September 30, 2023 • 12 mins
Hundreds of young people with developmental and intellectual disabilities have developed critical life skills and gained confidence through the "Threshold" program at Lesley University in Cambridge. The program has been around for decades, but it's about to get a big update. University President Janet Steinmayer's son, Ben, attended the program, and continues to flourish with the connections and expertise he learned through Threshold. They join the show this week to talk with Nichole about their experience, the history of the program, and the upcoming changes.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:07):
From WBZ News Radio in Boston.This is New England Weekend. Each week
we come together and talk about allthe topics important to you and the place
where you live. It's great tobe back with you on the show this
week. I'm Nicole Davis heading overto Cambridge now where at Leslie University they
utilize all the opportunity in nearby HarvardSquare to help neurodiverse students gain important life
(00:28):
skills through the Threshold program. Now, hundreds of young people through the years
have made their way through the program, getting advice on how to live on
their own, internships, special careertraining, and much much more. Janet
Steinmeyer has a very special connection toLeslie because not only is she the school
president, but her son Ben haspersonally gone through the program and is now
(00:49):
thriving. They're both on the showwith us right now to talk about this
bend. Janet, thank you somuch for being here. Janet, I
would like to start with you becausewe obviously just did a quick rundown of
Threshold, what it is, thatkind of thing, But let's expand a
bit more if you could, forpeople who might not be familiar. Tell
us more about Threshold. Well,the Threshold program is a pretty unique program
(01:11):
for students with learning differences who wantto go and have independent lives and independent
careers. Started in nineteen eighty two, which is really about the time when
colleges and universities were starting to havesupport programs, but this was different.
It was really designed so that studentswould have a college experience, but leading
(01:37):
instead of to a degree, tosomething that was more of a job and
a setup for life. There's abeautiful transportation system, it's a wonderful city
to live in, and students couldnavigate to lots of different places really easily.
Yeah, I mean Harvard Square.Every time I'm there, I see
kids walking around, biking around,tering around. These days, they'll find
(02:01):
any way to get around, andLeslie just seems like it's in such a
perfect space for really anything you wouldwant to do, but especially a program
like Threshold exactly. And now inforty years later, six undergraduates, most
of whom or a lot of whomstay in the area. We were walking
down the street the other night todinner and said, Wow, I wonder
(02:24):
if we'll see Threshold people in sureenough recognize some lumps who are just walking
down the street. Reading their friends, enjoying the fact that Cambridge is such
an enveloping place as well as justhaving a community here, very enveloping.
I love it. So the program, from what I can tell, involves
(02:45):
two parts. You've got the Coreprogram and then you've got the transitional program
that happens after you graduate from theCore program. So what I love about
the Core program it touches on somany different aspects here and even connects kids
with internships. So I guess let'sstart with the Core program here. So
expand if you could, on whatthese young people are learning and why the
(03:06):
Core program is so important. Sure, it's set up to teach independent living
and working. It's really scaffolding peopleinto having great experiences in their careers and
in their lives. And so itstarts with a fair amount of classroom work,
(03:27):
but mixed with career experiences internships,and then the second year it almost
flips and it's more internship and supportiveclassroom experiences, and then if you go
on into the Bridge and transition programs, it's more and more independent navigation of
(03:49):
those situations. These are critical skillsthat I think every young adult needs to
learn, but especially you know,I know plenty of people my age I'm
pushing forty who could use a fewof these skills, to be honest,
But I think that it's it's incrediblyimportant for students of all abilities to have
access to this information. And I'mreally grateful that the Threshold program is there
(04:11):
to help people out. And Ben, I want to talk to you.
You have been through the program.You you did it yourself, So tell
me what it was like when youfirst got into the program and what you
learned through your years in the coreprogram. Uh, you know, I'm
having to make good fans. Imean, you know, they taught me
how to uh live independently, mostlyabout finance, comment events and and uh
(04:40):
and then we had did some elctives. I did Quay wedding, which you
liked. What did you do inthe creative writing class? Like have you
written a novel? Or are wetalking like short stories here? Or it
was a good topic you picked andyou hand to write about it? Okay,
all right? Do you think thatyou know now you're doing some great
(05:00):
work over at Perkins. Tell meabout like how the program helped you get
ready for that? Uh? Whyactually internship they all go back into and
ten Okay, so on ship atthe and live the talking book live way,
you know, helped at the time, we round tapes for the kids
to for the students to this andthen transition to the little digital use be
(05:27):
sticks so they can you know,listen to digital stuff. And you know,
I enjoyed that, and then itgot me to w I am at
Pawkins now. And that's going tomake you feel pretty proud of yourself.
You know, you did a lotof hard work through this program and you'll
look back on it now it's like, hey, I did that. That's
pretty cool. Yeah. Well sothen you know, let's talk about you
(05:48):
personally, Jannet. You know,how did you find this program? I
mean, Ben has clearly been thrivingbecause of it. So how did you
get connected with the program? Ithink that we were casting about for the
right place to go and someone mentionedthe program to us. We came up
to visit, and I think thatwas the first time you really felt like
(06:11):
this was going to be your home. That made a huge impression. And
the director at the time was tellingus that it's more selective than Harvard,
that a fewer percentage of students getinto this program, and students going to
Harvard. Now, that may ormay not be true, but it is
very very true that there's a hugeamount of effort that goes into making sure
(06:33):
that there's a match so that we'rereally helping students who can profit from the
program. Wouldn't you say that's true? Yes? And really you're developing relationships.
That's the thing, because from whatI've been able to tell, the
Threshold Program stays with you for life, and you've got all these different friends
that you make, and you almostbecome kind of like a family. Right.
(06:53):
Yes, do you still keep intouch with your friends from the program?
Sometimes? Yes? They do,see still hang out. Are they
local still or you did they moveaway to do their own stuff? No,
that's still no whole What I loveabout the story, too, Janet,
is that through the Threshold Program youfound yourself essentially entrenched in Leslie in
(07:14):
the best of ways, because nowyou're heading the whole place up. So
tell me about how that all happened. Well, I think it was a
little more gradual, will sure thanmaybe that Nicole. But certainly I joined
the board because I was very gratefulfor the experience that Ben had there.
I think when I was on theboard. I really saw the amazing strength
(07:38):
that Leslie has an education and mentalhealth in the arts, and I really
saw how it makes a difference inthis community, and I mean by that
in this region, and that ithas so much potential to do even more.
So probably you're right that it wasby step I became more and more
(08:03):
impressed with all that this university does. There's about to be a pretty decent
expansion to the Threshold program, solet's talk about that. What's going to
be coming up in the future.Well, as you said, we really
want to support people through their lives, and we do that to some extent
now because there's an alumni center,and Ben and a lot of his friends
have been involved in the brunches andgames that they go to, the Red
(08:28):
Sax Games for those people who areRed Sax fans and help along the way.
We were talking to on alum theother day who got help when he
interviewed for a job and he thoughthe had the job and he moved from
Michigan to Massachusetts because he didn't understandhe was just interviewing for the job.
(08:50):
So there are many places along theway where people turned to Threshold for help.
But now what we want to dois extend the kinds of supports that
Ben was describing, so people canavail themselves of that to the extent they
want and whenever, anytime they wantthrough their lives. So if they want
(09:11):
to change their career, if theywant to ladder up in their career,
if they want to have somebody comein once a month or once a week
and just check and make sure thateverything's going okay and that bills are being
paid, or roommate situations are workingout, Or we want to go back
to school and they'd love to havesomebody tutor them, or they'd like to
(09:33):
have some help with just learning howto get out there and meet more people.
So those kind of services are beingset up now. And the other
piece of it that I'm very excitedabout it is that we're partnering with broad
Futures, which is a group that'sworked with employers and students and realize that
(09:56):
it's a relationship and now helps ushelp employers to understand how do you employ
a neurodiverse individual successfully. And incidentally, as we share those things, almost
everybody looks and says that'll work foreverybody. That'll work for everybody and make
implement relationships better. So it maybe something that becomes and I hope it
(10:18):
becomes more universally accepted. That makesme so happy because neurodiverse individuals, I
mean I identify as neurodiverse myself,and I feel like they've been given a
bad rap for many, many,many years. But so many of us
who are neurodiverse can do just asmuch as anybody else. Right, we
all bring so much to the table, and sometimes you might need a couple
(10:39):
of accommodations, but at the endof the day, employers, I feel
benefit from having neurodivergent people on theirstaff absolutely. And I think we see
people from the Threshold program go onto become early childhood educators and they stay
for years and they become these belovedmembers of these communities. Or Ben has
(11:01):
friends who have become tennis pros andconcierge at a very popular recreational center,
the head of distribution at UPS.I mean, they go on to do
these things that are great, andthey make these they craft these beautiful lives
for themselves. And I think you'reright. I think that we all can
(11:26):
profit from having these great relationships andunderstanding how to support people as they come
into the workforce. All right,So Janet, how can people find out
more information about the Threshold Program atLeslie. Well, certainly we'd love to
talk to people who are interested init. So if people get in contact
with us to have a conversation,more than happy to do that because it
(11:52):
is really a very personal thing tounderstand the Threshold Program and what it can
do for people. We really urgepeople to to beach out. Yeah,
for sure. And Ben, Iguess my last question for you, for
people who might be listening to thisand kind of learning about the program for
the first time, what's your biggestpiece of advice for somebody coming into Threshold.
It really helps, you know,people with only differences to live the
(12:16):
live as well. I mean,maybe teach you how to live independently and
help you if you have problems.And they also help you, you know,
navigate the t Okay, that's helpfulbecause none of us really know how
to do that. Well, Benand Janet, this has been such a
(12:37):
great time. Thank you for takingtime on the show talking to me about
the Threshold Program, and I appreciateit. Yes, thank you, Thank
you. Have a safe and healthyweekend, and please join me again next
week for another edition of the show. I'm Nicole Davis from WBZ News Radio on iHeartRadio
From WBZ News Radio in Boston.This is New England Weekend. Each week
we come together and talk about allthe topics important to you and the place
where you live. It's great tobe back with you on the show this
week. I'm Nicole Davis heading overto Cambridge now where at Leslie University they
utilize all the opportunity in nearby HarvardSquare to help neurodiverse students gain important life
(00:28):
skills through the Threshold program. Now, hundreds of young people through the years
have made their way through the program, getting advice on how to live on
their own, internships, special careertraining, and much much more. Janet
Steinmeyer has a very special connection toLeslie because not only is she the school
president, but her son Ben haspersonally gone through the program and is now
(00:49):
thriving. They're both on the showwith us right now to talk about this
bend. Janet, thank you somuch for being here. Janet, I
would like to start with you becausewe obviously just did a quick rundown of
Threshold, what it is, thatkind of thing, But let's expand a
bit more if you could, forpeople who might not be familiar. Tell
us more about Threshold. Well,the Threshold program is a pretty unique program
(01:11):
for students with learning differences who wantto go and have independent lives and independent
careers. Started in nineteen eighty two, which is really about the time when
colleges and universities were starting to havesupport programs, but this was different.
It was really designed so that studentswould have a college experience, but leading
(01:37):
instead of to a degree, tosomething that was more of a job and
a setup for life. There's abeautiful transportation system, it's a wonderful city
to live in, and students couldnavigate to lots of different places really easily.
Yeah, I mean Harvard Square.Every time I'm there, I see
kids walking around, biking around,tering around. These days, they'll find
(02:01):
any way to get around, andLeslie just seems like it's in such a
perfect space for really anything you wouldwant to do, but especially a program
like Threshold exactly. And now inforty years later, six undergraduates, most
of whom or a lot of whomstay in the area. We were walking
down the street the other night todinner and said, Wow, I wonder
(02:24):
if we'll see Threshold people in sureenough recognize some lumps who are just walking
down the street. Reading their friends, enjoying the fact that Cambridge is such
an enveloping place as well as justhaving a community here, very enveloping.
I love it. So the program, from what I can tell, involves
(02:45):
two parts. You've got the Coreprogram and then you've got the transitional program
that happens after you graduate from theCore program. So what I love about
the Core program it touches on somany different aspects here and even connects kids
with internships. So I guess let'sstart with the Core program here. So
expand if you could, on whatthese young people are learning and why the
(03:06):
Core program is so important. Sure, it's set up to teach independent living
and working. It's really scaffolding peopleinto having great experiences in their careers and
in their lives. And so itstarts with a fair amount of classroom work,
(03:27):
but mixed with career experiences internships,and then the second year it almost
flips and it's more internship and supportiveclassroom experiences, and then if you go
on into the Bridge and transition programs, it's more and more independent navigation of
(03:49):
those situations. These are critical skillsthat I think every young adult needs to
learn, but especially you know,I know plenty of people my age I'm
pushing forty who could use a fewof these skills, to be honest,
But I think that it's it's incrediblyimportant for students of all abilities to have
access to this information. And I'mreally grateful that the Threshold program is there
(04:11):
to help people out. And Ben, I want to talk to you.
You have been through the program.You you did it yourself, So tell
me what it was like when youfirst got into the program and what you
learned through your years in the coreprogram. Uh, you know, I'm
having to make good fans. Imean, you know, they taught me
how to uh live independently, mostlyabout finance, comment events and and uh
(04:40):
and then we had did some elctives. I did Quay wedding, which you
liked. What did you do inthe creative writing class? Like have you
written a novel? Or are wetalking like short stories here? Or it
was a good topic you picked andyou hand to write about it? Okay,
all right? Do you think thatyou know now you're doing some great
(05:00):
work over at Perkins. Tell meabout like how the program helped you get
ready for that? Uh? Whyactually internship they all go back into and
ten Okay, so on ship atthe and live the talking book live way,
you know, helped at the time, we round tapes for the kids
to for the students to this andthen transition to the little digital use be
(05:27):
sticks so they can you know,listen to digital stuff. And you know,
I enjoyed that, and then itgot me to w I am at
Pawkins now. And that's going tomake you feel pretty proud of yourself.
You know, you did a lotof hard work through this program and you'll
look back on it now it's like, hey, I did that. That's
pretty cool. Yeah. Well sothen you know, let's talk about you
(05:48):
personally, Jannet. You know,how did you find this program? I
mean, Ben has clearly been thrivingbecause of it. So how did you
get connected with the program? Ithink that we were casting about for the
right place to go and someone mentionedthe program to us. We came up
to visit, and I think thatwas the first time you really felt like
(06:11):
this was going to be your home. That made a huge impression. And
the director at the time was tellingus that it's more selective than Harvard,
that a fewer percentage of students getinto this program, and students going to
Harvard. Now, that may ormay not be true, but it is
very very true that there's a hugeamount of effort that goes into making sure
(06:33):
that there's a match so that we'rereally helping students who can profit from the
program. Wouldn't you say that's true? Yes? And really you're developing relationships.
That's the thing, because from whatI've been able to tell, the
Threshold Program stays with you for life, and you've got all these different friends
that you make, and you almostbecome kind of like a family. Right.
(06:53):
Yes, do you still keep intouch with your friends from the program?
Sometimes? Yes? They do,see still hang out. Are they
local still or you did they moveaway to do their own stuff? No,
that's still no whole What I loveabout the story, too, Janet,
is that through the Threshold Program youfound yourself essentially entrenched in Leslie in
(07:14):
the best of ways, because nowyou're heading the whole place up. So
tell me about how that all happened. Well, I think it was a
little more gradual, will sure thanmaybe that Nicole. But certainly I joined
the board because I was very gratefulfor the experience that Ben had there.
I think when I was on theboard. I really saw the amazing strength
(07:38):
that Leslie has an education and mentalhealth in the arts, and I really
saw how it makes a difference inthis community, and I mean by that
in this region, and that ithas so much potential to do even more.
So probably you're right that it wasby step I became more and more
(08:03):
impressed with all that this university does. There's about to be a pretty decent
expansion to the Threshold program, solet's talk about that. What's going to
be coming up in the future.Well, as you said, we really
want to support people through their lives, and we do that to some extent
now because there's an alumni center,and Ben and a lot of his friends
have been involved in the brunches andgames that they go to, the Red
(08:28):
Sax Games for those people who areRed Sax fans and help along the way.
We were talking to on alum theother day who got help when he
interviewed for a job and he thoughthe had the job and he moved from
Michigan to Massachusetts because he didn't understandhe was just interviewing for the job.
(08:50):
So there are many places along theway where people turned to Threshold for help.
But now what we want to dois extend the kinds of supports that
Ben was describing, so people canavail themselves of that to the extent they
want and whenever, anytime they wantthrough their lives. So if they want
(09:11):
to change their career, if theywant to ladder up in their career,
if they want to have somebody comein once a month or once a week
and just check and make sure thateverything's going okay and that bills are being
paid, or roommate situations are workingout, Or we want to go back
to school and they'd love to havesomebody tutor them, or they'd like to
(09:33):
have some help with just learning howto get out there and meet more people.
So those kind of services are beingset up now. And the other
piece of it that I'm very excitedabout it is that we're partnering with broad
Futures, which is a group that'sworked with employers and students and realize that
(09:56):
it's a relationship and now helps ushelp employers to understand how do you employ
a neurodiverse individual successfully. And incidentally, as we share those things, almost
everybody looks and says that'll work foreverybody. That'll work for everybody and make
implement relationships better. So it maybe something that becomes and I hope it
(10:18):
becomes more universally accepted. That makesme so happy because neurodiverse individuals, I
mean I identify as neurodiverse myself,and I feel like they've been given a
bad rap for many, many,many years. But so many of us
who are neurodiverse can do just asmuch as anybody else. Right, we
all bring so much to the table, and sometimes you might need a couple
(10:39):
of accommodations, but at the endof the day, employers, I feel
benefit from having neurodivergent people on theirstaff absolutely. And I think we see
people from the Threshold program go onto become early childhood educators and they stay
for years and they become these belovedmembers of these communities. Or Ben has
(11:01):
friends who have become tennis pros andconcierge at a very popular recreational center,
the head of distribution at UPS.I mean, they go on to do
these things that are great, andthey make these they craft these beautiful lives
for themselves. And I think you'reright. I think that we all can
(11:26):
profit from having these great relationships andunderstanding how to support people as they come
into the workforce. All right,So Janet, how can people find out
more information about the Threshold Program atLeslie. Well, certainly we'd love to
talk to people who are interested init. So if people get in contact
with us to have a conversation,more than happy to do that because it
(11:52):
is really a very personal thing tounderstand the Threshold Program and what it can
do for people. We really urgepeople to to beach out. Yeah,
for sure. And Ben, Iguess my last question for you, for
people who might be listening to thisand kind of learning about the program for
the first time, what's your biggestpiece of advice for somebody coming into Threshold.
It really helps, you know,people with only differences to live the
(12:16):
live as well. I mean,maybe teach you how to live independently and
help you if you have problems.And they also help you, you know,
navigate the t Okay, that's helpfulbecause none of us really know how
to do that. Well, Benand Janet, this has been such a
(12:37):
great time. Thank you for takingtime on the show talking to me about
the Threshold Program, and I appreciateit. Yes, thank you, Thank
you. Have a safe and healthyweekend, and please join me again next
week for another edition of the show. I'm Nicole Davis from WBZ News Radio on iHeartRadio
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Therapy Gecko
An unlicensed lizard psychologist travels the universe talking to strangers about absolutely nothing. TO CALL THE GECKO: follow me on https://www.twitch.tv/lyleforever to get a notification for when I am taking calls. I am usually live Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but lately a lot of other times too. I am a gecko.