Calling all Eligible Students
Accessible Academics May Be Just What You Need!
By Anne Showers, Founder & CEO
A new local non-profit agency is growing and enrolling new students for the fall 2020 semester. Accessible Academics provides transition support to students with disabilities who want to attend vocational, undergraduate, graduate school, or pursue their high school equivalency. With the help of this program, students can attend any higher education institution in our region for credit, and receive the support they need to successfully realize their goals.
With the help of our transition coordinator, students develop a support plan outlining the goals they wish to achieve, after which they receive tailored services, including help with coursework and planning, time management, organization, life skills, social skills, and other skill areas. Students are matched with a coach who provides most of these services and supervises their tutors and peer mentors.
At other transition programs, students are expected to work on the same skills, attend the same school as other students, or only audit classes. Programs that offer greater variety tend to be for-profit and prohibitively expensive for the majority of families. Accessible Academics provides students the same range of higher education choices that their peers enjoy, with the personalized support that they need to become successful.
Young adults and their families need to know this much-needed cross-system source of support is available to them regardless of their income. What makes us unique is that our students really get to know and connect with one person — their coach — who coordinates their needs while in school. Coaches help students communicate more effectively and efficiently with professors, school administrators, parents, care coordinators, and others, and often serve as the person who is aware of each student’s unique needs.
Jesse, a former student, said, “Accessible Academics assisted not only with my work and study-habit development, but also with training in household management and stress management. I am happy to say that, thanks in large part to the support provided by Accessible Academics, I completed my degree and am now gainfully employed in the field of Information Technology.”
Accessible Academics also leads workshops that are open to the public on mindfulness and meditation, social skills, and life skills. A Koru Basic Mindfulness class takes place at SowFit Buffalo, 1292 Sheridan Dr in Kenmore on March 3, 10, 17, and 24. Learn more and register at https://www.accessibleacademics.org/services/koru.
Accessible Academics is supported by The Peter & Elizabeth Tower Foundation with additional funding that enables eligible students to receive services at no cost. The organization is an approved vendor for college coaching services in Erie County and job placement services in Orleans and Genesee Counties through ACCES-VR. Students with a Self-Directed plan through the Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) may be eligible to receive Accessible Academics transition services through their Medicaid budget. Our transition coordinator can help guide students and families through the application process. Students interested in learning more about Accessible Academics can visit www.accessibleacademics.org or call 716-492-8656.
Anne H. Showers, Ed.M. is Founder and CEO of Accessible Academics. A New York state certified teacher with her Masters in Education, Anne has years of experience working with high school and college students from a variety of backgrounds, including those considered at risk or special needs. She founded the non-profit Accessible Academics in 2015 to help her students complete their college degrees and live independently in the community. Her dream is for every student to have access to postsecondary support and believes that Accessible Academics is a step towards achieving that goal. Anne is currently pursuing her PhD in Curriculum, Instruction, and the Science of Learning at the University at Buffalo. Her research focuses on issues of diversity and inclusion in college classrooms and improving undergraduate teaching and learning in large introductory courses.
