Danielle Leigh at WABC-TV:
Roughly six weeks after 7 On Your Side Investigates first exposed that Nassau Community College was planning to eliminate two programs serving students with autism, those programs were officially restored Monday with the approval of the college's proposed 2020-2021 budget by the Nassau County Legislature.
In May, when the Legislature learned of the college's plans to cut the ASPIRES and Achilles programs while adding to their financial reserves, the County Legislature responded by writing college leadership a letter refusing to approve the annual budget until both programs had been fully restored.
"This is a very important issue to us and we were willing to take a stand even if it meant taking a stand on the entire budget," said Presiding Officer Richard Nicolello.
The programs provide comprehensive support to students with autism through one-on-one and group counseling sessions, and offer programming designed to address executive functioning and social skill deficits.
