New Harper institute for students with special needs

Parents who have adult children with autism will be interested in an open house Harper College is holding June 20 to talk about its new two-year vocational program, the Career Skills Institute.

Enrichment classes for special needs adults will begin in September. The two-year vocational program and enrichment classes are for adults with mild cognitive disabilities ages 18 and older.

The open house will be at 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 20, Building V, Room 114, at Harper College. The event will be for parents and others to ask questions and see if it would be a fit for their children.

The Schaumburg Autism Society has set up a scholarship fund at Harper, called the Schaumburg Autism Society Enrichment and Vocational Fund. It is the only scholarship fund at the college strictly set up for adults on the autism spectrum. It will award up to 10 students $80 each to enroll in a continuing education enrichment class and provide one student $200 to enroll in the Career Skills Institute program in the fall.

To qualify for aid, adults on the autism spectrum must be older than 18 and not able to take regular college courses without support or modifications to the curriculum. The Office of Scholarship and Financial Aid will choose the scholarship recipients.

RSVP to the Career Skills Institute Open House, at goforward.harpercollege.edu/ce/enrichment/specialneeds.php. All parents and adults with special needs are welcome. For details, email Mike Baker at mbaker721@comcast.net.