Resilience and College Success

Yesterday almost 100 parents and high school students braved strong winds and a steady downpour to hear Dr. Yellin speak about "How to Help Struggling Students Make a Successful Transition to College and Adulthood: Resiliency, Neuroplasticity and Overcoming Early Challenges". This keynote talk was part of a conference sponsored by The Center for Learning Differences and the Compass Project and held on the campus of C.W. Post College.

Using information about recent studies in the fields of neuroscience and education, Dr. Yellin discussed how early struggles with learning can be overcome and that students who have the right kind of adult support, and who understand how they learn, can go on to successful adult lives even if they started out with substantial difficulties.


The conference then broke into separate sessions for the high school students, who meet college students with learning issues for a frank conversation about what they could expect as they move on to college, and a presentation for parents by Dr. Lisa Korman about the transition process from high school to college.

Finally, the entire group heard from representatives of local and national colleges who discussed their programs and the learning supports they offered. Students and parents had an opportunity to speak one-on-one with all of the college representatives and lingered to ask questions long after the program had concluded.

"It was just great," one parent reported. "Dr. Yellin's talk was terrific and we feel so much better informed about the kinds of college programs out there. It wasn't easy getting my kid up early on a Sunday morning but it was really worth it!"