NEADS Membership Report 2010-2012

Skills To Success Student Workshops

Students with disabilities face many challenges and barriers when pursuing college or university education. Our research has shown that some of the major challenges faced by students with disabilities occur during the transition from high school to university or college, and focus on the students’ adaptability to new environments, and the skills that enable them to participate fully and effectively within their chosen communities – be it in the classroom and academic arena, within the social and workplace environment, or within society at large.

Students with disabilities pursue their postsecondary programs of study while dealing with accommodations in the classroom and ensuring that services on campus and in the community are available so that they can have academic success. This, combined with the usual rigors of student life, can make higher education especially difficult for these students. Disabled students must learn to be selfadvocates in the classroom and on campus, but also learn how to utilize the supportive services in place most effectively. These services can include university or college Disability Services Offices, Student Awards/ Financial Aid Offices, Career/Employment Centres, and Adaptive Technology resources.

Students with disabilities, and the service providers who work most closely with them in university and college have both identified key skills that these students often lack during the early years of their post-secondary careers, which, if learned, would greatly increase their success and participation within their communities.

Our goal is to develop “Skills for Success” resources that will provide students with disabilities in college and university the tools they need to achieve success and full participation, not just within their academic careers, but also within their communities.

NEADS is pleased to announce that we have received funding from the Winnipeg Foundation to pursue this exciting project. We continue to seek project partners, both national and local to Manitoba and Winnipeg, as we prepare to return to Winnipeg for our first “Skills for Success” workshop in the 2013-2014 academic year.