Ann-Marie is a connector who sees the potential in others. Her superpower is building relationships. In the context of Focus Collegiate, that means connecting students who learn differently and their families to the educational resources they need to flourish. It also means connecting her colleagues with the tools they need to better assist their students…

Student Skills Specialist Adam Tiro has almost two decades of experience working in special education. He has a master’s degree in Moderate Special Education from Eastern Nazarene College and a bachelor’s degree in professional music from Berklee School of Music. An empath at heart, Adam’s fascination with special education and complex learning profiles emerged during…

We are delighted to report the success of our Summer Cohort! During this extraordinary time, we achieved a simultaneous in-person and virtual four-week program in one of the most resilient cities in the country. And our students got what they needed. Our program ended up being exactly what our students are about to experience as they start school within…

Pattern disruption has long been a recognized method for creating positive change. The Socrates character in Dan Millman’s Way of the Peaceful Warrior puts it this way: “You have many habits that weaken you. The secret of change is to focus all your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new.”[1] As…

Self-advocacy is the key to getting accommodations in college. In high school, most students with learning differences are accustomed to having services come to them, in fact this approach in mandated by law. In college, this model is flipped on its head. Students are on their own. The U.S. Depart of Education spells it out…

Resilience is the ability to adapt and thrive despite adversity. We all need it. The pandemic has been a global demonstration of our need for resilience. Those businesses and organizations that have adapted to the unprecedented difficulties we all face are more likely to survive those difficulties; some of them will even thrive. On a…

As the fall semester approaches, our Summer Cohort is underway, and our phones and video chats are busy. Parents want to know what distinguishes Focus Collegiate from other organizations that support college students with learning differences. Simply put, our biggest differentiator is Boundless Support. We provide comprehensive, relational, integrated, boundless support. No one can truly predict how…

We are pleased to welcome Shawna Graichen to Summer Cohort, our four-week college-readiness experience July 18-August 15. As Student Skills Specialists, Shawna’s focus is student self-care emphasizing essential life skills in a college setting. She will provide daily direct support to Focus Collegiate students in the areas of organizational and life-skills building based on individual…

Comfortability starts with strong relationships. We foster them not just with our students, but with their families. From the moment a student signs up, they become part of our family.

Lockdown and distance learning are teaching us a fundamentally different way of having a relationship. Like our students, we’ve had to be flexible. Life online requires greater focus and diligence, but by sticking to our approach of being very intentional about the time we spend with our students, we have been able to keep our…

There has been a great deal of focus on student transitions to distance learning but little on its impact on college professors and their effectiveness in an all-online course delivery model. As we approach the end of an unprecedented semester, we’d like to bring attention to college faculty and staff at our partner institutions. After…

A recent cartoon in the New Yorker depicts a man and woman sitting together at their kitchen table. The woman asks the man for clarification: “Are you talking about the new normal of an hour ago, or is there a new new normal right now?”[1] Things are moving fast. In the external unpredictability of the…

Dear Community, We hope that you are well and adjusting to this viral reality. Here is an update on college life as we see it. Student Life The most important work we’re doing right now is connecting with students who feel lost. We’re talking to more students much more often. With all the demand we’re…

Colleges in Boston and around the United States suddenly shuttered, leaving every student in our community and everywhere else asking, ‘What Now?’   Student NeedsSuch a disruptive and radical routine change has left many students grappling with uncertainty and feeling ungrounded. In addition, almost every university is requiring students to complete the balance of their semester on…

Organizations, businesses, households, and individuals regroup and take stock each Spring. It’s a natural time to clear weeds and plant seeds. This clearing and planting are foundational to our organizational development and, more importantly, to the work we do with students who learn differently or struggle with ADHD or anxiety. The focus of Focus Collegiate…

John Marinilli is our Collegiate Life Coordinator. He’s affable and light-hearted. It’s easy to see why he enjoys such good rapport with students. We caught up with him by phone to talk about his work with Focus Collegiate. What does a Collegiate Life Coordinator actually do? I help students that have had some type of…

The success of our organization is due to the excellence of our team. Because of them, we are able to bring success to those students who may not have not known it before. To honor them and their hard work, we are presenting A Day-in-the-Life, a short series on how our team makes the magic…

An integral part of the learning process is the opportunity to test our nascent theories about ourselves as they develop. Experimenting with new ideas and new behaviors and getting good feedback from the world is how we calibrate our progress toward intentional positive change.   In our evidence-based work with college students, we emphasize experiential…

“Who are you?” said the Caterpillar. This was not an encouraging opening for a conversation. Alice replied, rather shyly, “I—I hardly know, Sir, just at present—at least I know who I was when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed several times since then.” “What do you mean by…

By now some of us have already broken our New Year’s resolutions. Like goals, New Year’s resolutions can generate feelings of obligation, i.e. “I ought to eat better,” and “I ought to exercise more.” Obligation creates stress. A personal vision, on the other hand, creates hope and activates parts of the brain involved in reasoning…

It’s that time of year when the airwaves and the ether are filled with good intentions for behavior in the season and in the new year. As the holidays loom, we strive to be our best and make plans for positive change. We promise ourselves more exercise, greater patience with loved ones, fewer cookies, more…

Thanksgiving is an excellent time for reflection and renewal. Learning comes about not only from doing, but from thinking about what we do. Reflecting on a student’s path through the semester, or what we call the Learning Agenda, is an important part of what we do at Focus Collegiate. The discrepancy between the student’s personal…

The holidays are notoriously fraught with difficult conversations. Conversations about next semester, conversations about progress, choices, direction, expectations – the list goes on. Many of these conversations are bound to take place at the holiday dinner table. We believe that these difficult conversations do not happen in isolation; students struggle to assert their new independence…

You may not have received your grade yet, but you do have a sinking suspicion that is growing into a panic. You have failed a midterm—or two. You are stressed, your self-esteem just took a huge hit, you didn’t meet expectations… And now you wonder what comes next. Breathe. Take a little time to regain…

Simply put, our approach works. We use Appreciative Inquiry to facilitate lasting positive change in our students. “Appreciative Inquiry is the cooperative search for the best in people, their organizations, and the world around them. It involves systematic discovery of what gives a system ‘life’ when it is most effective and capable in economic, ecological,…

Psychologists Keith Stanovich and Richard West refer to two systems in the mind, System 1 and System 2. • System 1 operates automatically and quickly, with little or no effort and no sense of voluntary control. • System 2 allocates attention to the effortful mental activities that demand it, including complex computations. The operations of…

When our College Life Coordinators talk to students about following their dreams, they are not referring to rainbows and unicorns but to real, heart-felt student aspirations. The charge to pursue your dreams (i.e. do what you love) is certainly not a new recommendation. Confucius told us to “Choose a job you love, and you will…

This is not something you will find on Spotify. Your Midterm survival playlist is more like the old Boy Scouts motto, “Be Prepared,” in which the scout is ready, willing, and able to do what is necessary in any situation that comes along. Your first brush with Midterms demands scout-level preparation – and determination. Here…

A smooth transition to college is not just about the college student. Adjusting to college life can also be challenging for the parents. On one hand our hearts break to pieces as we leave our ‘little one’ all alone in a strange new world; on the other? Who doesn’t want to relive their glory days…

So many First Years in college feel like everything is happening all at once. This is what the internal dialogue might be like as you drag yourself out of bed to face a new day in a new school year in a new environment: “Will this jacket be warm enough today? Where’s my toothpaste? What…

“These are the best days of your life.” How many times have you heard this statement in reference to your college days? If you are like most new students (and even of you aren’t!) you have heard it too many times. Adjusting to college life can be a serious challenge that doesn’t exactly feel like…

We are happy to announce that we have partnered with the International Guest House to provide an alternative housing option for Focus Collegiate students. The International Guest House is an independent dorm conveniently located in the middle of Boston in the Back Bay on Beacon Street.  It’s not too late to explore college attendance in…

G.I. Joe was an action figure who, to placate parents, ended each of his 1980s cartoons with the PSA, “Now you know. And knowing is half the battle…” The PSA was given within the context of something dangerous kids did unintentionally – like running out into traffic. Each cartoon would end with G.I. Joe encircled…

Do a Google search of the word “crisis” and you will find countless results. Okay, that’s not true. Google is counting. There are approximately 1,030,000,000 search results (and counting). Topping the list of crises are opioid crisis, refugee crisis, climate crisis, crisis in Sudan, and crisis on earth (this is a live-action television series starring…

It sounds ominous, but interrupting college can be a good thing. The Bill and Melinda Gates foundation lists poor preparation, not enough quality time with teachers and counselors, and a de-motivating college environment among the top reasons students leave school.[1] To an observer in the college support field, these look like excellent reasons to leave…

Most of us feel anxious or depressed at times, especially during times of significant life change like starting college. Given the number of stressors college introduces—especially within the first semester—it is not surprising that many students experience anxiety and depression. New college students are called upon to make a huge number of adjustments. Learning to…

Educators and parents know that everything can impact academics—including a healthy social life. New studies show that academic performance can depend upon good social integration skills—skills which, for many First Years, are put to the test in the new environment of college. The transition from high school to university is fraught with change: social, structural,…

My best friend was “born in the first half of the last century.” He introduces himself this way as he proffers his hand to my son, a hipster college student, who ignores the hand and goes in for the manly hug. It’s a small interaction that speaks volumes about the times. We are 20th Century…

Remember the Freshman Five? The phrase refers to the pounds we gained during our first semester in college. For many of us, college was our first opportunity to eat unsupervised. And we did! We ate for fun, we ate to reduce stress, we ate to socialize, we ate to abate anxiety, we ate for comfort….

It’s college landing season. Social media is flooded with images of exuberant students unpacking their parents’ minivan. As one, we are caught up in energy and excitement about the future. Filled with pride at the accomplishments of recent high school graduates, we can’t help but wonder about their next steps. We are especially curious about…

All of our programs are based upon student goals and student buy-in, without them, we and our students are nowhere. Because we know that the foundations of success are desire and determination, we start with student-centered purpose-driven inquiry. We engage with the student early to create an informal, trust-based relationship. This is where student buy-in…

Good routines shape our lives. You start the coffee maker, walk to the mail box, grab the paper, recycle the ads, and get back into the kitchen just as the last drop of coffee drips into your mug. Perfect timing. You sip your coffee and read the news. You do it every day. Your routine…

You’ve been accepted to college. You got the letter! You’re in. You’re going to the college of your dreams. It’s an incredible achievement. Congratulations. Now it’s time to do some serious planning. After the celebratory hugs and dancing, of course. College can be the most memorable and rewarding experience of your life. With good preparation,…

Transition to College is Hard. If you have a Learning Difference, it can feel impossible. Until Now… That’s what Focus Collegiate is all about. We guide students with learning differences toward independence using their current college experience as a launching pad. Unique college students require focused support beyond the university system. Working in concert with…