AGXStarseed
Well-Known Member
(Not written by me. To read the full article, click the link at the bottom of the page)
Ambitious College has an unusual name – and is doing brilliant things for students with autism. Clare Dwyer Hogg finds out how it is making a difference
Jane Cotton is not being flippant when she says she is thankful for the charity Ambitious About Autism. She thinks about it on a daily basis. “Really!” she says. “Not a day goes past that I don’t think of the charity and thank God for them.”
Cotton’s son Jack, 21, attended TreeHouse School, one of two schools (along with The Rise) founded by the charity. Now he is a student at Ambitious College. This puts Jack in the category of representing the “less than one out of four” people with autism who are studying after school. If the automatic perception upon reading this is that it must be a question of ability – and Jack is, indeed, a brilliant young man – that would be incorrect. It’s all down to opportunity. There simply isn’t widespread provision for educating young people with autism and complex needs after school. Which means that often these young people, all with their own unique potential, have nowhere to realise it.
Jack Cotton during a session at Ambitious College
Wanting the best for their son
Since Jack was a toddler, his parents have done everything in their power to access the best education for him.
But such is the maze parents walk through to find what they need, Cotton says people often feel that they’re on their own. What would life be like if Ambitious College didn’t exist?
“It would be a sliding door effect: we’d be in a different place.” She qualifies: “He’s a happy boy, and behaves brilliantly, but he’s a big lad, at 6ft 5in, and with that comes strength. If he hadn’t been at TreeHouse and Ambitious College, I really think he wouldn’t be living with us now.”
Ambitious College is something of a phenomenon. Opened in September 2016, it has two campuses: Pears Campuses at College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London (Conel), and West Thames College, London. The West Thames campus is still in temporary accommodation, as efforts continue to raise the final £1m of an overall £4.4m that it has taken to establish the college.
The alternative is a life in care
The college’s philosophy is articulated in its name. Rather than education stopping for people with autism at 18, these campuses have more ambition. They’re designed to enhance life skills and employability skills, to capitalise and draw out the potential in each young person, to enable a fulfilled life with independent living, and to promote unique abilities. The alternative is a life in care – often an exacerbation of frustration for the young person and their family.
The principal, Vivienne Berkeley, has clear goals, and is passionate about achieving them.
How do we break down barriers?
“What happens to young people at 19 or 25?” she asks. “Do they go into day centres? It’s almost like they disappear. How do we develop those pathways for them? How do we work with employers to say our young people are capable? How do we break down barriers of perceptions?”
Berkeley isn’t just asking the questions. She’s spearheading a college system that is finding answers. How they treat the issue of employment, for instance, gives an insight into how the college works. “Our full-time employment specialist goes in to an employer who has a job that is suitable for our young person, and she does the job herself first,” Berkeley says. In this way, she can relay the role to the student in a series of manageable steps.
“I don’t think employers think enough about job carving,” she continues. “Our young people all excel at certain things, be it trains, music or art… we can use those skills to move into paid opportunities.”
Full Article: https://inews.co.uk/news/education/inside-londons-college-young-people-autism/
Ambitious College has an unusual name – and is doing brilliant things for students with autism. Clare Dwyer Hogg finds out how it is making a difference
Jane Cotton is not being flippant when she says she is thankful for the charity Ambitious About Autism. She thinks about it on a daily basis. “Really!” she says. “Not a day goes past that I don’t think of the charity and thank God for them.”
Cotton’s son Jack, 21, attended TreeHouse School, one of two schools (along with The Rise) founded by the charity. Now he is a student at Ambitious College. This puts Jack in the category of representing the “less than one out of four” people with autism who are studying after school. If the automatic perception upon reading this is that it must be a question of ability – and Jack is, indeed, a brilliant young man – that would be incorrect. It’s all down to opportunity. There simply isn’t widespread provision for educating young people with autism and complex needs after school. Which means that often these young people, all with their own unique potential, have nowhere to realise it.
Jack Cotton during a session at Ambitious College
Wanting the best for their son
Since Jack was a toddler, his parents have done everything in their power to access the best education for him.
But such is the maze parents walk through to find what they need, Cotton says people often feel that they’re on their own. What would life be like if Ambitious College didn’t exist?
“It would be a sliding door effect: we’d be in a different place.” She qualifies: “He’s a happy boy, and behaves brilliantly, but he’s a big lad, at 6ft 5in, and with that comes strength. If he hadn’t been at TreeHouse and Ambitious College, I really think he wouldn’t be living with us now.”
Ambitious College is something of a phenomenon. Opened in September 2016, it has two campuses: Pears Campuses at College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London (Conel), and West Thames College, London. The West Thames campus is still in temporary accommodation, as efforts continue to raise the final £1m of an overall £4.4m that it has taken to establish the college.
The alternative is a life in care
The college’s philosophy is articulated in its name. Rather than education stopping for people with autism at 18, these campuses have more ambition. They’re designed to enhance life skills and employability skills, to capitalise and draw out the potential in each young person, to enable a fulfilled life with independent living, and to promote unique abilities. The alternative is a life in care – often an exacerbation of frustration for the young person and their family.
The principal, Vivienne Berkeley, has clear goals, and is passionate about achieving them.
How do we break down barriers?
“What happens to young people at 19 or 25?” she asks. “Do they go into day centres? It’s almost like they disappear. How do we develop those pathways for them? How do we work with employers to say our young people are capable? How do we break down barriers of perceptions?”
Berkeley isn’t just asking the questions. She’s spearheading a college system that is finding answers. How they treat the issue of employment, for instance, gives an insight into how the college works. “Our full-time employment specialist goes in to an employer who has a job that is suitable for our young person, and she does the job herself first,” Berkeley says. In this way, she can relay the role to the student in a series of manageable steps.
“I don’t think employers think enough about job carving,” she continues. “Our young people all excel at certain things, be it trains, music or art… we can use those skills to move into paid opportunities.”
Full Article: https://inews.co.uk/news/education/inside-londons-college-young-people-autism/
