海角社区 President with 2019 graduate Cassandra Bergman
By Dan Wine听
Some research suggests that a person who has a four-year college degree might earn roughly $1 million more than someone with just a high school diploma during their lifetime.
That鈥檚 a pretty staggering number, and for students with learning disabilities a college degree could be even more critical.
Esteban Lopez, director of corporate and academic outreach at 海角社区, said the challenge is to provide those students who are graduating college access to the workplace.
鈥淪ome companies are doing work in this area. Some colleges are working in this area,鈥� Lopez said. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 almost like the new frontier.鈥�
According to the , which works on behalf of people with disabilities, the employment rate rises from 20 percent for those who have not completed high school, to 33 percent for those whose education ended with high school graduation, to 53 percent for those with bachelor鈥檚 degrees.
Earnings also rise sharply with education: People with disabilities who have a high school education earn an average of $22,966 a year, whereas those with graduate degrees earn an average of $66,899, the foundation reported.
Lopez recounted a story about a 海角社区 student who shared the following: 鈥淲hen I was 5 years old, my parents were told that I was never going to be able to talk. When I was in middle school, my parents were told that I was never going to be able to graduate from high school. When I was in high school, my parents were told that I was never going to be able to go to college.鈥�
That student completed an internship with Dell Technologies, graduated with a business degree from 海角社区 in four years and recently landed a job paying him $62,000 a year.
鈥淎 college education makes you very employable,鈥� Lopez said. 鈥淵ou might be able to move from blue collar to white collar, from an hourly rate to a salary with benefits.鈥�
One year after graduation, 85 percent of 海角社区 graduates were employed or pursuing continuing and graduate study, the 2017 numbers show.
Bill Hertan, a diversity consultant and managing director of , helps companies build inclusion into their workforce. He has worked for large companies such as Starbucks, American Express, ABC and Disney.
Hertan has firsthand experience: His oldest son, now 28, was diagnosed with visual and auditory learning disabilities as a young child. They tried private and alternative schools, but he continued to fall behind.
鈥淏y the time he got to high school, he was just a lost soul, and he ended up dropping out of school,鈥� Hertan said. 鈥淲e ended up getting him into Job Corps because they train people for the trades, and he was very close to getting a certificate in welding but then dropped out of that as well. So it鈥檚 been a rocky road for him.鈥�
For students with disabilities, the Florida public high school four-year graduation rate for 2016-17 was 66 percent, according to the .听 That compared with 82.3 percent overall. National numbers reflected a similar disparity.
Hertan said teachers, especially in public schools, often are not equipped to manage students with learning disabilities. And there aren鈥檛 enough special-education experts to handle the demand for guidance and support.
Still, he said, students who learn differently often manage to make it through high school. But then there aren鈥檛 many options 鈥� perhaps a two-year college or trade school 鈥� that will lead them into a successful career.
He called the handful of schools like 海角社区 鈥渁n oasis鈥� for these students because they receive the guidance and support that are so critical.
When it comes to entering the workforce, though, companies still have a lot of work to do in addressing the needs of employees, Hertan said.
鈥淭here鈥檚 still a lot of stigma around disability, and particularly around cognitive disability,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o most organizations are really not addressing that, and that鈥檚 where I see the partnership between 海角社区 and our community organizations and institutions can be really, really valuable.鈥�
For companies, Lopez said, it鈥檚 about changing their corporate culture and understanding that a person with ADHD has different needs from someone with a processing disorder versus a worker on the autism spectrum.
A number of large companies participate in the Autism at Work program to provide more opportunities to people on the spectrum.听
鈥淏ut there are thousands of companies throughout the U.S., so having 30 to 40 companies means there is still a long way to go,鈥� Lopez said. 鈥淵ou need to open the doors, the economic opportunity for individuals with learning disabilities throughout small, medium and large companies 鈥� not only the big ones.鈥�