Eight out of 10 graduates of Bellevue College's Occupational and Life Skills program are working or pursuing further education within six months of finishing their degree.
About 30% of students who complete internships receive a job offer on the spot. Those numbers come from a program that serves students in a gap most colleges ignore: adults whose learning disabilities place them above the threshold for intellectual disability services but below traditional college readiness.
The OLS program, a 90-credit associate degree, was the first in the country to offer such a credential to students with learning disabilities when it launched in 2001, according to Bellevue College.
OLS is one of three programs the college highlighted in an article published Tuesday, July 28 outlining its disability and neurodivergence support.
The other two are the Disability Resource Center, which provides legally required accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act, and Neurodiversity Navigators, a peer-mentoring track designed and run by Sara Sanders Gardner, who is neurodivergent.
What OLS students actually do
The curriculum covers personal finance, nutrition, citizenship, disability awareness, and self-advocacy. In their final year, students complete a 250-plus-hour internship. There is no upper age limit for enrollment.
"All of our internships are catered to each student's career pathway. No two internships are alike," said Meg Iyer, OLS associate dean. In 2026, students interned on local film sets, assisted IT departments, ran Dungeons and Dragons campaigns, and worked in retail, wellness, manufacturing, and education.
Students also gather once per year on the Microsoft campus for practice interviews.
The program began when a group of parents partnered with Bellevue College's Continuing Education division in 2001. By 2006, the full 90-credit associate degree was recruiting its first cohort.
Neurodiversity Navigators
Neurodiversity Navigators is one of the first programs in the country designed by someone with autism rather than by a neurotypical researcher. It is structured as 17 credits over seven quarters, starting with a College Success equivalency course in the summer before a student's first year.
Peer mentors are juniors and seniors from the University of Washington and Seattle Pacific University, often studying occupational therapy, social work, or counseling.
Sanders Gardner, the program's director, told the college that the Eastside's concentration of neurodivergent residents, many connected to the tech industry, makes the region a natural fit.
Eastside employers in tech, healthcare, childcare, and public agencies are finding strengths in hires who may have been historically overlooked, according to the college.
Some Navigators students arrive through Bellevue College's Adult Basic Education program and go on to earn associate's or bachelor's degrees, including in computer science.
The Disability Resource Center
The DRC provides accommodations including extra time on exams, quiet testing rooms, dictation tools, and adjustments for sensory or health-related needs.
It does not change curriculum or lower standards.
A key shift for families: in K-12, schools are responsible for building support around the student under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. In college, under the ADA, students must advocate for themselves.
The college also received a $15,000 grant on Friday, May 1 through Achieving the Dream's Learning Inclusive Futures Together initiative, a national effort to strengthen support for students with learning differences.
