Scott+Meshnick+-+Postsecondary+Education+Wiki

Introduction Transition planning is the process of fostering student movement from adolescence into the adult world. This can include transitioning students into a variety of settings including post-secondary education, employment, independent living, vocational training, and community participation. Transition planning is defined as being an “outcomes-oriented process.” This means that it is designed to create real, successful outcomes for students with disabilities rather than simply attempting to ensure that students experience positive results.
 * Scott Meshnick - Post-secondary Education**

For many students, the key to their success in the adult world is knowing their rights. The Americans with Disabilities Amendments Act of 2008 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 are the two key pieces of federal legislation that affect students with disabilities upon turning 18. The Americans with Disabilities Amendments Act of 2008 and Section 504 are concerned with ensuring that people with disabilities are not discriminated against. They are also primarily concerned with giving people with disabilities equal footing with regards to employment, education, and access to societal institutions. Teaching people with disabilities about these laws can help ensure that they know their rights and have access to key elements of society.

History Transition planning is a relatively new phenomenon. Throughout most of human history, people with disabilities tended to be marginalized from mainstream society. During the middle ages, individuals with disabilities began being locked away in mental institutions, and in European society religious leaders frequently discriminated them against. The coming of the enlightenment created certain changes in the attitudes towards people with disabilities, and certain philosophers speculated that people with disabilities were disabled through no fault of their own, and began preaching that good, well-functioning societies should take care of people with disabilities and not discriminate against them.

This changed when Social Darwinism, Nazism, the eugenics movement, and other atrocities began to occur during the first half of the 20th century. Darwinism was a scientific philosophy that understood evolution to be a product of the survival of the fittest. Social philosophers applied this theory to human society, and soon human beings with disabilities were looked upon as inferior, less than perfect individuals who were mistakes and deserved to die. The eugenics movement took America by storm in the early 1900s, where societal institutions looked at ways to breed better babies, and enforced sterilizations on many of the country's disabled population. The Nazi movement took note of what was happening in America in the early part of the 20th century and employed similar tactics in wide scale force for much of World War II. Disabled people were targeted along with Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals, Polish people, Communists, and other groups of people viewed as "inferior." The Nazis were eventually defeated in 1945.

In post-World War II America, attitudes towards individuals with disabilities began to change. Thanks to influential and powerful figures like John F. Kennedy, whose sister had an intellectual disability, and other politicians in office during the 1960s, people with disabilities began to be viewed as individuals who should have the right to live their own lives. Slowly, institutions for the severely impaired were closed down and the process of mainstreaming into society began. In the 1960s and 1970s, movements were founded that hoped to train people with disabilities to hold full-time or part-time employment. The first of these movements were work-study movements for people with disabilities (Halpern, 1991). However, over time these work-study movements could not sustain themselves due to lack of funding and the implementation of new federal initiatives designed to provide students with disabilities free and appropriate public educations. With the passage of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the dawning of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, special educational services and legal protections for students with disabilities became a reality. For the first time in history, specialized transition programs could be set up to provide services to these individuals.

Beginning the Process One of the most important things for students, young adults and parents to realize is that once a student turns 18 years old, Special Education under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act ends and the Americans with Disabilities Act takes over as the primary piece of legislation affecting individuals with disabilities. Students protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act must disclose their disability to their school, employers, or government agency officers in order to receive services and benefits under these laws. For students who never previously had to disclose their disability, this can be a difficult challenge. Often, students with disabilities growing up in public schools are used to having their parents disclose their disabilities to educators and be advocates for them (Gil, 2007).

Students must present documentation of their disability to their school in order to receive services. How recent this documentation must be varies by school. Again, students with disabilities may be used to having their parents provide appropriate documentation to educators, so for many students entering post-secondary education, knowing how to provide and disclose the appropriate documentation to educators can be challenging (Gil, 2007). There are many resources on the web designed to help incoming students with the intake process.

The Office for Civil Rights has a guide on the intake process, procedures on securing test-taking accommodations for the ACTs and the SATs, and the differences between what schools are required to provide as accommodations between high school and college. [|Office for Civil Rights Transition Guide]

The University of Washington has a useful guide on how students can prepare and adjust to college settings. [|University of Washington Do It]

[|This article] from the Wisconsin Department of Instruction has information on the process of transitioning from high school to post-secondary environments.

Disability Laws and Accommodations Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, school systems are mandated to provide services to individuals with disabilities. Services are mandated by the student's IEP (individual education program) team to "level the playing field" for those students who are deemed to require academic accommodations or adjustments to achieve in education. The team develops annual goals and objectives, as well as modifications to help students achieve these goals (Madaus, 2005). School systems are mandated by law to provide free and appropriate public educations to all qualified students with disabilities. It is their responsibility to help identify and evaluate potential students with disabilities (Gil, 2007). As previously noted, the student's parents or guardians will frequently serve as their personal advocates when meeting with school representatives, administrators, and teachers.

Upon exiting from secondary school systems, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act ends and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act or the Americans with Disabilities Amendments Act takes over as the primary pieces of legislation for people with disabilities. It is now the student's responsibility for disclosing, advocating, or pursuing academic or living accommodations. Depending on the nature of the disability, post-secondary schools, employers, or independent living officers are required to provide certain accommodations to individuals with disabilities provided they disclose the nature of their disability to their superiors. These accommodations must not change the fundamental requirements of the school or post-secondary institution's courses or change any admissions requirements to get into the school. Schools and other post-secondary institutions must not discriminate on the basis of disability. They are prohibited from making any specialized inquiries regarding a student or potential employee's disability prior to admission. Only after a student or employee has been admitted or hired can they choose to disclose his or her disability to their employer or post-secondary institution (Madaus & Shaw, 2004).

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 states that, “No otherwise qualified individual with a disability in the United States shall, solely by reason of his or her disability, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or any activity receiving federal financial assistance.” A person is considered to have a disability if he or she has a physical or mental impairment or a record of such impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities such as learning, reading, concentrating, thinking, communicating, hearing, seeing, working, walking, performing manual tasks, controlling bodily functions such as breathing, digesting, neurological processing, controlling bowel movements, controlling bladder movements, or controlling endocrine systems. “Substantially limits,” means that the person is either unable to perform, or is substantially limited by his or her condition when performing that major life activity in comparison to the majority of the general population.

The Americans with Disabilities Act applies to all schools, agencies, and businesses that do not receive federal funds. It extends beyond the reach of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which only covers schools that receive federal financial assistance. Like Section 504, it is meant to ensure that people with disabilities have equal access to social, vocational, economical, and educational institutions. If the student can prove his or her eligibility for services, then both the student and the institution will have rights and responsibilities.

In post-secondary schools, reasonable accommodations might include extra time for taking tests, alternate environments for taking tests, note taking for classes, the use of graphing calculators or organizers, no spelling penalties (unless a student is in a field where accurate spelling is required, such as medicine or law), housing accommodations such as single dorm rooms or specialized living environments, modifications to class registration procedures, preferred seating arrangements, or other accommodations. These accommodations should be considered and granted on a case-by-case basis by the school and the student’s disability contact person, who should be familiar with the requirements of Section 504 and the Americans with Disabilities Amendments Act.

Self-Determination and Advocacy Self-Determination is defined as a combination of skills, knowledge and beliefs that enable a person to engage in goal-directed, self-regulated, and autonomous behavior (Field, Martin, Miller & Wehmeyer, 1998). Self-Advocacy is defined as a realization of strengths and weaknesses, the ability to formulate personal goals, being assertive and making decisions (VanReusen et. al., 1994). Both self-determination and self-advocacy are fundamental skills that students and adults with disabilities need in order to advocate for themselves at the post-secondary level. Unfortunately they are also skills that most students and young adults with disabilities frequently lack. Students should ideally be trained how to self-disclose their disability, state their needs, develop and carry out their own goals from a young age. Some experts claim that students should be taught these skills starting in elementary school. The National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability has created a useful guide about how to foster these abilities in students [|here.]

Post-secondary Education Regarding students with disabilities in higher education, post-secondary institutions are prohibited from using any admissions examinations that inadequately measure the academic qualifications of disabled students because appropriate accommodations were made for them. Colleges should not exclude a qualified student with a disability from any specific course of study, and they cannot coerce a student with a disability toward a specific major or career of interest. There are no provisions in either the Americans with Disabilities Act or Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act regarding how post-secondary institutions should handle providing academic and living accommodations. Academic accommodations vary from school to school. Students should check with their respective institutions about what types of services their college offers.

In terms of residential life on college campuses, schools are required to provide on-campus housing that is equal in quality to non-disabled student housing. Colleges are prohibited from providing housing that marginalizes them from activities on campus, does not provide them equal chances at securing dormitory living arrangements, or is of lesser quality than that of other students living on campus. The Americans with Disabilities Act also prohibits barring access for students with disabilities who wish to participate in non-academic campus activities such as clubs, organizations, intramural sports, or other non-academic campus activities. Employment The Americans with Disabilities Act makes it illegal to discriminate against qualified individuals with disabilities in employment practices. The Americans with Disabilities Act also outlaws discrimination against individuals with disabilities in state and local government services, public accommodations, transportation and telecommunications.

Job discrimination against people with disabilities is illegal if practiced by private employers, state and local governments, employment agencies, labor organizations, or labor-management committees. The Americans with Disabilities Act affects all employers, including all state and local government employers, with 15 or more employees. All state and local government programs and activities are also prohibited from discriminating against people with disabilities regardless of the number of employees under the current amendments to the Americans with Disabilities Act. The qualifications for being considered as being disabled are the same as those used for education. Individuals are regarded as having a disability if they have, or have a record of, or are considered to have a substantial impairment that significantly limits or restricts a major life activity, such as hearing, seeing, speaking, walking, breathing, performing manual tasks, caring for oneself, learning, or working. Employees regarded as having a disability who are seeking protection under the Americans with Disabilities Act must be qualified to perform the essential functions or duties of a job, with or without accommodations. They also must satisfy all other qualifications for obtaining positions such as having the necessary level of education, employment experience, or skills. If these qualifications are met, then people with disabilities are entitled to reasonable accommodations in the workplace. A “reasonable accommodation” is defined as a change or adjustment in a job or in a work environment that allows them to participate in the job application process, perform the essential functions of a job, or enjoy any benefits or privileges of employment equal to those enjoyed by employees without disabilities. Reasonable accommodations can include modifying or providing equipment, restructuring jobs, maintaining part-time or modified work schedules, reassigning workers to vacant positions, providing modified or adjusted examinations, training materials, policies, readers or interpreters, and/or making the workplace more readily accessible to people with disabilities. Employers cannot ask job applicants whether or not they are disabled, or make any inquires about the nature or severity of any suspected disability. However, they are permitted to ask if job applicants can perform the essential duties of the job with or without reasonable accommodation.  The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has a useful article about employment rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Click [|here] to access it. Independent Living Programs Independent living is one of the goals of transition planning as stated by Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. It states, “The purposes of this part are to ensure that all children with disabilities have available to them a free appropriate public education that emphasizes special education and related services designed to meet their unique needs and prepare them for further education, employment, and independent living." It also states that “transition services means a coordinated set of activities for a child with a disability that 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 post-secondary education, vocational education, integrated employment (including supported employment), continuing and adult education, adult services, //independent living//, or community participation.” However, post-secondary living goals are not a required part of a students IEP. They should be included only when deemed necessary in a child's case.

Sitlington and Clark (2006) state, “Independent Living comprises all the demands of living on one's own. This includes resident choices and skills, economic decisions and money management, time management, maintenance of equipment or technological devices, community mobility, involvement in community activities and citizenship responsibilities. Persons also need them so they can function in a home or community environment, with as few supports as necessary.” [|This website] contains guides on independent living programs. [|This article] by the Independent Living Institute outlines the history of the independent living movement. The National Council on Independent Living contains a series of documents related to fostering independent living. [|Click here] to access it. <span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: left;">Vocational Programs <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Another option for students leaving secondary education environments is participating in vocational training programs. For many students with disabilities, vocational training can have distinct advantages over attending four-year or two-year post-secondary institutions of higher education. Vocational graduates are more likely to be employed than their nonvocational counterparts, especially if they participated in a vocational training experience part time during high school. [|Click here] to see more information on the myths and realities of vocational training.

<span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: left;">Supportive Employment Services <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Supportive employment service agencies exist in Connecticut and in all states throughout the country. For students with disabilities, inter-agency collaboration is important because once a student graduates or exits from their school system, they are no longer entitled to Special Education services. For many students who cannot enter post-secondary education, having supportive employment services helps them find jobs, keep jobs, and puts them in position to live independently.

The Bureau of Rehabilitation Services (BRS) is a program of the Department of Social Services in CT. It is designed to assist people with physical or mental disabilities to find or keep a job. [|Click here] to learn more about them. The Board of Education and Services for the Blind (BESB) is a Connecticut state agency that provides comprehensive ranges of services to children who are blind or visually impaired and adults who are blind. Services they offer to children include Braille instruction, independent living and social development training, provision of adaptive technology and textbooks, transition from school to work services, and consultation services to local school districts. For adults, the agency provides vocational rehabilitation services, adaptive technology, independent living instruction such as orientation and mobility training and rehabilitation teaching services, as well as development of entrepreneurial opportunities. [|Click here] to learn more about them. At the federal level, the Job Accommodation Network (JAN) offers free, confidential guidance on workplace accommodations and disability employment issues. The Job Accommodation Network helps show employers how people with disabilities can enhance the workplace. [|Click here] for more information. The Ticket to Work Program provides people receiving Social Security benefits more choices to receive employment services. Under the Ticket to Work Program, the Social Security Administration (SSA) issues tickets to eligible beneficiaries who can choose to assign those tickets to an Employment Network (EN) of their choice to obtain employment services, vocational rehabilitation services, or other support services necessary to achieve a vocational (work) goal. [|Click here] for more information. This is just a small sample of the supportive employment agencies that exist throughout the country. Contact your local department of labor office for more information on agencies in your area. <span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: left;">Resources The text of the Americans with Disabilities Act can be found here: [|www.ada.gov]

The text of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 can be found here: []

The National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability website contains summaries on the various pieces of legislation affecting people with disabilities. []

This article from George Washington University focuses on transitioning from high school to college, highlighting the differences between IDEA and Section 504. []

This resource from the Pacer Center contains facts about what rights are afforded to people with disabilities with regards to post-secondary education. []

This article from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission lists employment rights that people with disabilities have under the Americans with Disabilities Act. []

<span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: left;">References Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as Amended, 42 U.S.C. 12101 //et seq// (2008).

Field, S., Martin, J., Miller, R., Ward, M., & Wehmeyer, M. (1998). A practical guide for teaching self-determination. Reston. VA: Council for Exceptional Children.

Gil, L. A., Bridging the Transition Gap from High School to College: Preparing Students with Disabilities for a Successful Postsecondary Experience. TEACHING Exceptional Children, Vol. 40, No. 2, pp. 12–15

<span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 80%; text-align: left;"> Halpern, Andrew S. (1991). Transition: old wine in new bottles. Exceptional Children. 58(3), 202-211. <span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 80%; text-align: left;"> Madaus, J. (2005). Navigating the college transition maze: A guide for students with learning disabilities. TEACHING Exceptional Children, 37(3), 32–37. <span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 80%; text-align: left;">Madaus, J., Shaw, S., (2004). Section 504: Differences in the Regulations for Secondary and Postsecondary Education. //Intervention in School and Clinic, Vol. 40// (2), 81-87 Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. §§ 701-796l, P.L. 93-112

Sitlington, P. L., & Clark, G. M. (2006). //Transition education and services for students with disabilities// (4th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

<span style="display: block; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 80%; text-align: left;">Van Reusen, A. K., Bos, C. S., Schumaker, J. B. & Deshler, D. D. (1994). The self-advocacy strategy for education and transition planning. Lawrence, KS: Edge Enterprises.