Congratulations
to
the New
Graduates
Along with the rest of the world, STEPS Forward is at a momentous point in its own history.
We now have good reason to be optimistic about the future. In the spring, our first four graduates crossed the stage in convocations at UBC Vancouver and Emily Carr. These students were not set apart from their peers in any way, but rather marched in the graduation procession in alphabetical order along with hundreds of other undergraduates. Their participation in the process was absolutely seamless and unremarkable. Un-remarkability has for several years been the goal of STEPS Forward and it has been thrilling to see our students convocate as peers that are not “special” or different. Furthermore, these graduates are already launched in careers they nurtured during their campus and co-op experiences over the previous 5 years. We now have evidence that our unique approach to inclusion is working.
New students are following in the footsteps of the grads and are taking courses in new areas and participating in campus life in different ways. This term |
one student is living independently in residence at UBC.
We continue to get requests from communities all around British Columbia for initiatives in inclusive post-secondary education at local colleges or universities, including North Island College, Camosun, UNBC, Langara, Douglas and Malaspina. Requests come from a variety of people - potential students, families, high school teachers, college or university administrators, CLBC facilitators, and local associations of community living. We have presented our vision and work to many different audiences with resounding approval. Most recently we presented at the Campbell Collaboration, an international scholarly body that reviews research evidence for policy purposes.
To the graduates, I want to say congratulations for your individual achievements as students. For each of you, university has meant something different. But to all of you, it has meant growth. To the Board, I want to say thank you for your steering of this initiative since its inception. It has hardly been an easy course. And to our amazing staff Jim, Teri, Heather, Jessica, Jen, Tiffany, Eva, our new development officer Hales and especially Tamara --- a profound thanks. It is a job like no other. Both on the front lines and in the background |
they work tirelessly, creatively and reflectively.
We are elated with all of these accomplishments. Is it enough? Of course not. Inclusion is not straightforward. Sometimes it does not even look like the right thing. For people with developmental disabilities, society has long been a cold, unwelcoming or patronizing place. People have had lives where they were heartbreakingly lonely and never given the opportunity to realize their potential. We are convinced that inclusive post secondary education is one part of a struggle to change this society. It is a mammoth task fuelled by hope, perseverance and vision. There is no doubt that we can do it.
Judith Mosoff,
President |
