A collegiate connection can become truly special to any particular family. This is often the case in families who have had multiple generations attend the same institution. It becomes a family tradition. The UMass MAICEI Program found this was the case for one of our MAICEI Alumni, Brian LaClair. Brian attended the UMass MAICEI Program for five semesters, with his last one being in Fall of 2018. Wanting to know more about his family legacy at UMass, we Zoomed Brian’s mother Karen for an interview.
Karen told us that UMass has been apart of her family’s life for generations. She, herself, isan alumni and attended UMass for her bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and went back again to get her Master’s in Communication Disorders. Her mother also attended UMass and graduated in 1960 with a Bachelor’s in Education. Her mother’s father was also an alum, and attended UMass when it was still called Massachusetts Agricultural College in the 1930’s. Karen’s grandfather was named Lou Bush and she explained that the UMass Athletic Department sees him as a “UMass Legend” as he was one of the charter members of the Athletic Hall of Fame.
A former UMass Football Player, his name can be found on a large banner that is displayed during the football season. It was apparent that college, and more specifically UMass, was very important to her family. Karen told us the worries she had when Brian was young when it was discovered he would encounter some challenges in life,
“You always have aspirations obviously when you have kids. So when Brian – you know, we knew we were dealing with some significant intellectual, developmental issues with him. On top of all of just the educational, social therapy things you have to deal with there’s this piece where ‘okay, and now we really have to realign what his future’s gonna look like. What will it look like?’ And you know, there always was you know this question of ‘will he go to college?’ It really didn’t look like he’d you know be able to.”
Karen LaClair
Although she had these concerns, Karen was a parent who always saw an unlimited potential in her child. She described that when Brian was growing up, she never really talked to Brian about his disability as something that would create limitations. Still, she was worried. Brian was a very social and people-oriented person. Karen didn’t know what the impact was seeing his friends go to college would have on him. When Brian’s older sister toured colleges, Brian went along too. He enjoyed walking around on campus and checking out the school’s gym and dining hall.
“Obviously when he was little we pretty much knew he just wasn’t on the college track. And that was really kind a disappointing. I mean we dealt with it. But then as he got older too, it was this next step of ‘oh but he’s seeing everybody else do this next step and okay you’re eligible for services until you’re twenty-two. What do we do?’”
Karen LaClair
When looking into adult services, the biggest thing Karen wanted for Brian was an emphasis on social interaction with typical peers. This was something Karen advocated for throughout Brian’s life. So, when the family learned that the UMass MAICEI Program had a social model of inclusion, they utilized their district to learn more, “…we were really thrilled that there was a program for him to have the opportunity to be on campus. And he just loved it… He couldn’t wait for his three days at UMass”. Because UMass MAICEI provided the social opportunities along with academic and vocational support, Karen realized the family legacy would continue on.
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