Scott is now in year four of a five-year software engineering program at Rochester Institute of Technology, which is about five hours from home. Going away to school in 2013 was rough on him because it forced him out of the protective cocoon of home, school, and friends. Most college freshmen face this, but it’s particularly difficult for kids with disabilities. The first year was the toughest on Scott, but each subsequent year has been better than the one before. Thank goodness for video calling, which allows us to easily communicate with Scott. We talked with him almost every evening those first few years, but now a week or two can go by before we connect with him.

Scott lived in the dorms for the first two years and shared a relatively large room with another guy. He didn’t get along with his roommate at all the first year. His roommate the second year was better. Scott is now living in an on-campus apartment, which he likes much better. The apartment has four private rooms and two bathrooms (two rooms each share a bathroom), a large living area and kitchen, and laundry facilities right in the apartment. RIT installed a bed shaker connected with the fire alarm in both his dorm room and his bedroom in the apartment. We’re grateful for how easy RIT’s Housing Department and Maintenance Department have been to work with on these kinds of issues.

Academically, Scott is doing great, consistently maintaining an 3.2 grade point average. He likes his classes for the most part and feels he is learning a lot. He arranges for live captioning and note-taking in all his classes, which is very helpful to him.

If all goes according to plan,  Scott will graduate in the spring of 2018 with a bachelor of science degree in software engineering. He will either get a job or continue on to get a master’s degree.

It just amazes me at how fast the time has gone and how much progress in confidence and self-sufficiency Scott has made since he was an anxious freshmen. WE’RE SO PROUD OF HIM!!!!!!