Www.thinkcollege.net © Think College 2010 PSE Options: Increasing Awareness and Creating Demand Meg...

www.thinkcollege.net © Think College 2010

PSE Options: Increasing Awareness and Creating Demand

Meg Grigal, Ph.D.

Think College

Institute for Community Inclusion

University of Massachusetts, Boston


Our Conversation

• Identify Myths• Share my reality • Provide some strategies • Share some resources• If there is time left, we’ll just talk (this happens to be may favorite thing to do!!)


Myth

People with intellectual disabilities CANNOT

go to college!


Reality

• People with ID are not expected to go to college

• Therefore we don’t prepare them for college

• And few options exist• This limitations do not stem from the

students but from those of us who create their futures.


People with intellectual disabilities can’t benefit from

college

Myth


What did you get out of college?

• Explore interests/expand skills

• Create and expand social network

• Discover/recreate who you are

• Gain independence-pay bills, laundry

• Manage your own time/responsibilities


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


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 and work opportunities


Strategies for Success

• Get and share information about college options with all professionals

• Build college related goals into the IEP

• Talk with families in elementary, middle and high school about college options

• Encourage students to explore learning options


Students with ID will change the rigor of courses, and have a

negative influence on classes, their peers, and the college

Myth


Reality

• Professors indicate that the presence of students with ID – Has a positive impact on their instruction

– Makes some peers work harder– Changed their perceptions of what is important in their class


“College sounds great but you’re not talking about my kid(s). My kids are….”

– Fill in derogatory label of choice

Myth


Reality

Student access to higher education is impacted by

Family Expectations


Family Expectationsare influenced by professional

guidance

knowledge

expectations

All of which are influenced by their past experiences


Which usually is not higher education


So where do students end up?


Sheltered workshops


Postsecondary education goals are always a part of transition planning

Myth


Are we setting college as a goal for youth with ID?


Post School Goals- NLTS2

• 11% of students with ID attending a two or four year college or university

• 58% of students with other disabilities had the same goal

• 33% of students with ID had the goal of sheltered employment vs. 8% of students with other disabilities -Grigal, Hart, & Migliore, 2011


Predictors of Employment

The only post-high school transition goal that was a predictor of employment for students with ID was having the goal of attending a two or four year college.

11% of students with ID had this goal


Unpaid job experiences result in employment

Myth


Reality

• Workbased learning:– Only leads to employment if done with careful planning and monitoring

– Should be time limited-focus on specific skill development and/or career focus

– Work with student to determine goals, monitor progress, determine implications for next steps


Employment Outcomes

Majority of working students with ID work 8 hours a week or less

Among all disability groups, youth with ID had the lowest rate of paid employment (31%) outside of high school one year after exit

-Wagner et al., 2003


Employment Outcomes

39.9% of 338 graduates with DD (including ID) receiving long term supports, in paid work one year after exiting high school

Of those working, only 14.2% were employed in individual positions and paid minimum wage

-Simonsen (2010)


Reality

The only thing that truly prepares students for paid employment is…


Paid Employment


The Importance of Employment

• For youth with disabilities, one of the most important research findings shows that work experience during high school helps them get jobs at higher wages after they

graduate. NCWD/Youth, Hot topic: Work-Based Learning, 2003 Volume 2

• Secondary school students with disabilities who worked for pay outside the home in the preceding year before exit and/or have participated in a work-study program at school, have an increased chance for

employment in their post school years. Changes

over time in the Early Postschool Outcomes of Youth with Disabilities: A Report of Findings from the National Longitudinal Transition Study (NLTS) and the NLTS2.


Does your institution or program address employment job training or career preparation specifically for

students with ID• 81% said yes (105)

• 18 % no (23)

• 1 % didn’t know


Our DEFAULT settings

• Employment is not a goal

• Staff receive little to no training

• Use of antiquated practices

• Pervasive myths of reduction to benefits


The importance of goals

Create measurable employment goals –Goals affect recruitment, family/student expectations, outcomes

– Review annually to update progress and make adjustments where needed


Most Likely to provide job develop services

• Job developer 20%

• School system SPED teacher 18%

• Adult services provide 13%

• VR 13%• Family member

• LEA job coach /transition specialist 12%

• Program coordinator 12%

• Job coach 4%• Career center staff1%


The Importance of Staffing

• Hire dedicated, trained staff person for job development; -

• Include in job description specific duties and flex time

• Emphasize the importance of building employer networks


Paid Work

Individual paid work in the community

• None 18%• Some 57%• Most 24%• All 1%

Individual paid work on campus

• None 57%• Some 39%• Most 3%• All 1%


Keys to success

• Try to secure paid employment as soon as possible

• Anticipate that students will have more than one job

• Support students to review their satisfaction with their job

• Help families to see that employment shifts are normal and a negative. 35


Do you BELIEVE your students can work?

Your program goals and staffing will have a greater impact on a student becoming employed than will a student’s skills


What are some of the BIG Questions?

• What is being done to prepare students with ID for PSE in K-12?

• How are our expectations limiting the opportunities students get?

• How can we achieve the goal of having PSE as a consistent option on the table for planning?


What are key components to success?

•Expectations•Resources•Opportunity


Expectations

• Set the tone for what is possible

• Create parameters of opportunity

• Impact students’ expectations of themselves


Resources

• Demonstrate priorities

• Expand options

• Allow for choice


Opportunity

Expectations + Resources =

opportunities presented to students


Students with Intellectual Disability

• Low Expectations

• Finite/Existing Resources

• Limited Opportunities


Students with Intellectual Disabilities

• Expect them to get a job• Expect them to earn money• Expect them to have a bank account and pay bills

• Expect them to be dissatisfied when they have a crummy job

• Expect them to grow and change in their desires and skills


Resources

• Provide access to career center• Provide access to highly trained staff

• Use/prioritize funding to train staff

• Hold staff accountable for poor outcomes

• Partner with families on employment networking

• Help students process what’s working/not working in their current jobs


Opportunities

• Explore possibilities on and off campus

• Remember employment is an not a developmental process, it is an iterative one.

• Do not be stymied by excessive hope

• Whenever possible connect employment interests to course options


What are some of the BIG Questions?

• What are we doing to prepare students with ID for PSE in K-12?

• How do we raise expectations of early childhood, elementary, middle/high school educators and administrators, VR/DD professionals, and parents?

• How can these opportunities be expanded?


You are our retailers!!

• Market the outcomes of high expectations

• Have students tell their stories

• Capture and share as much as possible



www.thinkcollege.net © Think College 2010www.thinkcollege.net © Think College 2012






What resources can you find at

www.thinkcollege.net





Universally Designed Program Database


Think College Publications

Think College E-Newsletter

Insight Briefs Fast Facts Monographs


Meg [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

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