Where learning happens
At the Stroke and Disability Learning Center, we are committed to both healing and learning. Our students include, but are not limited to, those who have experienced:
stroke
Parkinson's Disease
Multiple Sclerosis
traumatic brain injury / tumor
arthritis
speech, language or hearing impairment
These or other orthopedic or neurological limitations, make you a great candidate for the Cabrillo College Stroke and Disability Learning Center where you will gain new knowledge and skills.
Our professional team provides instruction and techniques for learning new activities and re-learning familiar tasks. For many, repetition, practice and perseverance are the keys to success. A community of support is built as students receive encouragement from others who have had similar experiences, share accomplishments and witness each other "standing tall."
The SDLC also provides opportunities for service and experiential learning to Cabrillo students interested in careers in Health and Human Services.
A foundation to build on
Core classes are offered as part of the Cabrillo College Accessibility Support Center (ASC). Classes include: counseling, mobility, adaptive yoga, speech language and memory classes.
Your support team
The counselor's primary goal is to help students clarify their educational goals so they can maximize college and community resources and develop successful strategies for adaptation. Counselors speak with prospective students and their families by phone, arrange tours and coordinate student assessments. An Orientation class helps new students learn about the program, choose the correct classes and then begin to integrate into classes.
CORE counseling classes include Exploring Abilities, Self-Management, Women's group and Men's group. Each class assists students gain self-awareness and confidence as they pursue their learning goals and interests.
Fun and Fitness
The majority of students who come to the Center want to regain lost function in mobility and/or dexterity, as well as maintain and improve their fitness level. The instructors, who are licensed physical therapists, and the class assistants, provide group activities at different levels of function and ability. Students encourage each other to push past limitations through committed exercise and practice. Goals include improving use of upper and lower extremities by developing strength, dexterity, flexibility, balance, coordination and endurance.
Connecting through communication
Communication skills are crucial for successful relationships and for meaningful participation in the community. The SDLC instructor, who is a speech therapist, and their instructional assistant, offer CORE classes that strengthen oral communication, reading, writing and memory strategies. A fully equipped Computer Lab allows students to access the many resources of the Internet as well as specific programs to promote language skills. Students pursue individual goals to improve voice and speech, gesture, hearing, listening, comprehension, attention, thought processes and memory.
Health, Education , Art and Recreation Together
The HEART Program is offered in collaboration with Cabrillo Extension. In our current online format, HEART classes include Choir, Horticultural Therapy and Painting. When able to operate in person, we also offer Upper Body, and Ceramics. HEART Program classes are reserved for students enrolled in CORE classes.
After a stroke, many individuals lose language capabilities yet are able to sing because music lives in a different part of the brain. Our choir gives students the opportunity to exercise voice and harmony, as well as to perform for our Stroke Center parties.
Penny Hanna, BA
Penny Hanna plays popular, jazz, and classical music on saxophone, bass, guitar, and viola da gamba. After spending most of her career on the road as a multi-instrumentalist and singer, she is thrilled and inspired to be part of the Cabrillo College Stroke Center Choir, blending voices with all the enthusiastic and gifted students.
