Adventures in Post-Secondary Education

Stirling Peebles

Students with intellectual and developmental disabilities should never give up on their dream of pursuing post-secondary education or transitioning to college. These students are totally capable of doing the hard and challenging work at college. I work at a post-secondary education program called Think College Vermont as their Dissemination Assistant. During my time at Think College Vermont I have seen students with Intellectual and developmental disabilities doing incredible things on a college campus.

As a student with an intellectual disability, I went through the graduation activities in 2001 with my class at Montpelier High School. However, I wasn’t finished with high school yet. I did two additional years of schooling at the nearby vocational trade school. There I took computer networking and graphics communications with video production. I graduated in 2003. Therefore, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) of 2004 didn’t apply to me so I never experienced the requirements that were laid out in the IDEA law. My transition planning in about 2001-2003 did not include post-secondary education and I never really understood what transition planning could do for me. My parents were confused too. We were new to the concept of transition planning and didn’t know enough to fully engage. This planning started when I was a senior in high school, which was too late to help me plan my college goals. It should have started in middle school or earlier and should have been included in my Individualized Education Program (IEP) plan throughout the years.

After high school, I knew I was ready for college. Although I did not matriculate at the Community of College of Vermont I took Foundations of Reading and Writing four different times. These foundation classes helped me to be successful at college writing and to have good reading comprehension at a college level. This played a major role in 2011 when I became a student at Think College Vermont at the University of Vermont (UVM). I always wanted to go to college because everyone in my family went to college. I too wanted to experience being a normal college student. In 2011, I applied and got accepted into the Think College Vermont Program at UVM, a two-year certificate program. I completed a 18-credit certificate with a concentration in film and media communications.

The Think College Vermont Program gave me a chance to do something I always wanted to do. In this program I got to experience being on a college campus and made lasting friendships. I felt included and accepted in everything I did on campus and in the classrooms. While I was at UVM I did a lot of observing and I felt accepted. The first few days I noticed peers were starting to accept me. At the same time I felt like an outsider and wondering if they were going to like me as a person and not as a person with a disability. I learned so much on many different topics. I also learned how to study and do research. I was able to do something I never thought I could do and now I can say I did it.

Going to college was challenging. It was hard work with a lot of homework, studying, writing, reading and new experiences. Peer-mentors provided academic and social support to students with intellectual and developmental disabilities at Think College Vermont. Mentors also helped students by being job supports for students at their internship sites. I took an interesting variety of courses and participated in two internships to fulfil the requirements of Think College.

I took a basic college writing class called Written Expressions in the fall semester in 2011. I wanted to be a better reader, to be able to think critically and to write more effectively as a college student. The professor went over the syllabus for the class and every student in class read a line out loud to everyone. I thought that was a fun way to start off the class. While in class the professor handed out a student questionnaire and I filled it out. Everyone had to share a few things about themselves to the other students. I felt brave enough to share my personal information about myself and I felt good about it.

After class I walked over to the Waterman cafe and it was a nice place to hang out to have a snack. My peer-mentor and I debriefed about how the class went and we also discussed the questionnaire I filled out. Later in the day I took the campus bus to the Patrick gym because I was taking a yoga class and I thought it was fun. I took a yoga class for 45 minutes and I enjoyed the class. My first day at UVM was scary and exciting. I was looking forward to an interesting adventure. My final grade for Written Expressions was a (B+).

On the last day of the semester I went to my Written Expressions class without my mentor because I had the confidence to attend the class independently. At the end of the class I handed in my final writing portfolio to my English professor and that felt like a great accomplishment.

I took a class called Introduction to Poetry in the fall semester in 2012. I learned how to analyze poems, how to write haikus. I also learned a lot about different types of poetry. The class was fun but it was extremely tough. I didn’t realize this course would be so academically rigorous.

I took the class independently without a mentor from a third of the way through the semester and I made new friends in class. I worked on a group project on Langston Hughes. In the group project we incorporated a wonderful YouTube video spotlighting Hughes reading his own poetry. My favorite poets are Robert Frost and Silvia Plath. I did another analytical research paper on two poems by Silvia Plath. I spent many hours in the library and utilized the undergraduate writing center. During my time in this poetry course I analyzed poems and completed a research paper on Robert Frost. Writing the Robert Frost paper was difficult work.

I also wrote this original poem called “The Survival In the Woods.”

I took my first college midterm exam during this class. This exam was exceptionally tough. It was a great learning experience. I received a B+ in this course.

I took a class called Introduction to Acting in the fall semester in 2013. On the first day of class, the instructor told us to get into a circle in the middle of the room and we did yoga. In this class I learned that acting is physical. I also learned how to do monologues and how to memorize a script. I made some wonderful friends in this course. I’m still friends with them on Facebook to this day. I received an A+ in this course.

I took a class on the Development of Motion Pictures from its origins until the 1930s in the Spring of 2013. I hoped this class would be interesting, and fun and it was. I learned about film theory and film history. The film screenings on Wednesday nights were a good opportunity to meet up with friends from my class. I learned a lot about silent films and enjoyed in-depth analysis of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton’s films. It was a difficult class requiring a lot of reading and writing. Analyzing films was the most challenging part of this class. Group projects were also difficult because it was hard to coordinate everyone’s schedule. My grade (B-) reflected the challenges of this class.

Socializing and recreation at Think College Vermont were important aspects of my college experience. Attending Think College Vermont gave me the opportunity to meet many people and make many friends. I was thrilled when one of my friends would shout out at me from across the campus. When I was not doing homework I enjoyed playing pool at the student center and sometimes I won a few rounds. I spent many hours at the campus gym and I enjoyed playing racquetball, doing Zumba, free cone day and using the punching bag.

Figure 3. Stirling Peebles during acting class at Think College Vermont.

Figure 4. Stirling Peebles enjoying lunch at the student center.

Figure 5. Stirling Peebles at her second internship.

Think College Vermont requires that each student participate in a semester-long vocational internship. I did my first vocational internship at a local news station in Burlington, Vermont. I was thrilled when I got this internship. On my first day at the news station I felt nervous and scared but this did not last long. I got to know the ropes of what to do and what not to do. I managed to learn my way around the studio. I was able to watch the news live from the set at noon and I found that to be very exciting. Things only got better after the first day on the job. I went on location with the news team, I went on a commercial shoot with the advertising team, and learned to edit video footage. I enjoyed working with professionals who know their stuff. In turn, I was able to share my knowledge and experience with these incredible people.

At the beginning of the internship I had peer-mentor support but eventually that faded out. I felt comfortable in the news station environment. This was a transition period for me because I was hoping to gain independence by taking a taxi alone and to the job site. At first I thought taking the taxi was scary but then I started to feel comfortable. I had the same driver each week.

I also did a vocational internship at a local public access television station in Montpelier, Vermont. I had no peer-mentor support at this internship and I did it independently. During this internship I learned more about editing and camera work. I started working with a professional video camera.

In 2014, I graduated from the Think College Vermont Program. This program pushed me to continue with higher education at Champlain College where I earned a professional certificate in Human Resource Management. My two years at Champlain College were completely remote. I missed the in-person engagement and being social with new friends. However, I became proficient in remote learning. This has helped me with my two jobs during the pandemic as we all work remotely. My coursework at Champlain College helped to become experienced in using the APA citation format. In 2019 I applied for and was awarded a nine-month graduate level fellowship at UVM in the Vermont Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (LEND). The LEND program was a hybrid with remote and in-person classes.

As a person with an intellectual disability I was given opportunities and chances to go to college and experience life on a college campus. I would never have gotten a meaningful job at the University of Vermont without having participated in the Think College Vermont program. My video work with Green Mountain Self-Advocates was a direct result of what I learned from my internships.

All people with intellectual and developmental disabilities need to be given opportunities to have post-secondary education experiences that can lead them to meaningful employment in the community. The first step is to ask students with intellectual disabilities what they want to do in their future. Some students might want to be poets, artists, computer scientists, filmmakers or game developers. Students with intellectual disabilities need to start thinking and learning about post-secondary education when they are in middle school. Special educators need to be talking about transition planning with students with ID and their families as early as possible. Attending college fairs and getting information about various programs can be helpful. Gathering support from family, friends, special educators, teachers and instructional aides is very important. Transition planning helps plan for a person’s future including college education and employment. Transition planning must be based on a person-centered approach and it also uses a family-centered approach. IQ is just a number. We want to be valued, respected and meaningfully employed members of our communities just like everyone else. Post-secondary education can help achieve this.