District Administration - September 2012 - (Page 46)

Postgraduation for Special Needs Students On top, from left to right: A young woman with Down syndrome works out at her neighborhood gym. She takes part in Montclair (N.J.) Public Schools’ Transition to Adulthood program, which teaches students work skills, provides coaching and helps them navigate every day living. At the West Virginia Autism Training Center at Marshall University, middle, high school students attend a Discovery group, which is designed to enhance students’ ability to navigate college life via social skills. On right, a former student in Montclair’s Transition to Adulthood program learns how to fill out a timesheet. Helping students with intellectual disabilities and autism to make the transition from high school to self-sufficiency and employment has proved a challenge for special education departments, according to experts in and advocates for people with these learning disabilities. Since 1990, districts have been required to provide such services under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act. Paul Wehman, Ph.D, and author of Life Beyond the Classroom: Transition Strategies for Young People with Disabilities and Autism & the Transition to Adulthood: Success Beyond the Classroom, says students with autism spectrum disorder have signif46 September 2012 icant learning potential, but they learn and communicate in unique ways. “We know that students with significant learning and social challenges can perform complex tasks in hospitals, but they require IPOD supported technology, visual supports, behavioral rehearsal and modeling to be successful,” Wehman says. “Students can also do well in supported educational college programs, but again need the help of job coaches.” The more districts can show success with these young people, the greater their potential will be realized and the more involved and supportive families and communities will become. In 2007, Advocates for Children of New York—a nonprofit organization that focuses on advocacy and legal services for minority and low-income students— analyzed individual education plans in the New York City Public Schools and found that in more than a quarter, there was no transition planning. When there were transition plans, only 31 percent of the affected students had participated in the planning process. The report recommended that all personnel involved in the transition be better trained and supported, that transition services be personalized to each student, and that students and parents be involved. Continued on page 55 District Administration

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - September 2012

District Administration - September/October 2012
Contents
From the Editor
Letters
News Update
Curriculum Update
Inside the Law
District Profile
Administrator Profile
Product Focus
Resistance to High-Stakes Testing Spreads
Postgraduation for Special Needs Students
Rick & Becky DuFour
CIo News
Getting the Best ROI in Technology
Shaping a Digital Decade
Professional Opinion
Professional Opinion
Online Edge
Going Mobile
New Products
New Directions

District Administration - September 2012