College Living Experience
Monday, August 14th, 2006
College Living Experience is a post-secondary program that provides intensive assistance with academic, independent living and social skills to college students with special needs as they transition to become independent adults. CLE assists students throughout the college process, from registration to orientation to study to life-skills development. With centers in Austin, Denver and Ft. Lauderdale, CLE offers access to nearly 20 community colleges, universities and technical institutes that offer a wide variety of certificate and degree programs. For more information, visit www.cleinc.net.
National Admissions Office
800-486-5058
Contact: Jill Rickel: jrickel@cleinc.net
We’ve had several questions from those interested in our program about the populations we work with. Here is a sample: Autism/Aspergers, ADD/ADHD, Psychosocial-Maturational issues, nonverbal learning disorders. I hope that helps.
Is there any information as to how successful/unsuccessful this program has been for students who have participated in the program? Any complaints vs. praise?
I use to be a student and employee at CLE. If you have any questions for me feel free to ask them here.
Anonymous,
What is your honest assessment of the program? It is expensive and will financially wipe us out, but worth it to me if it is all it is said to be. Your thoughts please????
Dee
To anyone considering the CLE program,
Do not waste your money. They do not provide the services you pay for and simply cannot after laying off 20+ employees this year. They will promise you anything under the sun to get you in. Once in, your son or daughter is just another number. There only concern is what they refer to as “butts in seats”, not providing you with services. The company is in serious financial difficulties due to the mismanagement on ESA’s behalf since taking over the program in 2005. This once great program is now the laughing stock in the field. You cannot trust anyone from ESA to give you the truth since they lie to everyone including their employees. Do your research asking professionals who work in the field who are not affiliated with ESA.
Dee,
Despite CLE having problems it is still one of the better programs out there. There are not many programs similar to it. My recommendation would be to visit the program and meet with the staff. The staff at CLE are caring and compassionate.
Foremer Employee
Which CLE program were you an employee with and what professionals would you suggest a person contact about CLE
Meg
Meg,
I was an employee at the original location which was purchased by ESA in June 2005, The Davie, Florida location. You can ask any professional person who has dealt with CLE or recommends students for the program such as an Educational Consultant who has dealt with them before and after ESA took over.
Former Employee and Anonymous,
We are thinking about enrolling our son in Davie this August. We have visited the facility, spoke with students and staff and came away very favorably impressed. We are very concerned about the comments posted by former employee. Could we have more specific information on the negatives and positives.
Has anyone found good sources of funding to help offset the cost?
Lois, have you been able to speak with the parents of students there now and those who’ve recently completed the program?
The person who identifies him/herself as “former employee” brings up a good suggestion. There are many educational/placement consultants from your area or in Florida who can give you their perspective.
Good luck.
My daughter presently attends the Austin CLE program. She has gone further in college with the help of CLE than she would have without it. I have not had any problems with the staff at the Austin CLE office. If I have concerns or questions, I simply call or email the person I want to talk with. Yes, it is expensive, but when you consider the alternative, it is well worth it. Our daughter is maturing, learning and growing into an independent young adult with their help. This would not have occurred without CLE’s help. I have found DARS to be of help with college tuition, and books and supplies, and other things. Some disabilities are listed under Social Security, and you can also seek financial help there. Our daughter has gone to Austin CLE for 2 years, and we are very pleased with the results.
Dolly G.
I am the parent of a CLE Monterey student, who started in October 2008. We have been very impressed by the program as it is very well rounded. The people are kind and compassionate and my son is very happy there even though he is on the other side of the U.S. from us.
Our daughter (Aspie/NLD) enrolled at CLE Monterey in August and we are thrilled with her very rapid development in the program. She’s gotten good support from staff, including tutoring, independent living skills coaching, and social support with some sticky peer conflicts. She has a social life for the first time in her 22 years. She loves it there! As a psychologist and also someone with many years of administrative experience, I have a lot of respect for what these people are doing, and have been impressed by the staff they attract. It’s an extraordinarily complex challenge, and they are juggling a lot of very complicated personalities, and miraculously it usually seems to work pretty well.
We are from NY and our son is in his second year at CLE Denver. The program has given him the opportunity to develop independent living skills as well as attend college. He has matured significantly and now has a part time job along with going to school part time. He struggles socially and the staff have always been there to get him back on track when things get rough. Yes, it is expensive but we take each year one at a time and look at it as an investment in our son. The other programs we looked into were also expensive but they were primarily academic based with support and little in the way of independent living skills. This program works to develop both so the kids can use thier strengths and acomplishments to overcome the other difficulties they may have. The core staff at Denver has stayed consistant during our sons time there and they are great. We always feel they truely care for our son and want him to succeed.
Thank you Sanford, Dolly,Martha,Dan and Tim, for taking the time to respond. Your feedback reinforces our positive perception of the program after our visit to the Davie facility.
It would be wonderful if we can hear from a Davie parent.
My daughter suffered a TBI in 2006, just one month before high school graduation. She’s beautiful (inside & out) but moves slowly, as she has balance, speech, and vision issues. Her injury hasn’t affected her ability to learn but she needs a note taker and extra test time. She played 3 sports in high school, lettering as a freshman in softball. She wants to go to college. Her twin is in college, her brother is a senior at USD. It’s her turn. How do I send her anywhere? I can’t. Not unless there’s a program like CLE. All my kids planned to go to college. We are very interested in Monterey, as it is fairly close to us. Any info that would be helpful?