LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES TASK FORCE: Summer Transition Programs
Building upon the past success of Project ADVANCE, a six week summer transition
program offered by York University to students with specific learning disabilities who have graduated from secondary school and are in transition to
post-secondary education, the Learning Opportunities Task Force is pleased to offer a total of seven diverse transition programs
during the summer. These seven programs involve five universities and six community colleges.
While these summer programs are quite diverse in length, location and program
content, they are available only to students with specific learning disabilities who have documentation to prove the existence
of their disability and who are entering post-secondary education in the fall of 2003. Proof of disability must be one or
more of the following:
- an IPRC
document stating that the student had been identified as having a learning disability while in school;
- an IEP for students who have not been through the IPRC process,
but whose needs statement clearly identifies a specific learning disability;
- a diagnostic assessment report from a registered psychologist,
documenting the presence of a specific learning disability.
Students do not have to have formal acceptance to a college or university
to apply for or participate in any of these programs, but they must have submitted an application.
Acceptance for participation in a summer transition program does not mean
that the student will be accepted into the post-secondary educational institution of their choice or that the institution
where the summer program is offered will accept that student for the fall term. Each of the summer transition programs is
managed separately. Therefore, interested students should apply to the program of their choice by contacting the institution
where the program is offered.
Project ADVANCE is offered at York University between July and August. For information about this program, please consult the York University website at
http://www.yorku.ca/cdc/ldp/project_advance/advance.htm
This is a full time program focused on academic skills, self-advocacy skills,
time and stress management and other relevant and important transition program components. Students who are not able to commute
to York University daily have the option of staying in residence at York.
SAIL.ca
is a four week summer transition program offered in Ottawa by Carleton University and Algonquin College between July and August. SAIL stands for Summer Academic Institute for Learning.
For information about this program please consult the website http://www.sail-on.ca
The goal of this program is to help students acquire skills and knowledge
at the post-secondary level. Some program components are college and university specific and are offered at one or other of
the participating institutions. Other components are offered jointly to college and university bound students. Residence on-campus
at Carleton University is an integral portion of the program, as there is late-afternoon and some week-end programming around
introspection, team-building, and leadership training.
Our Northern Summer Institute is a shared bilingual initiative in Sudbury between Cambrian College,
College Boreal and Laurentian University. For information about this program please consult the website http://summerld.ca/
The goals of this program are as follows:
- academic preparation reading, writing and math for post secondary,
(separate English and French sessions)
- learning post-secondary survival skills and LD effects
- learning about learning strategies and assistive technology
(separate French & English sessions)
Students who cannot commute will be able to stay in residence at Cambrian College.
Destination College is a five week college preparation program offered by Georgian College
in Barrie. For information about this program please consult the website http://www.georgianc.on.ca/c4a
This program offers students the opportunity to study in full time classes
for three days each week and do some paid work on the other two days. This will be arranged and supported by the College.
Students will learn skills for success; acquire a better understanding of their disability; learn how to utilize computer
technology and in addition to working at a job also learn some career planning skills. Students who are unable to commute
will have access to residence rooms at Georgian College.
PASS
is a summer transition program at Conestoga College. PASS stands for Post-Secondary Accommodations Support and Strategies. This is a
four week program running in July. For information about this program please consult the website http://www.conestogac.on.ca/spneeds
PASS will provide intensive support and preparation so that students can
identify potential barriers to, resources and strategies to facilitate their academic success. An orientation to the campus
and services to students will ensure that students are fully aware of support services available. One-on-one counselling with
an LD Counsellor will ensure that students are fully aware of their cognitive and academic strengths and challenges. Students
will develop learning strategies and expertise on adaptive software. A key part of this program is a full course credit Strategies
for Student Success that can be applied to many Conestoga College programs as a general education credit.
Students who cannot commute will be able to stay in residence at Conestoga College.
The Pre-Flight Program is offered by the University of
Guelph in July. For information about this 10 day program consult the website http://www.counselling.uoguelph.ca/csd/
The focus is on transition, academic skills, orientation to university activities,
learning strategies and assistive technology. It is anticipated that all participating students will stay in residence at
the University of Guelph.
Online to Success is a transition course offered by Queens University, Loyalist College
with the assistance of the Learning Disabilities Association of Ontario. The dates for this program are from June to August.
In June there will be a three day orientation to the program at Loyalist College in Belleville.
In August there will be a three day wrap up session at Queens University in Kingston.
The on-line component will run from June to August. For information about this program please consult the LDAOs website at
http://www.ldao.on.ca/courses/index.html
The goal of the Online to Success transitions course is to offer sessions
dealing with Learning Disability awareness, self advocacy, adaptive technology, learning strategies and other relevant topics
that will ease the transition to college or university and enhance the performance of incoming students. This structure of
brief on site workshops and a six week web based program will allow students from across the province to participate in the
course and at the same time maintain summer employment.
The Learning Opportunities Task Force is very pleased to be able to support
this diverse offering of transition programs to assist students with specific learning disabilities. We thank the participating
institutions for their hard work and creativity in planning these programs. We look forward to the evaluation of these programs
at the end of the summer. We wish all students and staff a successful and productive summer and feel sure that all students
will benefit from their participation in any of the above projects.
Learning Opportunities Task Force
13270 Yonge Street, Unit 100,
Richmond Hill ON L4E 2T2
905-773-3138 or 1-800-342-6549
