For more than 40 years, we’ve provided these students with a supportive academic environment, hands-on career training through internships, deep engagement with the larger Lesley community, and a lifetime support network. Threshold is a set of one-of-a-kind programs that empower students to develop the independent working, living, and social skills that lead to richer, more purposeful lives.
Lesley University’s Threshold Programs are transformative college experiences for neurodiverse young adults seeking to build strong independent lives and careers and gain a system of lifelong support.
How Threshold Works
Each of Threshold’s programs allow learners to progress and grow at a comfortable pace.
Threshold is anything but a one-size-fits-all solution
In the college-based program, students live in traditional residence halls on Lesley’s Cambridge campus or in supervised apartments, providing them with a safe, supportive environment for developing crucial independent living skills.
Academics focus on life and work skills such as personal finance, meal planning, and navigating community, and social skills are carefully and individually developed through programming developed collaboratively with learners and their families.
Guaranteed internships and coaching at organizations trained by Lesley to support neurodiverse employees provide students with valuable practical experience, and employment opportunities for program graduates.
The four distinct programs are designed to meet learners where they are:
- The Core Program: Many Threshold students begin with the Core Program, a two-year residential college experience that prepares them for independent living and employment through coursework, student activities, and curated internships.
- The Bridge Program: A nine-month program for Core Program graduates who receive continued on-campus support while pursuing individualized career and independent living goals.
- The Transition Program: A 10-month off-campus experience open to Core Program graduates and other neurodiverse learners living in nearby apartments. Supported by Threshold staff, they work toward employment, continued education, and community engagement.
- Lifelong Support Program: Ongoing, individualized coaching for Threshold alumni and other neurodiverse adults to support career advancement, independent living, academic growth, and social connection. Participants receive customized goal-based life coaching in six-month intervals, helping them thrive in their personal and professional lives.
A Laser Focus on Workplace Skills
Helping students develop the skills they need to succeed in the workplace is a crucial part of the Threshold story.
All first year Threshold students are guaranteed an on-campus internship with staff who are specifically trained to work with a neurodiverse workforce. During their second year, students receive guaranteed work placements with one of our trusted and proven off-campus partners who are also trained to work with neurodiverse individuals.
These internships are supported by extensive coaching and mentoring and can lead to full-time employment opportunities with organizations in our network.
Building Community by Connecting to the Lesley Community
At many other colleges and universities, programs targeting neurodiverse learners are siloed and separate.
But Threshold is closely integrated with the larger Lesley University student population. Threshold students connect with one another – but also with the wider Lesley community – through clubs, meals, community service, athletics, campus events, and, for some students, academic courses.
Threshold students feel like they are experiencing an authentic and rich college experience - because they are. Through our professional learning center, graduates can access communities of practice and explore their work experiences with peers, ongoing enrichment classes, and more.
Lasting Impact, Lifelong Support
Graduates of Lesley’s Threshold Programs stay connected through a lifelong network designed to promote independence, connection, and continued growth.
Through our Alumni Center, Threshold graduates stay connected through social and other activities including travel, classes, movie nights, social interest clubs and more. Through our Threshold Lifelong Support Program, program alumni and other neurodiverse adults can access personalized one-on-one life coaching in career readiness, independent living, and social well-being, as well as a range of other resources and supports.
Learn more about the continuing education and lifelong support we offer to Threshold alumni and other neurodiverse adults.
Take the next step
Ready to begin your journey with Lesley? Share some basic information by filling out one of the forms below so that we can reach out to you with more information about our programs. Or, email admissions@lesley.edu to connect with a member of our admissions team.
Undergraduate Inquiry Form | Graduate Inquiry Form | Threshold Inquiry Form