Students with Intellectual Disabilities Shine in New Leadership Opportunities

(Saratoga, Calif., March 3, 2024) The month of March marks National Developmental Disability Awareness Month, and several students at one Bay Area college are proving that their abilities extend way beyond just the classroom.

The College of Adaptive Arts, a non-profit providing a lifelong collegiate education to adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD), serves 230 students in person and online, many of whom have been diagnosed with I/DD.

The school has recently introduced a new workforce development program which trains its students into paid apprenticeship positions, including receptionist and teacher’s aide. Two of those apprentices, Victoria Rivera and Sam Headley, both say this is giving them new opportunities which they never had before.

“Working gives me a sense of duty and responsibility,” said Sam. “I hope to continue to grow and maybe teach at the college someday.”

Sam has been a student at CAA since 2020 previously worked as a bagger at Lucky’s. While he enjoyed his job there, he said it was more focused on what his body could do as opposed to his mind.

Although he’s a self-described introvert, he still got up in front of a packed house to give the Pledge of Allegiance at Santa Clara County Supervisor Susan Ellenberg’s last State of the County Address.

And it’s not just the apprentices who have been given incredible new leadership opportunities. Student Michael Oduma is has a dream to become a sports announcer one day and because of CAA’s unique partnership with West Valley College, he was able to make this dream a reality by co-announcing a basketball game for the college. Oduma is known as the “Mayor of CAA”, is their official tour guide and was also an emcee for a CAA press conference with Senator Dave Cortese (D-San Jose).

“I like being a leader and getting to use my voice,” said Oduma.

Brighid Kohl is another student who showed incredible initiative and campaigned for a You Are Not Alone (YANA) club to be created at her school. Even though her disability sometimes can affect her speech, that didn’t stop Brighid from learning how to create a PowerPoint plan, presenting it to the school, and eventually gaining national recognition from influencer and popular YouTuber Jessii Vee.

“All our students are challenging the traditional perception of ability,” said DeAnna Pursai, co-founder and Executive Director of College of Adaptive Arts. “So often adults with disabilities are overlooked and not seen as the thoughtful, intelligent, capable, beings that they are.”

In all 50 states, adults with disabilities are mandated out of post secondary education at 21 or 22, but CAA hopes to change that by offering a program of lifelong learning which doesn’t impose age limits or restrictions on students. In fact, the school actually encourages students to re-enroll even after they have graduated.

According to the CDC, 6.5 million people in the United States have intellectual or developmental disabilities. CAA’s goal is to reach any adult within that population who wants to pursue higher education. Their mission is to be able to expand their collegiate model, replicating it on every campus of higher learning across the country, and eventually, the world.

ABOUT THE COLLEGE OF ADAPTIVE ARTS:
College of Adaptive Arts is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization dedicated to providing a lifelong, equitable collegiate experience to adults with special needs who historically have not had access to college education. The vision of CAA is to empower adults with special needs to creatively transform perception of disability. 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.

For more information, or to volunteer and/or donate visit https://www.collegeofadaptivearts.org/