Special Populations offers answers
By Pat Wagner
IV Leader Staff
What happens when a student wants a college education, but the student has a disability that poses a problem in reaching that goal? At IVCC, that student starts by paying a visit to Jim Prendergast in the Special Populations Office in B-204.
Prendergast, who joined the IVCC staff this year, sees himself as a resource person, acting as a middleman between students and the services they need. Those needs may range from notetakers and readers to taped texts, assistive listening devices and computer technology.
Prendergast stepped into the job while Tina Hardy, special populations coordinator, is on maternity leave, but he is experienced with the programs and services that can connect students with the help they need.
He retired from the Ottawa Elementary District after 32 years as a speech and language therapist, learning disabilities resource teacher and diagnostician. He has also subbed at Ottawa High School in the special education department.
With a touch of humor in his voice, he noted that he had also been the Coordinator of Pre-School Programs, "which makes me qualified to be in college."
Each semester, the Special Needs Educational Support Services Office works with about 50 students. Prendergast explained that those students do not enroll in special classes or programs. Instead his job is to identify accommodations that need to be made for the student to successfully complete regular classes.
Prendergast said one difficulty a number of student face is Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome, which occurs when "fluorescent lighting plays havoc with reading."
The first step in arranging accommodations, Prendergast said, is to establish a student's qualification for assistance. For a student coming from a special education program in a high school, this part of the process is simple since their need for assistance has already been documented.
For adults who have been out of school for more than five years, or for people who have never been in a special education program but who found that school was just hard for them, the process is more complicated.
Helping students acquire the necessary documentation for assistance is one of Prendergast's duties.
In addition to working with IVCC students, he also works with high school students considering entering IVCC and with area high school, testing graduating seniors who will be entering in the fall.
To meet these responsibilities, Prendergast sometimes finds his part-time, 8 a.m. to noon scheduled hours stretching into the middle of the afternoon as he helps a student deal with a problem that needs immediate attention.