Www.thinkcollege.net © Think College 2010 Postsecondary Education for People with Intellectual Disabilities TASH Webinar Session 3 September 29, 2010

www.thinkcollege.net © Think College 2010

Postsecondary Education for People with Intellectual Disabilities

TASH Webinar Session 3September 29, 2010


Transition to College for Students with Intellectual

Disabilities


What did college give you?

• New and expanded skills

• Better employment options

• Social Network

• Time to explore

• Invent or reinvent your identity


Student Challenges


System Challenges

• Agencies do not connect youth with ID and families with colleges.

• Very few agencies indicated that they had articulation agreements with postsecondary institutions to provide disability-related services or supports.

-TransCen, Inc. 2006


The Big Challenges

• Expectations

• Funding

• Access and Documentation

• Supports


Low Expectations

• 11% of students with ID have goal of attending a 2 or 4 year college

• 58% of students with any types of disabilities

• Students with ID more likely to have sheltered employment as a goal

• Less likely to have competitive employment goals


Funding Options

• Vocational Rehabilitation– Order of Selection– Priority of services

• Medicaid Waiver – Every state is different– Creative matching of

services with funding– No tuition

• Tuition Waivers-SSI recipients– Some community

college, not all• Financial Aid – HEA

– Financial need (Pell, SEOG, Workstudy)

– Need to be approved as a CTP


Documentation

• IEP is not usually accepted

• Current psych eval (not less than 3 years old)

• Parents have to pay for outside evaluations

• Parents and students are unprepared


Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

• FERPA gives parents rights to children's education records.

• rights transfer to the student 18

• At the postsecondary level, parents have no inherent rights to access or inspect their son or daughter's education records.


Things school systems can do for families

• Discuss needed evaluations • Provide lists of sliding scale educational testing

service• Discuss ramifications of FERPA • Discuss the difference between IDEA and Rehab

Act Amendments and ADA regarding equal access and supports.

• Help families and students start early


Things you can do for students

• Include accommodations as IEP goal

• Discuss the need for current evaluation annually

• Identify the appropriate and available college supports

• Support use of college accommodations in HS


Stages of parental panic

High (my kid is leaving HS this year)

Medium (My kid is leaving HS next year )

Low (my kid just got into HS)


Typical Transition Stuff

• IEP Meetings

• Transition Fairs

• Checklists

• Parent Teacher Conferences


Parents’ Needs

• Help understanding what’s out there

• More full day options

• Support for (work, transportation, adult learning, social events)

• Advice on managing benefits

• A NAP!!


Students’ Needs

• A chance to understand their options

• Experiences in different settings

• People who believe that PSE is possible

• Encouragement to be motivated to LEARN!!


Priorities

• What would I like to see in one year? Home Transportation College

Social Life Work

• What would I like to see in five years?Home Transportation College

Social Life Work


The Balance

Getting what you want for your kid

VS

What’s out there


What’s out there

• What is available in your community?

• What isn’t available in your community?

• How far are you willing to go to get it?


The Overlap of What’s Possible

What I want my

child to do

What I want my

child to do

What my child

wants to do

What my child

wants to do

What is available?

Options, Time,Money

What is available?

Options, Time,Money


Dual enrollment (18-21) College initiated Adult agency initiated Student &

family initiated


Ideally…

• Students with ID access college in typical ways, (orientation, financial aid, disability services, participation in integrated college courses, etc).

• Students gain and maintain paid employment in their community.

• Services are provided in collaboration with state/local agencies.


What is the experience of a high school student with ID?

• Little input on the classes they take

• Little input on the jobs they get

• Lots of pressure to have a plan

• Low expectations that they will succeed

• No expectations that they will go to college


What did you get out of college?

The RIGHT ANSWERS

• A degree

• A career

• To value the importance of learning


The REAL ANSWERS

• How the system works

• How to work the system

And how to: A) date

B) write a paper at 3am

C) sneak beer into a dorm

D) all of the above


Other College Outcomes

• How to handle failure

• What works, what doesn’t work

• What you need to be successful

• How to access desired knowledge

• How to balance your life & schedule

• What might be the next step


Kinds of Learning in College

• Process-how to access learning as an adult

• Experience-what does it feel like to learn with other adults outside of high school

• Content-I am interested in art history, computers, theater and want to know more


Bella

• 20 year old student in a dual enrollment program

• Wants to go to a community college• Can’t pass the placement tests• Audits the introductory math course• Twice….then• Takes it for credit• Takes and passes the placement test


Robert• Works in a grocery store bagging and

collecting shopping carts

• Wants a job in the bakery but has no experience

• Takes two cake decorating classes through his local park and recreation department

• Puts the class on his resume and applies for Bakery job when an opening occurs.


So what can parents do?

• Begin the conversation

• Review current plans (what’s working-what’s not?)

• Priorities change

• Focus on the Big Picture, it may take awhile.


• Lets step into the shoes of the students we are talking about…..


What did you struggle with most in college?What did you struggle with most in college?

Did you talk about it with a lot of people?Did you talk about it with a lot of people?Did you have to fill out forms documenting Did you have to fill out forms documenting

it?it?Were there Were there

checklist/surveys/books/DVD/podcasts checklist/surveys/books/DVD/podcasts telling what to do about it?telling what to do about it?


College Expectations

Students are responsible for identifying own disability

Students make all coursework selectionsStudents must identify and advocate for

support needsAssistance is by request onlyStudent is primary decision maker


What do we expect of students with disabilities?

Disability knowledgeDisability knowledge Accommodations Accommodations Articulating needs (elementary, Articulating needs (elementary,

middle or HS)middle or HS)


We expect a LOT from young people

• Remember, everyone struggles to a certain extent in college.

• Not all challenges are related to a disability.


Disability

• Understand your disability

• Get comfortable describing it

• know how to explain it to others/and advocate if needed


A faculty perspectiveA faculty perspective

““I think that it is primarily a students’ issue. We would I think that it is primarily a students’ issue. We would love to help. We are willing to cooperate. . . . To me it love to help. We are willing to cooperate. . . . To me it makes a big difference when they come to you at the makes a big difference when they come to you at the beginning of the quarter and they are registered with beginning of the quarter and they are registered with ODS. In general, students need to be able to approach ODS. In general, students need to be able to approach

you. They also need to be an you. They also need to be an advocate for advocate for themselves”themselves”



How shall I put this?

“I have hard time with verbal remembering steps.”

“I have a language disability and trouble finding the right words. I didn't want everyone to know that I had a disability”

“I have Asperger's- high functioning autism-but it takes me longer to do things. I don’t like change- rigidity- that's me. I can be a little antisocial.”

“I have an emotional disability- I get supremely nervous/ anxious. I can completely shut down going to a new place”


Information is Power

• Know what worked in HS

• Know what didn’t work in HS

• Know what’s available in college

• Know the relationship between disability documentation and accommodations.


Knowing it and saying it are two different things

• How do you practice something that no one expects you to do?

• Include articulation of disability and accommodations on IEP as early as possible.


The PERC Self Advocacy Checklistwww.transitiontocollege.net

• Student directed

• Education/employment/social

• Modifiable

• Always use students own words


How do you ask for help?

“There is always a hesitation- sometimes I let opportunities slip by. "I don't want to bother anyone”

“I like to have people check to make sure I have done an assignment right”

“When I feel like I am struggling I’ll raise my hand or go after class, you can't be afraid to ask”


Things you can do

Encourage understanding disability Identify needed supports or accommodations Explain why support is needed Rehearse how to ask for help Help students locate resources


Time Management/Time Management/Study SkillsStudy Skills

Explore study skills classes/summer Explore study skills classes/summer programsprograms

Get a copy of the syllabusGet a copy of the syllabusSchedule time to study and to take breaksSchedule time to study and to take breaksProgram everything into your phone with Program everything into your phone with

set remindersset reminders


I sprained my ankle and I missed a few classes. It was my responsibility to make up the work so I didn’t go on

academic probation- Martha, college student


Understand your goalsUnderstand your goalsBe clear about what you are trying to Be clear about what you are trying to

achieve and whyachieve and why

Communicate your goals with advisors, Communicate your goals with advisors, professorsprofessors

Be realistic about what you can handleBe realistic about what you can handle

Don’t compare yourself to othersDon’t compare yourself to others


Staying Motivated

Set small, achievable goals.Set small, achievable goals.

Take some classes that are just for you.Take some classes that are just for you.

Don’t let others distract you from Don’t let others distract you from accomplishing your task.accomplishing your task.

Find friends who are in your class to keep Find friends who are in your class to keep you motivated.you motivated.


The Payoff…The Payoff…

““I am doing well- I have gotten a paying job in a I am doing well- I have gotten a paying job in a child care and I have had to speak up for child care and I have had to speak up for myself and ask questionsmyself and ask questions

““I am more of a leader/ I am not as scared as I was I am more of a leader/ I am not as scared as I was asking for help ”.asking for help ”.

““I am better describing my disability than before. I I am better describing my disability than before. I know where to go to when I need help ”.know where to go to when I need help ”.


The Ultimate College Outcomes

• Being a consumer of your education instead of a passive recipient

• Viewing the acquisition of knowledge as a desirable experience

• Connecting learning to real outcomes


The Promise of Postsecondary

Education • Students with ID will be expected to consider

postsecondary education

• PSE can change not only employment outcomes, but self image and social value.

• Lifelong learning requires two things:– The expectation that it should happen– The instruction needed to access it


Helpful Links

http://www.going-to-college.org/

http://www.thinkcollege.net

http://webhost.bridgew.edu/jhayesboh/NOT13th/not13th.htm#note

http://www.washington.edu/doit/Brochures/Academics/survival.html

http://oedb.org/library/college-basics/88-surefire-tips

http://www.metamath.com/multiple/multiple_choice_questions.html


Questions?

Meg Grigal [email protected]


Upcoming Webinars

• 10/6: Creating Inclusive College Options: Strategies and Promising Practices

• 10/13: Strategies to Support Employment in PSE Programs


For more information:


Join us!www.facebook.com/thinkcollege

@thinkcollegeICI


Documents

Www.thinkcollege.net © Think College 2010 Postsecondary Education for People with Intellectual Disabilities TASH Webinar Session 3 September 29, 2010