Students with disabilities find support at El Camino College
Vincent Meredith is as tough as they come. It’s been a challenging stretch for the 58-year-old El Camino College student since the event that would forever change him. But it didn’t change him in the way one might expect.
Up until 2007, Meredith had spent some 20 years as a pipe fitter, working 12 hours a day. It was brutal work. It affected his eating and sleeping habits. On the way home from work on a warm August afternoon, Meredith began feeling strange. That evening he collapsed walking to his bedroom.
“I dragged myself to the front door and waved for someone to call the paramedics,” Meredith recalls.
“Never give up.”
Vincent Meredith, Student at El Camino College’s Special Resource Center
The stroke left him paralyzed on the right side. Due to his overall health, Meredith spent six months immobile in the hospital, unable to “snap out of it” through physical activity or therapy. It was difficult time, made easier by the support of his family.
“They were there,” he says. “They were there praying for me in the hospital. They got me through.”
Two years later, Meredith enrolled at El Camino College with the encouragement of his sister. His goal was to rehabilitate through adapted physical education, which strengthens and re-educates muscles through individualized programs. Meredith began swimming to get his strength and mobility back.
But a real life change came when Meredith looked into academic courses. First he considered computer programming, but the limited function in his right hand made it difficult. He then tried photography and he loved it. “It’s my passion, and I just went out there and did it,” says Meredith, who had to train himself to take photos left-handed.
“What’s amazing with some of our students is their persistence,” says Dipte Patel, director of the Special Resources Center at El Camino College. “The majority of them have the ability to learn — our role is to break down the barriers to give them an opportunity to learn.”
The results have been promising. During the 2013 spring and fall semesters, 67 percent of students passed or completed their courses; 85 percent remained enrolled through the end of the term. At the conclusion of the 2013-2014 school year, 174 students went on to a four-year college or university.
“They’re so good to me,” says Meredith of the faculty. “They don’t just pass you because you’re handicapped — they let you know if you have to work harder.”
Today, Meredith is able to walk without a wheelchair or a cane, and his speech has vastly improved. He’s still doing photography, and now has a portrait studio in his house, where he hopes to start his business. And Meredith is still taking classes at El Camino College, where he hopes to earn his associate degree.
To this day Meredith is still astonished by the turn his life has taken during his time at El Camino College. He not only found a passion in photography he never imagined, but he’s also taken something else away from his experience.
“Never give up. Life is a challenge; you got to keep your mind exercised,” Meredith says. “Life is precious — you got to take advantage.”
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Written by Mark Lore
| Regions | Classes |
|---|---|
| South Coast California | Life Skills |
