๐Ÿค— Positive

The movie "Accepted," but irl

Tuesday, May 9, 2023

Image: DeAnna Pursai

DeAnna Pursai and her sister, Angel, were inseparable growing up. The two are only a year apart, and oftentimes โ€“ to make it easier for everyone โ€“ they would just say they were twins.

But regardless of their close bond, the sisters have lived quite different lives.

๐Ÿ™โ€โ™€๏ธ๐Ÿ™โ€โ™€๏ธ Sister, sister... DeAnna went on to college to achieve degrees in elementary and special education as well as a masters in policy analysis, while Angel had no choice but to stay home, kicked out of the education system at 22 years old.

  • ๐Ÿ‘† Such is the case for many individuals living with Down syndrome or other intellectual disabilities.

๐Ÿ˜• The catalyst: DeAnna hated coming home on school breaks to find her sister sitting on the couch, understimulated and unfulfilled in her young adulthood. โ€œI felt a lot of guilt,โ€ she said. โ€œBecause I truly believe in my heart of hearts that she is so much more intelligent than I am in most ways that matter.โ€

While Angel has Down syndrome, she was too high-functioning to find day programs stimulating or engaging โ€“ and too low-functioning for a traditional college education.

๐Ÿ’ก Thatโ€™s when DeAnna got an idea... what if there was a school for students just like her sister?

Image: College of Adaptive Arts

๐Ÿซ Meeting of the minds: DeAnna met Dr. Pam Lindsay, who has a daughter with autism. After hitting it off, the two decided to tackle the mission together.

๐ŸŽ“ More deets... Students choose the degree most interesting to them and work towards an eventual diploma, just like any other college student. 

โ€œOur focus is not, โ€˜How high do you kick,โ€™ or โ€˜How well can you read a sentence?โ€™โ€ shared Dr. Lindsay of the unique curriculum. โ€œOur focus is, โ€˜Are you continuing to practice these skill sets and building these cognitive-developmental skill sets?โ€™โ€

In a little over ten years, the school/nonprofit has expanded to include ten majors, including business, music, theater, and health and wellness. 

  • CAAC has served more than 350 students to-date. It also recently formed a partnership with West Valley College in Saratoga, giving the program and its students more of that college feel.

๐Ÿ“ Bottom line: Per DeAnna, the majority of parents are so grateful for the program and what itโ€™s provided for their adult children: a safe space to continue to learn, grow, and socialize.

  • โ€œItโ€™s the integrity that we are treating their child like the intellectual adult they are,โ€ she said. โ€œItโ€™s palpable joy. Every class is the same level of pure joy.โ€

Note: an earlier version of this story ran in Positive DONUT on May 3rd, 2022. I'm deep in 50-hour/week rehearsals for another slate of upcoming live shows so that's taking a lot of my focus rn, plus this tale was so sweet we needed to share it again.

Share this!

Recent Positive stories

Positive
ย ย |ย  May 8, 2023

The oldest volun-tier

More than 40 years ago, Arlene Olvey started volunteering at La Cache: The Children's Hospital of Colorado's volunteer-run consignment store.

Kailyn Toussaint
Read More
Positive
ย ย |ย  May 5, 2023

Furry Friends Friday: Writing for rescues

๐Ÿ“๐Ÿถ A group of second graders has helped at least eight shelter dogs get adopted thanks to a clever lesson idea by their teacher. Writing persuasive stories about each unique rescue animal, their finished assignments are too cute to miss 

Kailyn Toussaint
Read More
Positive
ย ย |ย  May 4, 2023

Scholarship superstar

Meet Dennis "Maliq" Barnes, a high school senior celebrating his numerous college acceptances- and smashing a world record on the way.

Kailyn Toussaint
Read More

You've made it this far...

Let's make our relationship official, no ๐Ÿ’ or elaborate proposal required. Learn and stay entertained, for free.๐Ÿ‘‡

All of our news is 100% free and you can unsubscribe anytime; the quiz takes ~10 seconds to complete