Frequently Asked Questions
If you have questions not answered on our website or would like any additional information, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
- Enhance knowledge, skills, and awareness
- Improve social and communication skills
- Meet peers with similar interests
- Develop friendships
- Continue learning with peers in an academic setting
- Engage in athletic, leisure, and recreational activities with other young adults
- Prepare for future employment possibilities
- Work or volunteer at the university
- Explore personal interests
- Achieve personal goals
- Experience personal growth
Planning: The process of including students with intellectual disabilities begins when each student plans their program of study with the support of their family or other supporters, and the Axcess Acadia Coordinator. Each student selects courses based on their interests, career goals, past experiences, or the areas they wish to explore.
Registration: After a student has selected their courses, the coordinator approaches each course instructor to explain the program and request permission for that student to audit the course. Once a course selection is set, the students are supported through the registration process as auditing students in Open Acadia at Acadia University.
Academic Support: The Axcess Acadia Coordinator will assist with building a foundation with a natural peer support for the student in each course. In addition, a peer mentor may be provided to each student.
Ongoing Support: As the students attend classes, the coordinator, peer mentors and volunteers of Axcess Acadia support the students by shaping course content and adapting assignments to meet their unique individual needs and abilities. Their programs are designed to mirror other university students' academic experiences, including classes, labs, library work, study groups, and field trips. Students may study in any faculty or school at Acadia University with the permission of the course instructor.
Axcess Acadia students pay the auditing fee for each course (2018-2019 auditing fee per 3hr course $530.00) as well as residence fees. Students are responsible for paying for their own transportation, student fees, books, supplies, and incidental expenses. However, monetary support may be available for educational disability-related supports such as tutoring, note-taking, communication supports, assistive technology or specialized transportation.
For an up-to-date breakdown of the cost of attending Acadia University through Axcess Acadia please visit the application page.
Volunteers encourage and support students in Axcess Acadia as they participate in leisure activities, recreational activities, intramural sports, university clubs and relaxing time at lunch or between classes. The opportunity to develop friendships and acquaintances with their peers at the university is an important aspect of the program.
If you have a school, organization, or student you want to share information about Axcess Acadia to, feel free to use this pamphlet and brochure. They can be downloaded and shared.
Get a copy of the brochure here
Get a copy of the pamphlet here
- University of Alberta was the first to begin Inclusive Postsecondary Education programs for students with developmental disabilities in 1987. Alberta continues to be a leader in this area.
- Programs in Alberta are delivered by postsecondary institutions in partnership with the Alberta Association for Community Living.
- Axcess Acadia is the first IPSE option in Nova Scotia
- Cape Breton University and Mount Saint Vincent University also offer inclusive post-secondary education options in Nova Scotia.
- The Steps Forward Initiative acts as the central point for inclusive post-secondary education options in British Columbia