Center for Disabilities Studies

CDS’s Sonja Rathel retiring after 27 years of service Sonja Rathel is retiring from the Delaware Assistive Technology Initiative after nearly three decades spent supporting Delawareans with disabilities. Rathel leaves a legacy of service in DATI and Delaware’s largest disability conferences – LIFE, Inclusion and Transition – which she helped coordinate for years.

Family members, future professionals offer roadmap to improving disability care Parents of children with developmental disabilities, psychologists, special educators and others in health and education fields presented research at the graduation reception for CDS’s Leadership in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities program.

High schoolers with disabilities sample college courses, careers in CDS program CDS’s Summer Career and Life Certificate program, open to high schoolers with disabilities entering their junior or senior year, helps smooth the transition to adult life by offering opportunities to sample jobs and undergraduate classes before graduation.

CDS screens documentary on intellectual disabilities across Delaware The Center presented Intelligent Lives, a film seeking to challenge perceptions of intellectual disability, in each county. By following the everyday lives of three young adults with intellectual disabilities, it illustrated the opportunities and challenges present during and after the transition from high school to postsecondary education and the workforce.

Internship program helps students with disabilities earn jobs at Newark businesses This feature story highlights the internship and employment preparation opportunities available to students in CDS’s Career and Life Studies Certificate (CLSC), a two-year postsecondary program for young adults with intellectual disabilities. It focuses on three recent CLSC graduates, Catherine Lin, Mike Massello and Ian Snitch, all of whom were hired by the employers they interned with. The students and their supporters emphasize how the positions have helped them grow and become more confident.