Transcript EDUCATION COMMISSION OF THE STATES “LIFE AFTER HIGH …

EDUCATION COMMISSION OF THE
STATES
“LIFE AFTER HIGH SCHOOL FOR
STUDENTS WITH SIGNIFICANT
DISABILITIES”
SHERATON BLOOMINGTON HOTEL
JULY 12, 2006
2:00 p.m. –3:30 p.m.
Colleen Wieck, Ph.D., Executive Director
Minnesota Governor’s Council on
Developmental Disabilities
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Dr. Oscar Arias, Nobel Peace Prize
winner and former President of Costa
Rica stated:
• The most beautiful and enriching trait of human
life is diversity—a diversity that can never be
used to justify inequality. Repressing diversity
will impoverish the human race. We must
facilitate and strengthen diversity in order to
reach a more equitable world for all of us. For
equality to exist, we must avoid standards that
define what a normal human life should be or
the normal way of achieving success and
happiness. The only normal quality that can
exist among human beings is life itself.
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Introduction
Brief Timelines about Education and Employment for Individuals with Significant Disabilities
Attachment #1:
A Brief Timeline of Educational Milestones for Students with Significant Disabilities
IN SUMMARY, FROM TOTAL EXCLUSION -- EXPERIMENTAL CLASSES -- IQ BASED CLASSES -LEGISLATION/LITIGATION TO ENROLL STUDENTS -- MAINSTREAMING -- INTEGRATION -INCLUSION -- UNIVERSAL DESIGN -- NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND.
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1950s
Brown v. Board of Education
Special Education based upon IQ
(those above 50/mandatory classes
and those below 50/permissive
classes); with age limits
Retardation meant lagging one or more
grades. Retardation referred to
environment issues and deficiency
referred to organic causes.
1960s
Questions about the quality of special
education compared to regular
education (Lloyd Dunn classic article)
Burton Blatt, overnight cure of millions
of people by changing the IQ from 85
to 70.
1970s
Early intervention
Teaching children with Down
Syndrome to read
Behaviorism’s influence on goals,
objectives, task analysis
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Developmental model
Normalization principle
Section 504
P.L. 94-142—LRE, IEP, FAPE
Cascade of services, mainstreaming
1980s
All Means All
Integration
Natural Proportion
Criterion of Ultimate Functioning
Transition mandate
Functional Curriculum
Early special education mandate
1990s
Americans with Disabilities Act
Inclusion
Olmstead decision-most integrated
setting
Universal Design
2000s
No Child Left Behind
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Postsecondary education enrollment
issues
Attachment #2:
A Brief Timeline of Employment Milestones for Individuals with Significant
Disabilities
IN SUMMARY, INSTITUTIONAL EMPLOYMENT -- DAY ACTIVITY -- SHELTERED EMPLOYMENT
BASED UPON IQ -- WORK ACTIVITY -- TRY ANOTHER WAY -- SUPPORTED EMPLOYMENT -- 5 F’s
OF EMPLOYMENT -- CAREER PLANNING -- ADA -- PRESUME EMPLOYABILITY -- SELF
EMPLOYMENT -- CUSTOMIZED EMPLOYMENT.
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1950s
Sheltered employment based
upon IQ
Institutional peonage for anyone
living in a state hospital (wages of
no more than $1 per month)
1960s
Day activity centers began
Lawsuits against institutional
peonage
Sub-minimum wage certificates
Ecolab experiment in hiring
janitors with disabilities
Minneapolis experiment with work
experience half time at local day
programs
1970s
Try Another Way (task analysis) to
teach complex skills
Behaviorism
Work Activity
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Section 504
1980s
Blow up readiness model. You
don’t need to be ready to live,
learn, work and play in regular
settings, you need support
Supported employment
Day programs are “retarding
environments”
5 Fs of employment (food, filth,
flowers, folding, fetching)
Career Planning
1990s
ADA
Presume employability
Presume competence
Self-employment
2000s
Self-determination for employment
supports
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Customized employment
Universal design
The U.S. Department of Education contracted with
SRI to conduct a longitudinal study of 8,000
students with disabilities who were two years
beyond high school for the years 1987-1991.
Results:
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Those with significant disabilities were least likely to be employed:
→ deaf blind (9.5%)
→ multiple disabilities (5.7%)
→ orthopedic (13.9%)
→ other health impaired (28.8%)
→ developmental disabilities (31%)
Those with significant disabilities were not in vocational education and
were not receiving job counseling or job readiness training.
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Males (61%) were more likely to be paid than females (46%).
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Paid employment was in low skill jobs such as labor or babysitting.
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Earnings were at or below minimum wage for those with significant
disabilities who were employed.
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Those with multiple disabilities rarely did household chores and were
least likely to be on their own in their own homes.
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Only 14% of youth with disabilities had any postsecondary education. 5
• The most recent Harris polls
indicated that the unemployment
rate among people with
disabilities is 72 percent and of
those, 2/3 wanted to go to work.
• Postsecondary education has a
positive impact on rates of
employment and wages.
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The President’s Committee on People with
Intellectual Disabilities released its report to
the President in 2002 and indicated:
1. 90 percent of adults with intellectual
disabilities were not employed.
2. Over 20 percent of students were
drop outs of high school
3. <15 percent of students advanced to
postsecondary education
4. Over 700,000 people with
developmental disabilities lived with
older parents.
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The National Longitudinal Transition
Study-2 compared transition experiences
of students from all 13 disability categories
and found that:
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Students with autism experience greater
difficulty in social adjustment and are least
likely to socialize with their peers, engage
in extracurricular activities, participate in
transition planning, and assume high
levels of responsibility within their
households.
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Although students with autism are among
the most likely to be engaged in work
study employment, they are the least likely8
to hold regular paid jobs.
• A separate study cited by Nesbitt,
2000, found that students with
Asperger Syndrome were in
regular employment and that
even with formal qualifications,
employment levels were
disappointing and occupational
status was low.
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• Another study by Muller found
that adults with autism often
experienced high levels of
unemployment and
underemployment and that lack
of social skills frequently led to
poor outcomes including being
fired from jobs.
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How are colleges and universities adapting
to serving this unique population of
students?
• One recent paper by Martinez found 94
institutions of higher education offering
programs or individualized supports for
students with the most significant
disabilities.
• “Access to postsecondary education is
slowing becoming more inclusive.” The
individuals and families who pioneered
inclusion in K-12 settings are now pushing
for inclusive postsecondary education.
• Postsecondary education enables higher
goals, higher academic achievements, and
better careers and the last group to benefit
are those with the most significant
disabilities.
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• In British Columbia, parents created
a nonprofit called STEPS Forward—
Inclusive Post Secondary Education
Society. The major premise is
“social skills and healthy
relationships in the work place are a
predictor of success as well as
retention.”
http://www.stepsforward.org/index.html
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• Shasta Community College in
California
• Individual Placement model
means students are enrolled and
receive assistance and support
within regular college
classrooms.
http://transitionservices.info
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• Bellevue Community College in
Bellevue Washington offers a 90
credit AA in Essential Studies
through which an individual can
master an established body of
knowledge and skills for lifetime
success.
http://www.bcc.ctc.edu/venture
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Other examples include:
• Lakeshore Technical College in
Cleveland WI,
• Kapi ‘olani Community College in
Hawaii,
• George Mason University LIFE
program,
• Anne Arundel Community College,
• Baltimore City College,
• Essex Community College,
• El Camino College in Torrance CA,
• J. Sergeant Reynold Community
College in Richmond VA,
• and Asbury College in Kentucky.
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• The typical concerns of
institutions of higher education
are:
→ lack of funding,
→ the type of accommodations
needed,
→ dealing with bureaucracies,
→ and the lack of training for faculty.
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• Colleges and universities need to look
at access in terms of:
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attitudes,
policies, procedures, and processes,
information environment,
as well as physical and programmatic
access.
• Examples of accommodations include:
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pre-admission and academic adjustments,
assistive technology,
adapted transportation,
scheduling adjustments,
and books on tape.
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• New brokers: Erin Sperling from
Minnesota has turned this issue
into a small business.
www.collegeconnectors.com
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• Are there jobs for students and what are they?
• What are the issues surrounding these young
people’s entry into the workplace?
→ Individuals with disabilities are more than
twice as likely to live below the poverty line
as individuals without disabilities (New
Freedom Initiative, 2001).
→ Individuals with disabilities are less like to
be employed than individuals without
disabilities across all age groups (NCSPES,
2002).
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→ Only 49 percent of individuals with
disabilities are employed vs. 79 percent of
individuals without disabilities (US Census,
2000). The employment rates for
individuals with significant disabilities are
even lower (Kiernan, 2002).
→ 67 percent of youth with disabilities with a
BA degree were working full time compared
with 73 percent of people without
disabilities holding the same degree
(NCSPES, 2002)
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People with disabilities seem to be
learning at an early age that they have only
two options—a low paying jobs or living on
benefits rather than aspiring to have a
career (Half the Planet Foundation, 2002).
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36 percent of employed people with
disabilities report encountering at least
one instance of discrimination in the
workplace (NOD, 2002)
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→ The vast majority of people with disabilities
who are employed work at low paying,
nonprofessional jobs which require no
higher education, are associated with less
prestige and provide no security, room for
advancement or significant
medical/retirement benefits (Stoddard,
1998).
→ Working age adults with disabilities
consistently earn less than do their peers
without disabilities.
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• Today’s students have higher
expectations for full access to
community resources and paid
employment.
• Today’s students have strengths,
gifts, capacities, and preferences
that should be honored;
employment should not be based
on diagnoses.
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• Those who have paid
employment opportunities during
school have more likelihood of
paid employment after school.
• Do people with disabilities work
to keep benefits or do people with
disabilities work to get off of
benefits?
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What can policymakers do to ensure communities
are ready for these students and students are
ready to participate in these communities?
(communities refers to college and work)
Colleges:
• On March 20, 2006 Suzanne Boudrot Shea testified to
the Commission regarding the future of
postsecondary education for students with
developmental disabilities. Shea is a mother of a
child with Down Syndrome.
• The Commission was established by the Secretary of
Education to develop recommendations on how best
to improve the system of higher education to ensure
that graduates are well prepared to meet our future
workforce needs and are able to participate fully in
the changing economy. The Commission will submit
its final report by August 1, 2006.
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Recommendations offered by Shea
included:
1. Clarify that it is permissible for school districts to use
IDEA funds to support transition services on college
campuses and dual enrollment in college programs
for students still eligible to receive special education
services.
2. Clarify that it is permissible to use Voc Rehab funds
to support students with developmental disabilities in
postsecondary education.
3. Create a coordinating committee within the Dept of
Education to identify and fund research and training
to help develop and support transition and
postsecondary education services for students with
developmental disabilities.
4. Support amending the Higher Education Act to allow
students with developmental disabilities to access
student financial aid, including loans and work study.26
• Rep. Pete Sessions of TX
introduced an amendment to the
College Access and Opportunity
Act that provides students with
intellectual disabilities access to
work study funds.
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Employers:
• In the summer of 2005, the MN Governor’s
Council on Developmental Disabilities in
cooperation with other state agencies
interviewed 300 employers that hire people
with disabilities and 300 employers that do
not.
• The Employers recommended that more
information about WorkForce Centers,
• About supported employment agencies, and
tax credits.
• See the report at
www.mncdd.org/extra/customerresearch/employer_survey_rpt.pdf
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Schools:
• Individual transition plans need to be
in place.
• Prepare students for postsecondary
education or employment
• Job resumes and how to work in a
work environment.
• Provide choices, opportunities, and
raised expectations for all students.
• Presume competence and presume
employability.
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RESOURCES
• http://www.edgov/about/offices/list/ocr/transition.html
“Students with Disabilities Preparing for Postsecondary
Education: Know Your Rights and Responsibilities”
• http://thinkcollege.net
Youth with intellectual disabilities have not had many
chances to go to college, this website is for students,
families, professionals about postsecondary education,
programs, listserv, discussion board, and resources.
• http://www.heath.gwu.edu/
Email [email protected] with any questions about
postsecondary education for individuals with disabilities.
• http://thechp.syr.edu
The Center for Human Policy at Syracuse University offers a
paper called, Beyond Compliance—An Information Package
on Inclusion of People with Disabilities in Post Secondary
Education.
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