Student Profiles

When I started at Kennedy Krieger Middle School, I was very frustrated and angry because I did not think I needed to be here. Slowly, though, I began to see that Kennedy Krieger was the right school for me. But it took time. Today I realize that I needed to be here to get the education I needed, because I might not have done as well anywhere else.

Colbie Bratlie wants to be a world champion. And the odds are good that she will be because she competes in wheelchair basketball, sled hockey, track, field, archery, table tennis, and swimming. The athletic 14- year-old already seems Herculean for her stamina and determination, but when you add in that she has cerebral palsy, it truly does make her accomplishments seem superhuman.

A Day at the Aquarium

"Mom, Lauren pinched me," Justin calls back to his mother. He and his little sister, Lauren, are walking arm in arm through Baltimore's Inner Harbor on their way to the National Aquarium. Just over a year ago, this trip might not have been possible. Justin has autism, and he had a hard time doing anything outside of his established routine.

Given a choice, Kevin Sargeant says he could do without all of the independence and opportunities that adulthood promises. But adulthood, it seems, is coming for him nonetheless.

It seemed like a perfect opportunity: a work-based internship at a highly regarded children's museum. Chosen students would perform administrative tasks, prepare supplies for crafts projects and, most importantly, help children and families visiting the museum make their way through a variety of exciting exhibits.

There's just something about the solar system that fascinates me. It started when I was about five years old. I couldn't get enough of books and computer programs about planets, moons, and stars. I was even interested in model rockets because, in life-size form, they created a path to the great Milky Way.

Every morning, 3-year-old La'Nell Alewine and her 4-year-old sister, Ja'Nell, get dressed and make their way to preschool at the Dayspring Head Start Center in East Baltimore. There, the girls eat a healthy breakfast, play with their classmates and learn about the alphabet, colors and numbers.

Across the country, young adults preparing to enter the workforce are feeling the sting of a tight job market. Competition for employment is stiff for the brightest, most talented youth, much less young adults with learning, emotional and neurological problems.

Not long ago, no one would have imagined that Mani El-Mahdi would hold a job or complete a project without someone watching his every move. His behavior was just too unpredictable. Diagnosed with autism, Mani displayed the most severe symptoms of the disorder: he kicked, punched, disappeared in the blink of an eye.