Non-degree Learning Opportunities for Young Adults with LD and ADHD

1. Non-degree Learning Opportunities for Young Adults with LD and ADHD Arlyn Roffman, Ph.D. Lesley University Cambridge, MA

2. What about the 80% who don’t go to competitive colleges? • Too often unemployed or underemployed in low-salary positions • Tend to remain dependent on parents longer than their non-disabled peers

3. Practical needs: • Employment skills • Career awareness • Career exploration • Prevocational skills • Job search skills • Job maintenance skills

4. Practical needs: • Daily living/independence skills • Self-care • Consumer skills • Meal planning and preparation • Housekeeping • Getting around • Basic skills for survival

5. Practical needs: • Self-advocacy • Self-awareness • Self-acceptance/reframing • Awareness of legal protections afforded under the ADA and Section 504 • Awareness of accommodations needed • Willingness to self-disclose and ask for needed accommodations

6. Comprehensive college-based non-degree transition programs • Offer a normalized college experience, though not in the academic mainstream • Most are 2 to 3 years, residential, offering: • Independent living skills • Vocational skills • Consumer/money management skills • Psychoeducational offerings • A community-based transition year

7. Community-based independent living programs • Less academic than college-based programs • Offer training in independent living skills and vocational skills • Sometimes linked with local community college for class work there

8. Other options: • Community college • Open enrollment, option to take individual courses or study for Associate’s degree • Technical schools • Specific focus • Option to work toward licenses, certifications

9. Other options: • Adult education • Individual courses • Apprenticeships • highly focused on area of interest • Military (with some restrictions)