The Campus to Community Program offers undergraduate students at the University of Massachusetts Amherst the opportunity to provide weekly respite care to a local family raising a child, adolescent or adult with an intellectual or developmental disability.

“This experience has solidified that I want to be a Speech-Language Pathologist working with children.”
— Student
“This has been an incredibly valuable experience. I think it could be interesting to give students the option to take this course for an entire year (Fall and Spring semesters), and allow the students to continue with the same families. The only thing that was difficult about this experience was how short it was. I would enjoy visiting the family for a longer period of time, as I believe it would allow for stronger relationship building.”
— Student

Students earn two credits for this service-learning course.

One Credit - Weekly Trainings and Discussions

  • Students participate in weekly training and discussions with peers and an instructor.

  • Students complete CPR and First Aid Training and the ARCH National Respite Care Training prior to field experience.

One Credit - Field Experience

  • Students complete three hours of field experience per week (e.g., after school, evenings, weekends), in line with UMass guidelines for internship credit hours.

  • Students begin home visits the third week of the semester.

  • Students are placed in pairs, as needed, for both student comfort and management of multiple children in the home.

Skills Learned:

  • Appreciation for the family context

  • Cultural humility

  • Trauma informed practice

  • Engaging siblings

  • Practice with alternative or augmentative communication (AAC) devices

  • Exposure to assistive technology and medical supports

  • Planning enriching social and recreational activities

Students share one word to describe their experience:

For Students with:

  • An interest in learning more about people with disabilities

  • An interest in working in home care settings

  • A range of academic majors and career aspirations

  • A range of experience working with people with disabilities