Brevard Staff Present at Florida Tech

By Joan Williamson, Brevard Center, Program Director

The Brevard Center has an extraordinary resource in Florida Tech’s School of Psychology. Located in Melbourne, the school offers free monthly workshops which are open to anyone interested in issues related to autism.

On October 28, the workshop, “Understanding Autism from a Clinical and Sensory Perspective” was presented by the Brevard Center’s Dr. Debra Sloane and Karen Rathgeber. The workshop was held in the Scott Center, a new 22,000 foot facility that provides services for individuals with autism spectrum disorders and training for parents, educators and other professionals as well as research on effective treatments for autism.

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CIP Welcomes Rick Lavoie, MA, M.Ed. to Advisory Board

The College Internship Program welcomes it’s newest member, Rick Lavoie, to the National Professional Advisory Board.

A well-known author and lecturer with 30 years of experience as an administrator of special needs residential programs, Rick’s intensive experiences at residential schools provided him with a “living laboratory” in which he developed and refined his methods and philosophies related to the education of children and adolescents with special needs.

As recent as 2009, Rick was the recipient of the Learning Disabilities Associations of America’s Samuel Kirk award.

Read Rick Lavoie’s biography in its entirety

A Day at Kennedy Space Center with Charlie Nielsen

By Charlie Nielsen, Brevard Center, First-Year Student

On Thursday, November 7, I went to Kennedy Space Center for their Disability Mentoring Day. I had an unforgettable day. The day started off with meeting my mentor. His name was Eli and he designs facilities for the Kennedy Space Center. I also met Gabe who helped coordinate the event. He drove us around in his 1970 convertible Shelby Torino. He had the top down and it was a beautiful day outside. That was a lot of fun.

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Where Are They Now? Alumni Report

By Janet Hrezo, Brevard Center

Students never really leave CIP. What they learn here goes with them and they always remain in our hearts. When Jarrett Suhr first came to the Brevard Center, we knew we had some work to do but, in the end, Jarrett met the challenge and triumphed.

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Berkeley’s Career Program Offers a Foot in the Door

By Nicole Highes, Berkeley Center Career Coordinator

Internships and volunteer work is a very crucial part of the CIP program. It allows our students to explore current interests and to develop the skills they need to find employment and become responsible employees. The Berkeley Center offers a variety of internship opportunities. Our current internship/volunteer opportunities that some of our students are interning/volunteering at, include: Hearts Leap Preschool, World Institute on Disability, Partnerships for Change (Human Rights Organization), Berkeley Public Library Literacy Program, KPFA, YMCA, Humane Society, Oakland zoo, Spectrum Schools, Satellite Housing (senior home), and St. Vincent de Paul.

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Newspaper Houses: Wellness Class with IU Occupational Therapy Students – VIDEO

By Jim Walsh, Bloomington Center Student Advisor

During Wellness Class on Thursdays, we are visited by Occupational Therapy students and their course instructor, Sharon Pape, from the Indiana University Department of Occupational Therapy.

During these visits, the OT students are meeting with individual CIP students and facilitating small group activities for our CIP students to participate in and enjoy.

Newspaper Houses Video
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NLD Conference Provides Valuable Staff Training

By Areti Carlson, Berkshire Center Academic Tutor

On October 30, 2009 I attended a Nonverbal Learning Disabilities (or Differences, as CIP likes to use) Conference in Springfield MA with Kate Scholz, another Academic Tutor at the Berkshire Center. The informative and dynamic speaker was Dean J.M. Mooney, Ph.D., NCSP, licensed clinical psychologist, founder of the Maple Leaf Clinic and a member of the CIP National Professional Advisory Board.

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Dates Set for CIP’s New Teen Summer Programs

Nov 2009 – The College Internship Program (CIP) has announced dates and locations of their four summer programs for teens age 16-19 with learning differences. The two-week program will be held on the campuses of four highly rated colleges in California, Indiana, Massachusetts and Florida and is designed to prepare students for the transition from high school to college or careers.

While students will attend classes covering topics such as time management, organizational skills and social thinking, the focus will be on fostering connections and having fun.

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Roommate Meetings at the Bloomington Center

By Megan Ertel, Bloomington Center Residential Coordinator

What makes roommate meetings so special? Everyone is so busy with their day to day lives that roommates may not have the chance to see one another, let alone talk about issues or concerns they are having. Roommate meetings provide structure and a safe space where roommates can talk to one another about important issues.

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It All Starts With A Dream

By Jeffrey Wheeler, M.Ed., Berkshire Center Academic Coordinator
and Dan McManmon, CIP National Office
From the AANE (Asperger’s Association of New England) Fall Journal, 2009

Meryl Kahn, age 25, just completed her sixth year at the College Internship Program (CIP) at the Berkshire Center in Massachusetts. Meryl came to CIP as a way to continue her post-secondary education while developing career, social and life skills, areas often overlooked for students with learning disabilities. During her years at the CIP, Meryl faced and overcame a myriad of obstacles.

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Identity Theft and Facebook

By Marc Larrivee, CIP National IT Administrator

Identity theft happens. In the U.S., there are 8.5 million incidents of identity theft in virtual and real settings every year. On Facebook, with over 150 million users, and 650,000 new users signing up every day, a few wolves sneak in to prey on friends.

Facebook fosters friendships. Students, parents, teachers, and workers find, contact, and share with friends. Students rush home, hop online, and share the latest news. Parents reach classmates that they haven’t heard from in years. Making friends has become easy.

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Where Are They Now? Alumni Report

By Dan McManmon, College Internship Program National Office

This month we will briefly catch up with Berkshire Center Alumni Brian Plushanski. Brian left the Berkshire Center in the Spring of 2009. He now lives in central New Jersey, where he works with his father at ABM Self Storage, BP Construction Company and a new Recycling Company  he is starting.

When Brian first came to CIP, he struggled with his reading course at Berkshire Community College. He then took advantage of the Career Skills Training and Employment Program (C-STEP) in conjunction with CIP’s in-house classes and training modules at the Berkshire Center. The staff at Berkshire had many good things to say about Brian….

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