College Success@Perkins: Design and Implementing a Program for Transition-Age Youths With Visual Impairments

To prepare high school graduates with visual impairments for college, staff members at Perkins School for the Blind developed a nine month residential program, College Success@Perkins. This article describes components of the program design and provides data on eight students who successfully completed the program in the first cohort. It concludes with a discussion of some of the challenges identified and recommendations for supporting high school students to be prepared for the rigors of college life. It also provides information about the new approach Perkins has undertaken to support transition-age youths, using the lessons learned from the first cohort who completed the program.