, couldn’t wait for the interview to start!


I realized right away that these two women, DeAnna Pursai & Pam Lindsey, were the most loving two women (actually angels) that I could ever want to meet. True blessings.


We talked about Kim and when I started to talk about her tracheostomy…. DeAnna piped up and said… “TRAIN US!!!”. Tears still come to my eyes as I recall how sweet & accepting they were of Kim. Kim was enrolled in THE COLLEGE OF ADAPTIVE ARTS that very day!


Kim went on to perform not only dance (jazz, ballet & Latizmo), but she had opportunities to speak about this wonderful college! She also took part in theater performances and went to PayPal with her professor to learn more about public speaking. Eventually, she was chosen to be the Dance Department’s first student choreographer. Our biggest thrill of all was her becoming CAA’s first ever Valedictorian for the class of 2013! There were many graduating students in May 2013.


Students earned credits for classes they took. Kim earned many credits in her first few years at CAA. Any opportunity to be on stage, give a speech or announce a graduating student’s name made Kim’s day.


Our daughter Kim passed away on December 17, 2017 from a heart attack & cancer. The last two years of her life were spent mostly in the hospital and at home. Guess what??? She was able to Skype in to a class while at home or in her hospital room and take part in her CAA classes. She could see her fellow students & her boyfriend Robert using her iPad & they could see her! If there was a dance class, she could dance with her arms & her big smile. She felt good about herself, & in turn, she kept her will to live despite how fragile she was in those two years.


Kim would want the world to know that CAA is the greatest place in the world to mature, to grow in learning & public speaking and performing. DeAnna Pursai and Dr. Pam Lindsey are still the same wonderful, caring supportive angels they were the day we first met them.


Kim loved CAA. And so do we (her parents).


Submitted by: Candy Rains. 8/19/2019. Kim’s Mom.

Where the System Ends, CAA Begins. We Built the College We Couldn't Find. Story #3: ED Nicole & her son Said

By Nicole Kim • March 9, 2026
When my son, Saïd, was born, we discovered he had Down syndrome. I was 21 years old at the time, and I hadn’t done prenatal testing because it was considered a “low-risk” pregnancy. Suddenly I found myself sitting in doctors’ offices and hearing professionals describe what they believed his future would look like. “He may never learn to read.” “His learning will likely plateau around age four.” “It’s unlikely he will live an independent life.” Those are frightening things to say to a young mother. Thankfully, I didn’t believe them. Instead, I chose to raise my son with the expectation that he would learn , would grow , and would live as full a life as he was capable of living . And he did. When the College of Adaptive Arts started in 2009, Saïd was 19—just the right age for college. We became part of the CAA community and never left. He took classes, performed in the community, and truly blossomed as a young man. Along the way he discovered that he loves theater. He also loves to sing. Don’t give him a microphone—you may never get it back. 🙂 Today, at 35 years old, Saïd lives with a roommate and a caregiving couple. He has a vibrant, joyful, independent life. And he still loves taking classes every semester. My own journey with CAA has been equally meaningful. For most of those years, I was a parent in the community. I soon joined the Board and became a professor. I taught classes like Speaking with Confidence and Joy of Baking , and eventually stepped into the role of Executive Director. But the belief that first guided me as a young mother has never changed. The belief I had in Saïd’s ability to learn, grow, and build a meaningful life is the same belief I hold for every student who walks through the doors of the College of Adaptive Arts. And something remarkable happens when you lead with that belief. Students rise to meet it. When we expect growth, they grow. When we expect contribution, they contribute. When we expect full lives, they build them. At CAA, we don’t define our students by limitations. We define them by possibility. And every semester, they remind us that possibility is far greater than anyone once imagined. -- Nicole Kim Executive Director College of Adaptive Arts

Where the System Ends, CAA Begins. We Built the College We Couldn't Find. CAA Story #2: Dr. Pamela Lindsay

By DeAnna Pursai • March 2, 2026
The Ties That Bind

Where the System Ends, CAA Begins: We Built the College We Couldn't Find. CAA Story #1: Angel E.

By DeAnna Pursai • February 23, 2026
College of Adaptive Arts is beginning a new weekly blog series featuring a story of a CAA student, professor, or parent/care provider each week. We hope you enjoy and can resonate with these stories. If you could comment and share with your networks to amplify this model, we'd be deeply obliged to you: Angel Ellenberger, sister to CAA Co-Founder DeAnna Ellenberger Pursai, grew up in Bluffton, Indiana alongside DeAnna in the 70's and 80's. It was a glorious childhood, full of love, joy, laughter, and sisterhood bonding. Angel was always quite social, and she was a hit wherever she went with the cheerleaders and the community. DeAnna came home from college one summer when Angel was in a postsecondary program (mandatory 18-22 extended years for students in the special education system). At the time, Angel was actively working with a job coach cleaning the desks at the local high school. DeAnna thought to herself, "Cool! That’s what happens to adults when the special ed students leave the school system." About one year to the date, DeAnna came back home to find Angel more than doubled her size and eating a bag of chips on the couch. She asked what had happened, and their mom said that the funding was cut for the job coach program and that Angel didn’t want to attend the one adult day program shared across their 2 rural counties – the only feeder option once you left the special education system. Angel did indeed end up going to the day program after she gained so much weight that she had congestive heart failure in 2000 and almost passed away. Needless to say, it’s been an arduous and tenuous endeavor. Angel is intelligent, perceptive, social, artistic, creative, and comedic. She needed a support system with more opportunities to socialize, learn, engage beyond coloring in local dime store coloring books for hours. That critical gap that Angel experienced sparked the seed of change, and together with her partner and friend Dr. Pamela Lindsay, College of Adaptive Arts was born. DeAnna and Dr. Pam built the college model they couldn’t find and so many around the world also could not find. To those people searching, CAA's message is, "We hear you, we see you, and we’re coming." CAA will not stop until it has garnered the support, awareness, and public and private levers to scale this lifelong collegiate model worldwide to become as widespread, welcoming, and accessible in the education space that Special Olympics provides so robustly in the sports and athletics space. CAA's revolutionary model is proving everyday that inclusive education is not charity; it is sustainable, transformative and a lifelong right.

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