Jonathan Else had looked forward to this day for years, so when he stepped up to the podium Friday at Village Glen School to receive his high school diploma, it was a "huge moment."
It was made even more special when the 19-year-old thanked his family for never giving up on him. Else, who has autism, was one of 19 students with cognitive and emotional disorders who took part in the graduation ceremony at the Sherman Oaks school.
But for Else and most of the other students, graduation represents not the end of an educational road but a beginning that once might have seemed unimaginable.
Else is entering UCLA this fall in a new extension program that will provide developmentally disabled students with a rigorous liberal arts curriculum as well as the social, recreational and cultural experiences of a major university. Classmate Reggie Cornelius, 17, has been accepted into the Culinary School of California in Pasadena. Mimi Keil, 19, wants to become a pediatric nurse and will be taking classes at North Valley Occupational Center.
Village Glen School is one of seven campuses in the Los Angeles area run by the Help Group, which provides therapeutic and educational programs for children and young adults with special needs, including autism, Asperger's disorder, mental retardation and emotional disorders. The school is nonprofit; the vast majority of students receive funding from public school districts.
Many Village Glen students struggle with communication and other social skills, as well as the natural anxieties of being a high school student and teenager. Nearly all of them have plans to attend community or vocational college and some even four-year schools.
"I'm taking a big step into becoming an actual woman," said Sarah Jones, who graduated from Village Glen on Friday and turned 19 the day before.
Jones will attend Moorpark College and study drama. "I'm finding something for myself without someone else telling me what's best for me," she said.
Nationally, only about 13% of young people with developmental disabilities ever attend a college class. But as more researchers look at the diagnosis and treatment of autism and related disorders, there is a growing focus on providing autistic children with postsecondary schooling that will lead to jobs and real independence.
