Promoting Successful Transition to Adulthood for Students with Disabilities
296
Promoting Successful Transition to Adulthood for Students with Disabilities
296Hardcover
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Overview
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781462524136 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Guilford Publications, Inc. |
| Publication date: | 02/01/2016 |
| Series: | What Works for Special-Needs Learners |
| Pages: | 296 |
| Product dimensions: | 7.00(w) x 10.10(h) x 0.70(d) |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
CHAPTER 1
Transition to Adulthood
Creating a Pathway to Independence
This chapter addresses ...
• The importance of successful transition to adulthood.
• Roles and responsibilities of various stakeholders from different disciplines.
• The relationship between transition and the Common Core curriculum.
• The critical role of self-determination.
• How students with disabilities can remain actively involved in their own transition process.
• Professionals from different fields and how they can contribute to the process.
WHAT DOES TRANSITION MEAN TO YOUTH?
Transition from school and special education services to adulthood is best understood by getting to know youth who are going through the process. Let us introduce you to three youth in transition. We refer to them as Demarius, Josefina, and Kenley. Each successive chapter will return to vignettes of these hypothetical youth as they make their transitions to adulthood.
Demarius is a 17-year-old student at Edison High School, an inner-city school in a large urban area. He returned to Edison after dropping out for a year and spending time in a juvenile facility due to an assault charge. The charge stemmed from an incident involving another 17-year-old youth who was hugging Demarius's girlfriend. Demarius reacted to the situation by physically assaulting the youth. His grandmother took Demarius in and insisted he return to school to get his diploma. Demarius describes his grandmother as the "only constant thing" in his life. She thinks he knows right from wrong and can create a bright future despite his upbringing in poverty. His mom, whom Demarius describes as a "crackhead," disappeared years ago, and his dad left when he was 5.
Demarius receives special education services at Edison because of his classification of emotional disturbance. His high school resource teacher, Ms. Woolsey, describes Demarius as unmotivated. He reads and performs math at about the fifth- to sixth-grade level. His file describes a rebellious young man who lashes out at the world; terms such as aggressive, defiant, oppositional, and noncompliant appear in his file. Ms. Woolsey wants to help but feels like she has tried everything with Demarius. "He rejects everyone in authority as someone who is out to get him," she says. Demarius lives from day to day, seemingly waiting for the next crisis to "happen to him." He describes his future as "on the street." When asked about his hopes and dreams, he mutters "just surviving." When asked about what he needs, Demarius appears exasperated and walks away, saying "just need people to leave me alone." Conversation ended.
Josefina is a 18-year-old student at Ignacio High School. She has cerebral palsy, spastic type, which means she experiences loss of motor control such as slouching forward instead of sitting upright. She frequently has balance problems and hypertonicity (muscle stiffness) caused by inadequate oxygen during birth. Josefina uses a motorized, electric wheelchair to navigate Ignacio High School. She communicates with a slight articulation disorder, but her speech is understandable if she slows down to correctly position her tongue. She can feed herself and manage self-care tasks. Josefina scores in the normal range of intelligence on a non-language-based IQ test. She performs near grade level in math, language arts, and reading. Josefina is well liked by students at Ignacio and can often be found in the center of a group of students gathered in the hallway or cafeteria. Smiling widely, she often powers her wheelchair as she pulls her friends riding skateboards down the sidewalk, often drawing the vice principal to the front steps of the school shaking his head. "Gonna destroy the motor on that wheelchair," he says.
Josefina will soon graduate from Ignacio with a diploma and plans to join her class during the commencement ceremony. Because she has received special education services, particularly occupational and speech therapy, her special education teacher, Ms. Martin, developed an individual transition plan for her when she was 14 years old. Ms. Martin administered assessments and talked to Josefina about her career plans. At the annual individualized education program (IEP) meeting, Ms. Martin shared the assessment results and talked to Josefina's parents about the prospects of working toward a career in human services, perhaps as a paraprofessional in a classroom or as an assistant in a child care organization. Josefina felt she could assist a teacher with classroom tasks and deliver basic instruction to students. However, Josefina's parents, Raul and Mariana, responded cautiously at the IEP meeting. A career? Although they were appreciative of all the work Ms. Martin and others had done for Josefina, as well as grateful to the students for including Josefina in social activities, Raul and Mariana could not understand why a career was being considered. "We don't understand," Raul offered tentatively. "We see Josefina as needing to be home after high school, you know, taking care of her little sisters. Once she finishes at Ignacio, her responsibility is to serve her family."
Kenley is a 16-year-old student at Southridge High School who has autism spectrum disorder and moderate intellectual disability. Autism is characterized by limited communication and social skills as well as problem behaviors. A moderate intellectual disability means that Kenley does not process information readily and requires individualized lessons to learn basic self-care skills. Kenley does not initiate conversation, although he can express himself when prompted. He tends to hold back and remain quiet, and appears uneasy around classmates. His high school peer group has learned to accept Kenley, but it was a slow process and required a lot of help from Kenley's brother, Ashton. A senior and star player on the football team, Ashton has been Kenley's chief advocate and supporter. Since he will be graduating soon, however, Ashton worries about what will happen to Kenley. Reading has been the most difficult subject for Kenley. His special education teacher, Mr. White, tries to relate reading lessons to Kenley's physical world so the words take on relevance. Kenley's math skills are higher, but still below grade level. He understands basic arithmetic operations, number sense, and measurement.
Like some children with autism, Kenley's early years in school were extremely difficult and replete with tantrums. Kenley preferred to stare at the fluorescent lights on the classroom ceiling instead of listening to the teacher or playing games with classmates. When walking in the hallway, Kenley had to touch the wall at all times and screamed when unable to do so. In the school gym, Kenley wailed and screeched until allowed to leave. The expansive, wide-open facility seemed to frighten him. Ashton helped him acclimate by throwing and catching a ball and lifting weights in the gym.
Kenley had redefined the small community of Southridge, a farming hamlet in the Midwest. Consisting primarily of farmers, a grocery, grain mill, and farm implement business, Southridge residents had no understanding of autism and, at first, avoided Kenley and his family. Most of the community was quite reticent about involving the family in community activities. However, Ashton championed the cause for his brother, insisting that he be involved in inclusive classroom activities at school, community barbecues, and church events. With Ashton graduating from high school, his family is concerned that Kenley will be left at the high school with no clear plan for transition. The community has no system of support for Kenley. His parents, who both work at the grocery store, are unsure what to do. Kenley has not been taught vocational or social skills, and appears destined for an adulthood without direction.
Demarius, Josefina, and Kenley will soon enter adulthood. Like all of us, they will carry with them experiences, attitudes about those experiences, and uncertainty. They will bring hopes and aspirations. They will also bring fears and anxieties. Like many of us, they will find that adulthood is more complex than they imagined. The role of education is to provide knowledge and skills needed as an adult and to prepare individuals for life's complexities. For youth with disabilities, the importance of that preparation is heightened. Their skill sets and life circumstances present formidable challenges. These youth carry a heavy burden, and the transition process represents a steep climb. For them to succeed as contributing citizens in their communities, the transition process must be efficient, effective, and well coordinated.
HOW IMPORTANT IS SUCCESSFUL TRANSITION TO ADULTHOOD?
This question can be approached from several perspectives. For Demarius, Josefina, Kenley, and their families, successful transition is critical. But the probabilities of their success in adulthood are reduced by disability, poverty, and/or other factors. Yet each of them holds hope for success. Demarius is bright and athletic. Josefina is socially engaging. Kenley is meticulous. They each need well-coordinated assistance during transition to be successful.
Educators and parents have long understood the importance of successful transition. With the passage of the Education for All Handicapped Act in the mid-1970s (Public Law 94-142, 1975), these stakeholders prepared students with disabilities to enter an integrated community. Educators focused on procedural safeguards, entitlement for free and appropriate public education, and access to the least restrictive environments. About 10 years after passage of this law, researchers found that large percentages of young adults who had exited from special education after high school were unemployed or "underemployed" (i.e., working few hours and below minimum wage) (e.g., Hasazi, Gordon, & Roe, 1985). As described in Chapter 2, more recent surveys have shown only slight improvements in transition outcomes.
In 2012, the Government Accounting Office published a report detailing what its authors viewed as largely unsuccessful transition from school to adulthood for young adults with disabilities and called for better federal coordination in service delivery. The authors of the report noted that many young adults leave special education unemployed and without future educational opportunities. The Government Accounting Office report (2012) stated:
Students with disabilities face several challenges accessing federally funded programs that can provide transition services as they leave high school for postsecondary education or the workforce. These include difficulty navigating multiple programs that are not always coordinated; possible delays in service as they wait to be served by adult programs; limited access to transition services; a lack of adequate information or awareness on the part of parents, students, and service providers of available programs that may provide transition services after high school; and a lack of preparedness for postsecondary education or employment. (p. 9)
The Government Accounting Office Report helped place the transition process in the national spotlight with new calls for cost-effectiveness in special education. Across government agencies, educators, and stakeholders supporting youth with disabilities, there is now general agreement that successful transition to adulthood is of paramount importance. And most important, we know that young adults with disabilities generally want to determine their own futures and make a difference in their lives, their families, and their communities. Successful postschool outcomes are vitally important to them. In Figure 1.1, we show the three primary areas of transition emphases.
WHAT CHANGES AWAIT A YOUTH WITH DISABILITIES IN ADULTHOOD?
Services in adulthood, particularly for individuals with developmental disabilities such as intellectual disability and autism (Westling, Fox, & Carter, 2015), are vastly different than school-based special education. Understanding the differences between the two is an important launching point for the reader. Throughout their school years, students with disabilities receive entitlements. In contrast, adulthood comes with major reductions or outright elimination of entitled services. In Table 1.1, we describe some of the differences between school-based entitlements and limited services in the adult world for individuals who have disabilities.
Throughout school, students and families expect special and general education teachers, along with related-services personnel (e.g., paraprofessionals, speech and language pathologists, occupational and physical therapists, school psychologists) to provide services if deemed necessary in the student's IEP. Annually, teachers and related-service personnel meet with the student, parents, and family to develop the IEP, based on the requirements set forth in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 2004; see Chapter 3 for a description of IDEA and related legislation). Special education services are available until a student graduates from high school at about age 18 with a diploma, or continue up to the 22nd birthday (called post–high school), if needed, for the youth to complete requirements for a diploma or to become as independent as possible. Transition services designed to assist a student to prepare for adulthood must be included on the IEP by age 16 (in some states, age 14). Obviously, special education services should prepare the student for success in adulthood. However, most students with disabilities who leave special education services are likely to need additional services and supports going forward. As it currently stands, those adult services and supports are not guaranteed. Kochhar-Bryant, Bassett, and Webb (2009) stated:
When students with disabilities exit secondary education, they must rely on adult service agencies to continue providing supportive services that may be needed in employment or postsecondary education. Services provided through adult agencies are not entitlements. These agencies have various eligibility requirements and, because of limited funding, cannot always immediately offer services to eligible citizens. Applicants for services are often placed on a waiting list. (p. 24)
Indeed, waiting lists for adult services are sometimes long and imperceptibly slow to change (see Chapter 10). One national organization sought to abolish waiting lists (National Organization to End the Waitlists, 2013). After years of entitlements, many young adults with disabilities and their families may be left without much-needed services.
For many young adults who do not have disabilities, the transition from high school to adulthood is a time of great expectations, although most who enter it are not fully equipped with the knowledge or skills to meet the challenge. Typical 18-year-olds find themselves looking to sort out various opportunities, such as entering college, getting a job, or living in an apartment. These opportunities come with heavy financial obligations and tremendous personal effort that can be overwhelming, but at least for some typical 18-year-olds, they are usually achievable given hard work, family support, tenacity, and luck.
For individuals who have developmental disabilities and their families, transition can be a time of shock, disillusionment, and discouragement. As a parent told one of us, "I felt like I was thrust into a foreign country where everyone spoke a different language." Another said, "I didn't have a clue what was happening. It was like we got [my young adult] ready for school and the bus didn't come ... ever again."
(Continues…)
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Table of Contents
1. Transition to Adulthood: Creating a Pathway to Independence 2. Establishing the Need for Successful Transition Outcomes 3. Transition-Related Legislation and Policy 4. Overview of Transition Models and Practices 5. Transition Assessment 6. Transition Planning 7. Student Involvement and Self-Determination to Guide Transition 8. Transition to Employment 9. Transition to Postsecondary Education 10. Transition to Independent Living 11. The Role of the Family in Transition 12. Interdisciplinary and Interagency Collaboration 13. Accessing Supports in Transition 14. Future Pathways: Opportunities and ChallengesInterviews
Special educators, school psychologists, and social workers working with students ages 11–17 (grades 6–12); school administrators; postsecondary service providers; and other transition professionals. Will serve as a primary or supplemental text in special education courses on transition.