Wednesday, November 30, 2011

How to tap talented students with disabilities

(Reuters) - With unemployment stubbornly stuck around 9 percent, Molly Kirk knows she's lucky she to have a job offer in the human resources training program at Google after graduation. Even with her excellent credentials, the Georgetown senior is quick to thank Lime Connect, an organization that partners with the world's leading corporations to offer summer internships to high-potential students with disabilities.

"Lime Connect helped me come to terms with my disability, gain confidence and make powerful connections so that I can achieve outside the classroom," says Kirk, who is severely hearing-impaired and wears hearing aides.

Believed to be the first organization of its kind, Lime Connect (think fresh approach to disability), was launched in 2006 to attract, prepare and connect students with often hidden disabilities such as ADHD, Asperger's Syndrome and dyslexia from top schools like Princeton, University of Michigan, University of Pennsylvania and Duke. The program helps students get internships and, ultimately, careers at top-tier corporations.

Read Toddi Gutner's Reuters article HERE.

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