Career Choices for Young Adults with Disabilities

PROPOSAL

CAREER CHOICES FOR YOUNG ADULTS WITH DISABILITIES

AGES 17 TO 21

CURRENT TRENDS IN SPECIAL EDUCATION

• Increased demands for services after “graduation”

• Training

• Education

• Employment

• Independent living skills

• Increased reliance on individual assessment information

• Increased focus on individualized transition planning

• Increase in litigation/settlement

HOW DOES THE DOE DEFINE TRANSITION?

•Transition is a formal process of long-range cooperative planning that will assist students with disabilities to successfully move from school into the adult world. High quality transition planning and services will enable students with disabilities to pursue their desired postsecondary goals.

• IDEA 2004 states that “Beginning not later than the first IEP to be in effect when the child turns 16, or younger if determined appropriate by the IEP Team, and updated annually, thereafter, the IEP must include—

• Appropriate measurable postsecondary goals based upon age appropriate transition assessments related to training, education, employment, and, where appropriate, independent living skills” [§300.320 (b) (1)].

SUMMARY OF PERFORMANCE (SOP)

• The SOP is a summary of the student’s academic achievement and functional performance to assist with the student’s transition from high school.

• The SOP must include recommendations on how to assist the student in meeting his or her postsecondary goals.

WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM RECENT CASE LAW?

• Age-appropriate transition assessments are critical

• Assessment of skills, not just an inventory of preferences

• Brief student interviews do not constitute an appropriate assessment

• Collaboration with outside agencies is important

• Invite and document

• Transition services do not legally guarantee specific outcomes

• Transition planning and services must be individualized

K.C. V. MANSFIELD INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT IDELR 103, 618 TEXAS 2009

Parents sought residential placement in a music academy for students with cognitive disabilities based on allegations that the school district failed to provide transition services.

The district performed an assessment that demonstrated high interest and skill levels in the area of fashion as well as high interest and very low skill levels in performing arts

The district provided transition services in the form of a work program in a clothing store as well as work as a classroom aide in an elementary school music class

Court found that the transition plan reflected the students skills and interests, and included practical goals for transition to adult life

District Wins!

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA PUBLIC SCHOOLS IDELR 114 2011

• The district developed a postsecondary transition plan for a student classified as Emotionally Disturbed without an adequate assessment. The student was interviewed by the districts Career Exploration Teacher to determine interest.

• The district failed to provide the student with an age appropriate transition assessment and appropriate postsecondary goals

• District Loses

SCHOOL DISTRICT OF PHILADELPHIA, 111 LRP 34182 MARCH 2011

• The district utilized a computer program to generate IEPs and only required initial attempts to have the student identify future postsecondary goals and objectives.

• The same identical goals were repeated in subsequent IEPs

• District Loses

WHAT IS A TRANSITION ASSESSMENT?

• Transition assessment is most often defined using the Division on Career Development and Transition (DCDT) of the Council for Exceptional Children definition of transition assessment which is:

• “…ongoing process of collecting data on the individual’s needs, preferences, and interests as they relate to the demands of current and future working, educational, living, and personal and social environments.

• Assessment data serve as the common thread in the transition process and form the basis for defining goals and services to be included in the Individualized Education Program (IEP)” (Sitlington, Neubert, & Leconte, 1997, p. 70-71).

• “Age appropriate” means a student’s chronological, rather than developmental age (Wehmeyer, 2002).

TRANSITION PLANNING ASSESSMENT AREAS:

• Post-Secondary Area of: Living, learning, working, interests & preferences for post-secondary expectations and community living preferences.

• Formal education with licensure, certification or degree,

• Informal education: Work style options, career options , basic skills

• Post-Secondary Expectations: Work ethics/values, use of self advocacy skills, critical thinking, literacy/ communication Skills , writing, speaking, and listening.

• Core Workplace Skills: Job seeking and job keeping, attitudes/ habits/ self awareness of post-secondary expectations

• Personal Organization: Attitudes/habits for interpersonal, attitudes/habits for intrapersonal attitudes/habits, study/test-taking behaviors.

• Career Choices: Knowledge of real life (Application/ Adaptation), ability to adapt to new tasks/jobs, ability to problem solve on the job technical skills (job-specific)

TRANSITION SERVICES (FEDERAL CODE)

• § 300.43 Transition services.

(a) Transition services means a coordinated set of activities for a child with a disability that—

• (1) Is designed to be within a results-oriented process, that is focused on improving the academic and functional achievement of the child with a disability to facilitate the child's movement from school to post-school activities, including postsecondary education, vocational education, integrated employment (including supported employment), continuing and adult education, adult services, independent living, or community participation;

TRANSITION CONTINUED

(2) Is based on the individual child's needs, taking into account the child's

• strengths, preferences, and interests; and includes—

• (i) Instruction;

• (ii) Related services;

• (iii) Community experiences;

• (iv) The development of employment and other post-school adult living objectives; and

• (v) If appropriate, acquisition of daily living skills and provision of a functional vocational evaluation.

• (b) Transition services for children with disabilities may be special education, if provided as specially designed instruction, or a related service, if required to assist a child with a disability to benefit from special education.

TRANSITION TO ADULT LIFE FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES CHECKLIST

• Transition services ensure that students with disabilities have the skills necessary to pursue adult goals related to school, work and community living following high school graduation.

• Services should be coordinated, results oriented and should encompass all areas of life.

• The student is key in the ongoing individualized transition process which does not end until graduation or aging out at the age of 21. Graduation can occur at any point when the student meets all academic requirements and all transition goals.

AGES 14-15 AGES 16-18 AGES 19-21

TRANSITION STATEMENT YES YES YES

SKILLS INVENTORY YES YES YES

LIFE SKILLS INVENTORY YES YES YES

IDENTIFY AREAS OF INTEREST YES YES YES

IDENTIFY POSSIBLE EMPLOYMENT FIELDS YES YES YES

VOCATIONAL ASSESSMENT YES YES YES

ACADEMIC COURSES IDENTIFIED YES YES YES

PSAT, SAT AND/OR ACT PREPARATION YES YES N/A

IDENTIFY HOBBIES, AND/OR RECREATIONAL

ACTIVITIES

YES YES YES

IDENTIFY COMMUNICATION NEEDS YES YES YES

TRANSITION PLAN NO YES YES

PROVIDE COMMUNITY EXPERIENCES NO YES YES

JOB COACHING NO YES YES

INTERVIEW SKILLS NO YES YES

RESUME WRITING NO YES YES

CODE REQUIREMENTS FOR TRANSITION

TYPES OF TRANSITION ASSESSMENT

•Formal Transition Assessments

•Informal Transition Assessments

FORMAL ASSESSMENTS

• Adaptive Behavior/Daily Living Skills Assessments

• General and Specific Aptitude Tests

• Interest Inventories

• Intelligence Tests

• Achievement Tests

• Temperament Inventories/Instruments

• Career Self-Maturity or Employability Tests

• Determination Assessments

• Transition Planning Inventories

INFORMAL ASSESSMENTS

• Interviews and questionnaires

• Direct observation

• Curriculum-based assessments (CBA)

• Environmental analysis

WHAT IS THE DISCREPANCY BETWEEN THE ESSENTIAL SKILLS AND THE STUDENT’S CURRENT SKILLS?

• Identify the student’s current skills, supports, services and activities the student needs in order to pursue the identified postsecondary expectation.

• The skills a student currently has and will need for the next transition become the two most important types of information for planning instruction, supports, and activities in the development of the post-secondary IEP.

AND FINALLY…..

WHAT DO I DO WITH THE RESULTS?

• Develop realistic and meaningful IEP goals and objectives FOR the Career and Technical Individual Plan (CTIP) for the Career Choices Adult program at MCVTS

• Make instructional programming decisions for the Career Choices Adult program at MCVTS

• Provide information for the present level of performance related to a student’s strengths, interests, preferences, and needs for the Career Choices Adult program at MCVTS

• Learn about individual students, especially their strengths outside of academics and their career ambitions (Kortering, Sitlington, & Braziel, 2004) for the Career Choices Adult program at MCVTS

• Help students make a connection between their individual academic program and their post-school ambitions

• Assist the home district in developing the Summary of Performance and the Career-Technical Individual Plan (CTIP)

REFERENCES

• New Jersey Career Assistance Navigator

https://njcis.intocareers.org/ViewHtmlStandalone.aspx?File=materials/Toolsforusers.htm

• National Secondary Transition Technical Assistance Center

http://www.nsttac.org/

● Paula Maddox Roalson. LRP Institute 2013

• Transition Assessment Tool Kit http://nsttac.org/sites/default/files/assets/toolkits/ageAppTrans/AgeAppropriateTransitionAssessmentToolkit2013.pdf