Transition Strategies in Special Education 6

Lecture 6:Notes

6.0 Vocational and Career Development of Children with Disabilities

6.1 Introduction

The role of vocational training and career development to persons with disabilities cannot be underestimated. Issues that include conceptualization of vocational education, job-accommodation model, developing work experiences, career development in relation to individuals with disabilities will be explored.

The student, teachers and employer perception will also be explored and contextualized to Tanzania. Factors that determine vocational placement and careers that include the business industry, the economy, consumers, workplace support systems and job creation strategies will be addressed. Barriers to employment will also be discussed.

6.2 Youth with disabilities

Youth with disabilities face difficulties resulting from attitudinal, environmental, and organizational barriers not only in initially accessing and entering school, but also as they transition from school age youth to working adults. With a focus on facilitating a better understanding of the issues, challenges, and solutions associated with the design

and implementation of career development services for youth with disabilities, this article describes the status quo for students with disabilities in South Korea and then discusses career development services that potentially reduce variation, help facilitate optimal career development, and promote future employment opportunities.

The educational dropout rate for youth with disabilities is disproportionate to that of their nondisabled peers, resulting in difficulties for them in accessing vocational training and employment.

While the need to vocationally engage and prepare youth with disabilities for postsecondary education and employment is both intuitive and well documented, barriers to effective implementation in both developed and developing countries.

Early career interventions within school settings have been shown to improve work outcomes of youth with disabilities yet systematic and equitable career development service provision is lacking Regardless of how disability is acquired, or the level of interaction one may have with persons with disabilities, disability remains a part of the human condition.

In fact, disability is the one minority group that anyone can join at any point across the lifespan. Yet, while universal, disability is manifested in individuals, families, local communities, and society through the lens of culture.

The term culture conceptualizes ways of living among groups and encompasses subconscious ways of “thinking, behaving, and believing”. Given this quality, the nuances of culture are not readily apparent to outsiders. Culture influences everything, not only individual behavior, but also theory, policy, and service delivery.

It is at the intersection of culture, theory, and policy that this article examines how model-driven vocational services can support developmentally appropriate, culturally sensitive, and solution-focused services in different contexts.

6.3 Global Status of Youth with Disabilities and Education

It has been suggested that disability has a bidirectional relationship to poverty, meaning the presence of a disability increases the likelihood of the individual living in poverty, while someone living in poverty is, in turn, more likely to acquire a disability. This relationship is due to a number of contextual factors such as limited access to education, healthcare, and suitable employment opportunities.

Regardless, conservative estimates project that 10% of the world’s population possess a disability, with the number likely higher due to poor reporting or individuals not identifying as having a disability. Disability is more common among women and youth, the groups often having limited access to formal educational opportunities.

In the United States in 2009, students with disabilities were twice as likely to drop out of high school, half as likely to seek out post-secondary education, four times more likely to be imprisoned; and they can expect to face higher adult unemployment rates, leading to poverty rates three times as high as their non-disabled counterparts.

Successful employment for youth transitioning from school to work is closely linked to career exploration and development fostered during the school years. In fact, a longitudinal study in the United States by Schmidt-Davis (2000) found better employment outcomes, increased self-esteem and self-

determination, and less need for Social Security benefits among students who received rehabilitation services, including vocational rehabilitation counseling and guidance, case management, consultation, assessment, and advocacy. While the evidence supports the value of career development services for youth with disabilities, systemic barriers to service access still exist.

education as foundational to the successful transition to work or higher education. The right to an education is also clearly articulated in the laws and human rights agenda and throughout the entirety of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Yet, limited access to education is a concern regarding many youth with disabilities.

From a global perspective, youth with disabilities are often not enrolled, or start school later than peers, and drop out of school at higher rates. It has been reported that 93 million children have a disability, and many children with disabilities are not enrolled in school for reasons ranging from lack of accommodations to family members feeling that the individual is unable to benefit from education.

The lack of social inclusion and access to education limits potential occupational attainment later in life. With a dominant ideology that a high quality education is critical for upward social mobility, educational achievement is a critical dimension of empowerment, societal participation, and overall human well being.

Unfortunately, youth with disabilities are often segregated into separate classrooms or schools instead of being included in the mainstream educational system; or they may simply be viewed as unable to benefit from an education and kept at home by family.

6.4 Vocational Services for Students with Disabilities

In developed countries like US, the purpose of Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the Perkins Act is to provide technical training and education to students who do not necessarily plan on going to college. The act requires schools to provide parents and students with:

Vocational education opportunities, which should be offered to the student by the beginning of ninth grade or one year before the student enters the grade in which vocational education is offered
Eligibility requirements for enrolling in vocational education.

In addition, students with disabilities are entitled to receive:

An assessment of interests, abilities, and special needs as well as other special services designed to help students enrolled in vocational education transition into postschool employment or training.
Career assessment, planning, training, and school-to-work transition services. IDEA requires schools to provide services to students with disabilities that will help them make a successful transition from school to posts chool activities—such as work, continued training or education, and other aspects of community living.
By age 14, a student should have a transition plan incorporated into their IEP that specifies what services the student needs to make a successful transition from high school to work and community living, what career activities the student should undertake, and who will be providing the required services.

Last modified: Wednesday, 16 March 2022, 1:56 PM

◄ References

Lecture 7:Notes

7.0 Assessment and Planning: Keys to Successful Post school Transitions

7.1 Introduction

Transdisciplinary Assessment is a major ingredient of a successful school-to-work transition program is a comprehensive, transdisciplinary vocational assessment that integrates a variety of school and community agency personnel into the assessment process.

The assessment process should include teachers, counselors, and psychologists—as well as representatives from community mental health/mental retardation, vocational rehabilitation, and social services agencies—who work together to identify relevant transition needs and plan appropriate services. Parents, state agencies employers, business organizations, and students must also be involved in the vocational assessment to some extent.

The goal of the vocational assessment is to facilitate educational and vocational planning that will allow a student to make a successful adjustment to work, postsecondary education, and community living. Without a comprehensive assessment of a student’s skills, it is difficult to identify the needs that should be addressed in the student’s transition plan.

7.2 Components of a Comprehensive Vocational Assessment

Assessment data can be gathered through published tests and surveys as well as from directly interviewing and observing a student. The assessment should address the following areas:

• Academic skills

• Daily living skills

• Personal and social skills

• Occupational and vocational skills (including performance tests that assess a student’s ability to perform specific job like tasks; work samples that expose a student to natural job responsibilities; and situational assessments that measure a student’s interests, abilities, and work habits in actual and contrived work environments)

• Career maturity (the extent to which a student possesses adequate understanding of themselves, adequate understanding of the work world, and adequate decision-making skills)

• Vocational interests

• Vocational aptitudes

Strengths (advantages) and weaknesses (disadvantages) in each area should be identified and inferences should made about how these factors will affect the student’s ability to make a successful transition from school to work and community living.

The information should then be used to help establish realistic occupational and independent living goals for the student

7.3 Roles of Professionals in Assessment and Planning

Team members’ roles in the assessment and transition planning process will vary according to their interests, expertise, and the amount of time each has to devote to the process.

Principals can assume a leadership role by encouraging and establishing links with community agencies, promoting a transdisciplinary approach to the assessment and planning process, assisting in the development of specific policies and procedures relevant to the process, and ensuring that adequate resources are devoted to assessment and planning.

Although principals may oversee the assessment and planning process in their schools, special education coordinators and transition coordinators may share some of the responsibility for case management and oversight of the process for individual students. School psychologists should be involved in conducting psycho-educational assessments, explaining assessment results, and making recommendations to the team.

In particular, school psychologists can assist in gathering information relevant to a student’s cognitive, academic, and interpersonal skills. Counselors can also assist in data collection by administering vocational interest and aptitude measures, providing career guidance, coordinating career days or career fairs, and matching the student with appropriate classes.

Liaisons from state agencies, such as representatives from the offices of vocational rehabilitation, mental health/mental retardation, and social services, should also be involved in the process.

Such agencies provide case management services and funding for services that students will need when they leave high school. Representatives from these agencies can help arrange community living, job training, education, transportation, and employment.

For example, many vocational rehabilitation agencies are involved in training students for employment, helping students obtain and maintain employment, and transitioning them into work settings.

Further, these representatives can help students and their families file the necessary paperwork and application materials to ensure that all necessary services are available to the students when they leave school.

Finally, the student should be actively involved in the transition planning process and attend all meetings. It is the student’s future that is at stake, and he or she should begin to take responsibility for important decisions about the future.

Including students at transition planning meetings also increases their self-determination and their ability to set goals and make choices.

7.4 Important Vocational Skills to Learn

Vocational training should provide students with a curriculum that prepares them for the job that they intend to enter. Broad-based knowledge and skills are good, but for some students with disabilities, specific skills are necessary for survival in the workplace and in the community and need to be explicitly taught.

Academic Skills: Reading and writing (e.g., sight-word vocabulary, spelling, handwriting, typing, etc.); Math (e.g., basic computation, money, measurement); Problem solving; Listening comprehension; Speaking; Computer; Art or music; and Foreign language.

Communication Skills: Following and giving directions accurately; Communicating information; Understanding and processing information; and Requesting or offering assistance

Social and Interpersonal Skills: Answering the phone and taking a message; Making necessary phone calls to employers and other professionals as part of a job requirement; Displaying appropriate workplace behavior and etiquette;

Knowing appropriate topics for discussion in the workplace; Knowing when and when not to socialize on the job; Learning how to protect themselves from victimization; and Learning social problem-solving technique.

Occupational and Vocational Skills: There are a number of skills and behaviors that most, if not all, jobs require. It is important to help students who do not already possess these skills acquire them.

Examples of these activities include the following: Using a time card and punch clock; Arriving to work on time; Calling when sick; Requesting vacation time; Using the appropriate voice tone and volume; Accepting instructions and corrections;

Knowing appropriate interaction with coworkers (i.e., getting along; social problem solving; making friends; and recognizing personal, professional, and sexual boundaries).

There are also a number of skills that students should have to be as independent as possible in their future job searches; these skills include the following: Looking for jobs (advertisements in the newspaper and online, neighborhood help-wanted signs, and local resources);

Filling out job applications; Writing résumés and cover letters; Obtaining necessary identification (photo ID, birth certificate); Filling out paperwork (employer paperwork); and Having interviewing skills.

7.5 Encouraging Parent Support

School administrators can help set the tone for parent involvement in their children’s career planning. Parents are important members of the transdisciplinary team and should be encouraged to provide input to the team about their child’s interests, aptitudes, strengths, weaknesses, and goals.

They should also be encouraged to actively participate in IEP meetings and assist the team in developing their child’s IEP. In particular, they should help the team develop specific goals and objectives—regarding their child’s future education, training, and employment—to be included in the IEP.

Schools can further help parents support their children’s career and vocational explorations by offering presentations and workshops. Such training can encourage parents to help increase their child’s occupational awareness by talking with them about their own work experiences and career decisions and can provide parents with local resources to explore various career options with their children.

7.6 Job accommodation model

A job accommodation is an adjustment to a job or work environment that makes it possible for an individual with a disability to perform their job duties.

Accommodations may include specialized equipment, modifications to the work environment or adjustments to work schedules or responsibilities. Not all people with disabilities (or even all people with the same disability) need the same accommodation.

For example, a job applicant who is deaf may need a sign language interpreter during the job interview; an employee who is blind or who has low vision may need someone to read information posted on a bulletin board; and an employee with diabetes may need regularly scheduled breaks during the workday to monitor blood sugar and insulin levels.

The process of determining appropriate job accommodations is an important aspect of a work-based learning experience. Employers and career development professionals should always work with the student to decide which accommodations will work best for him. Only he knows the full implications of the disability and what will work best in a specific situation. Below is an easy-to-follow four-step process for determining appropriate job accommodations.

What does the task or assignment require? This step asks you to break down ALL of the components of the job. Many times, as an employer you are so close to the project that it is difficult to remember the various settings, tools, skills, and tasks that are required in an individual project.

By analyzing and evaluating the task thoroughly, you will be able to determine how best to fully and effectively include a student with a disability.

What physical, sensory, and cognitive skills are needed? This step requires you to compare the tasks required to the physical, sensory, and cognitive skills needed to successfully complete the job. It is easy to say, “If I had a physical, sensory, or cognitive disability I would not be able to successfully complete this job,” without really determining what skills are needed. Separate the “real” requirements of the task from the “fictional or perceived” aspects of the project.

It is impossible to place yourself in the shoes of the employee with a disability. The future employee may have learned many ways to solve a unique problem or task and work around the limitations his disability may pose.

What components of the task require accommodation? Once the task has been analyzed and the skills needed are identified, step 3 asks you to determine what accommodations may be needed. Here you determine the level of difficulty of the project and determine how best to make an accommodation to create an inclusive environment for an employee with a disability.

It is very important to first check with the prospective employee to determine what she perceives as aspects of the job in which she may need an accommodation or assistance.

What accommodation options exist? Now that the tasks that need accommodation have been determined, identify what resources exist for providing the necessary accommodation. This is a time when other staff or employees who have expertise in a specific area can be called on to provide input. Remember, however, that the employee with a disability should always be your first resource.

The cost and time required for the accommodation are variables that may also be weighed in determining an effective accommodation. Use the most readily available resources in making accommodations.Last modified: Sunday, 20 March 2022, 10:50 PM

Lecture 9:Notes

9.0 Planning for in and out of school transition

9.1 Introduction

All persons face some challenges when implementing transitions. Any transitions need someone to adapt to a new environment. In this lecture we discuss importance of planning transitions in schools and out of schools.

9.2 Transition to Elementary School

All students experience a number of significant transitions— from home or child care to Kindergarten, from class to class, from school to school, from school district to school district, and from school to post- secondary education or work situations. These transitions involve changes in environments, expectations, rules, services, peer groups, staff, jurisdiction, and/or lifestyle.

For some students, these transitions are particularly critical. This is true for many students with diverse needs— for example, students with special educational needs, students with social challenges backgrounds, and students at risk of dropping out.

As they enter secondary school, all students face the typical developmental demands of adolescence and schooling. Students with diverse needs may also have to contend with other issues, such as limited experience regarding the world of employment, career ideas, and community resources.

Issues may range from difficulty learning social skills and developing peer relationships, to problems with poor self- image and self-esteem, to continued dependence on their parents.

Because of the complexity of their needs, these students may face a set of difficult decisions about the future: Where will I live? Where will I work? How will I get around the community? How will I keep in touch with friends from school?

Upon completion of secondary school, they must contend with the move from services provided by a single service agency—the school—to a variety of adult service options. Each of these adult programs may have different eligibility requirements and purposes.

Students with diverse needs may not make effective career/life transitions unless careful planning takes place. Transition planning and the activities to carry out plans should be part of students’ educational programs.

Effective career/life transition planning for students with diverse needs should begin well before the students are ready to leave secondary school.

For students receiving special needs programming through Early Childhood Services/ Centre, the move to Kindergarten will likely be the first major transition.

These students may be anxious about being in a larger setting and uncomfortable staying without their parents especially when one is moved to a boarding school. Parents may also be anxious about the transition into elementary school and may have a variety of questions such as the following.

What happens when my child arrives at school?
What happens at lunch?
Where is my child’s classroom located? May I go to the classroom to help her or him get settled?
Who supervises the playground and what kinds of activities do students do?
What kinds of opportunities do students have to work together?
What kind of special support is available for my child?

9.3 Transition to Post-secondary Settings

Planning for Transition at the senior high school level is critical for students with special education needs. At this level, the Individualised Program Planning (IPP) process must be a comprehensive and well-coordinated plan that goes beyond one year and beyond just preparing a student for graduation.

Planning for transition needs to outline what the student will be taking and doing in school as well as how to prepare the student for life after senior high school. As a part of this type of planning the learning team needs to:

identify and plan for the programs of study and educational experiencesthe student will be participating in from Grade 9 to the end of senior high school
develop a plan for post-school adult life based upon the student’s dreams and interests
identify and begin to coordinate needed services, programs and supports before the student leaves the senior high school setting.

Planning for transition often involves investigating opportunities for postsecondary training. Over the last decade, the range of post-secondary options available to all students has greatly expanded. Colleges, universities, community agencies and private training companies are now more willing and able to offer

appropriate training opportunities for adults with special needs. A number of colleges and universities now have specialized services to support students with special needs. Some institutions’ application forms have a box to check or a line to complete that identifies a disability.

The institution’s disability services office then contacts the student to discuss what kind of support will be needed. If the application form does not have a place for self-disclosure, students (and if necessary, their parents) will need to contact the disability services offices.

9.4 Supporting Planning for Transition

There are a variety of ways for parents, teachers and other members of the learning team to support planning for transition. Parents can support their children in the transition process by:

attending transition meetings and ensuring that their child is an active participant in the process
reviewing the transition plan and discussing questions or concerns
asking questions and offering opinions during the meeting using appropriate tone of voice and turn taking, so students see what advocacy looks like
teaching their child how to appropriately express disagreement with suggestions and resolve these types of differences effectively
helping their child identify interests, challenges and future goals
encouraging their child’s independence at home and across settings
keeping track of questions, concerns, expectations, suggestions and/or comments about the transition process
thinking about services and special materials or resources their child is going to need throughout his or her school career and then as an adult, and sharing this information with team members.

Principals, teachers and specialists can support the transition process by:

ensuring students and parents have the information they need to prepare for changes and to choose post-secondary options
encouraging and facilitating input and support from community service providers.

One or more service providers may be involved in the planning for transition process, including counsellors, career coaches and work experience coordinators. These individuals may assist in planning for transition by:

attending planning for transition meetings and providing information to the learning team
providing information to schools regarding available services and how to access them
identifying service gaps and assisting in locating resources to address the needs.

Last modified: Wednesday, 16 March 2022, 1:59 PM

Lecture 10:Notes

10.0 Workplace Transition Plan

10.1 Introduction

‘School to work’ transition is challenging for almost every young person. It is in this critical education transition period that a young person’s future can be determined, and the success (or otherwise) of the transition can have implications that last a lifetime. This is particularly true for young people with disability.

10.1 School to work transition

School to work’ transition refers to the critical socio-economic life changing period between approximately 15 to 24 years of age – a period when young individuals develop and build skills, based on their initial education and training that helps them become productive members of the society (World Bank, 2009). School to work transition is basing on the following assumptions:

Preparing for transition to employment and adulthood is essential for all students; for students with diverse needs, the additional barriers to employment and other adult activities must be considered in the planning process.
Career/life transition planning can be integrated into existing individual planning activities.
Students’ needs and interests should be the primary determinants in selecting the goals for the future that will guide the career/life transi tion process.
Career/life transition planning should enhance student empowerment and self-determination.
Students and, if relevant, their parents or guardians should be helped to become effective self-advocates and knowledgeable users of services.
Successful career/life transition planning requires communication and co-operation among parents, students, educators, adult service providers, social workers, and natural supports within the community.
The most important of all the career/life transitional goals may be developing social relationships.
When students set employment as a transition goal, this goal should, whenever possible, be paid, competitive employment.

10.2 The impact of transition from school to work

The focus will be how schools prepare individuals with disabilities for their life in the family and workplaces. Family has its role in this chapter we are looking at how the school as a school has shaped an individual with disability to meet the family and workplaces roles. This is justified in the reality that school is a place where individuals get new skills in addressing challenges.

The strategies for a good transition from school back to family is explored and discussed. Workplace issues are also addressed as it is known that workplaces are places where individuals with disability develop their economic and purchasing power and engage themselves as individuals and participants in the society development activities.

The impact of young people with disability making a successful transition from school to work and/or further study is critical as a positive one can greatly improve their long-term economic future, wellbeing and inclusion in society.

Those who do not make a successful transition are at greater risk of labour force and social exclusion, as well physical and mental health risks. Hence targeted and strategic policy and program intervention during transition provides benefit to the individual as well as our wider society and economy.

Indeed, transition points in life, or the ‘fork in the road’ periods, are important times in an individual’s life when timely resources and support investment in can assist in avoiding or minimising long-term disadvantage.

During the transition from school period young people often encounter great uncertainties and tremendous developmental challenges. These issues may be made more stressful by the presence of a disability, thereby increasing the risk of social exclusion amongst those young people who are transitioning and have a disability.

Young people with disability are not successfully transitioning from school into further training or employment; a factor that is an indicator of long term, and often life-long, disadvantage. Young people with disability are more likely to drop out of school early, be excluded from the labour force, have fewer educational qualifications, experience poverty and be socially isolated point of contact.

Improving these outcomes is a societal imperative as well as an economic one. Societal has obligation that enables all people to participate fully in society and be active citizens. Economic, because increasing the number of persons with disability in employment can contribute to mitigating some of the labour force effects imposed by an ageing population, can reduce pension dependency and improve individuals’ overall financial and wellbeing status.

Research has identified the following as the three proponents of a good quality of life for a person with disability (regardless of the disability type): being engaged in employment, on-going learning and/or training; living in and participating in your local community in a way similar to same age peers; and, having active social networks with family and friends. A ‘good transition’ from school and into a successful post-school life can assist in achieving the aforementioned quality of life elements.

10.3 School to work Transition elements

As noted above, it has been found that five key elements comprise a ‘good transition’; these being ‘career development and workplace preparation’, ‘work experience’, vocational training’ ‘School-based Apprenticeship and Traineeship’ and ‘part-time work’. These options are available to non-disabled persons.

Career development and workplace preparation

Every young person needs the opportunity to transition successfully from school to ongoing learning, work and community life. To do this successfully, young people and particularly those with disability, need information, support and guidance from an array of people that may directly or indirectly influence their career development and

pathways planning. A a lack of access to suitable user-friendly information about training options and poor career guidance for those with a disability make it difficult for them to make informed choices about VET and apprenticeships during periods of transition (e.g. beginning senior secondary school, when leaving school).

“Young people with disability face the same barriers and challenges as all young people entering the workforce. Many of these can be exacerbated by their disability and they may also face a number of additional barriers, such as negative misconceptions about their ability, a lack of easily accessible information, and limited workplace experience. In some areas of the education and transition system there is still a prevailing culture that these actors ‘know best’ and are best placed to determine post-school options for young people with disability.

In maintaining this approach, young people are missing out on moderating and engaging in self-determination when it comes to career development and workplace exploration. Making the initial transition from secondary schooling into further education and training or work can be particularly difficult and challenging for young people with disability who often have not had access to services and experiences designed to facilitate their career development.

For students with additional educational needs planning for post-school life should begin at around 14 years of age as early planning allows students to familiarise themselves with the post-school environment, set goals for the future, learn the skills that will assist towards meeting those goals, and make adjustments if goals or desires change. It’s a self-determined process where students, supported by their parents and family make choices about what they wish to do and achieve when they leave school.

Put simply, experience must precede choice, something often not made available to young people with disability preparing to transition from school and into a life beyond school. In these instances, the young people have not had opportunity to experience authentic employment or career development activities to ensure they make informed decisions about their post-school pathways.

To achieve these quality outcomes and career development, five key areas of transition practice were identified by Paula Kohler and her colleagues, with their model known as ‘Kohler’s Taxonomy for Transition Programming’ (1996).

This taxonomy is based on effective practices that have the goal of improving post- school outcomes and transition for students with disabilities. The categories and practices (which were identified through literature reviews, evaluations, meta-evaluation and concept mapping) are:

Student-Focused Planning practices that use assessment information, student self-determination, and student postsecondary goals to develop Individual Plans
Student Development practices that emphasize life, employment, and occupational skill development via school-based and work-based learning in addition to student assessments and accommodations
Interagency Collaboration practices that facilitate involvement of community businesses, organisations, and agencies in transition education including interagency agreements that articulate roles, responsibilities, communications, and other strategies to foster collaboration and enhance curriculum and program development
Program Structure practices that relate to efficient and effective delivery of transition-focused education and services including philosophy, planning, policy, evaluation, human resource development, and the structures and attributes of schools
Family Involvement practices that increase the ability of family members to work effectively with educators and service providers in planning and delivering education and transition services.

Kohler is clear that transitional focused curriculum and education experiences should: begin at age 14, Not be in addition to, Nor an adaptation of, and But the fundamental basis of the final years of secondary school (Kohler and Field, 2003).

Research confirms that a curriculum firmly based in teaching these skills in the context of the student’s community is effective in promoting positive post school outcomes.

Career preparation and work-based learning experiences are essential in order to form and develop aspirations and to make informed choices about careers.

These experiences can be provided during the school day, through after-school programs, through work experience and through collaborations with other services and organisations. It is clear that career development should not and cannot just be the domain of schools.

Work experience

Work experience can play in improving the transition outcomes of student with disability. For decades, research has shown the strong relationship between the experience of work during secondary school and higher post-school employment for youth with disabilities.

Consistently, the most prominent factors is associated with successful postschool employment outcomes are paid and unpaid work experiences during the last years of secondary school and the completion of a high school diploma.

However, as the continuing disappointing postschool employment rates for young people with disabilities suggest, there remains a critical need to expand quality work-based learning opportunities for these young people and to integrate these experiences into secondary education.

Indeed, while work experiences are beneficial to all youth, it has been found they are particularly valuable for young people with disabilities many students with disability are not undertaking work experience during their school years; whereas their non-disability peers are routinely taking part in work experience in Years 9 or 10. It has been said that schools often feel that they are ill-equipped (in terms of knowledge, skills and resources) to arrange and support work experience for students with disability.

Employers are reluctant to interview young people without relevant experience, but there are few available opportunities for young people to acquire it, particularly if a young person has a disability.

Vocational Education and Training

VET are strong vocational pathways with good employment outcomes for young people with disability, particularly VET which includes some form of work-based training such as apprenticeships and traineeships.

It has been found that students with a disability enrolled in an apprenticeship or traineeship have better employment outcomes, when compared against other types of VET courses.

This may be because of the employment or on-the-job relationship embedded in the apprenticeship and traineeship models. Therefore a student undertaking a School-based Apprenticeships and Traineeship is more likely to have long term employment prospects.

Likewise, training that involves practical experience in the workplace is more likely to lead to employment for young people with a disability.

Many young people with Intellectual disability have not been successful in institutionalised training, and work better through practical, hands-on experience. Wherever possible, Ticket to Work blends formal learning with direct workplace experience and on-the-job training.

Programs to support employment builds on this and many participants are undertaking the majority of their vocational training component on the job, demonstrating competency by actually undertaking tasks in the workplace setting. We have found that this contributes to better employment outcomes for this cohort of young people. Completing a VET qualification not only helps people with a disability to find work, but it also increases their chances of sustaining employment into the future.

School-based Apprenticeships and Traineeship

School-based Apprenticeships and Traineeships (SbATs) allow students over 15 years of age to work as paid part-time apprentices or trainees while still at school. SbATs enable young people to gain a vocational qualification and paid workplace experience while also completing their senior school studies. SbATs prepare students for the world of work and assist employers to attract young employees into their business and industry.

Part-time work at school

Existing research suggests that part-time work can help facilitate the transition from school to work. Studies from have found a clear relationship between part-time employment while at school and a lower incidence of unemployment following completion of school. it is well acknowledged that students who participate in part-time work have higher percentages of post-school employment throughout their lives one would suspect this would be the same for students with disability. A part-time job is a rite of passage that is often not available for young people with significant disability and can deliver vital employability skills and lead to employment post-school.

10.4 Transition from school to work in Europe

Legislation

In most EU countries there are specific measures provided by legislation, for ensuring preparation for and transition to work for youngsters with disabilities, in various ways. One the most widespread – even if sometimes criticised – is the sheltered workshop (Council of Europe, 2003).

Transition services

In most EU countries the transition support is complementary, additional to other services (EADSNE, 2002, 2006) A European study on transition from school to work, undertaken in 2002, in 16 countries, members of EU provide some interesting findings (EADSNE, 2002). The following domains were explored:

The involvement of pupils in the transition process;
Transition models;
Accreditations (qualifications and diplomas);
The support;
Networking – external services (to education), relationships, cooperation;

Policies and practical measure

As a result of this study some significant factors in identifying barriers and facilitators for facilitating transition were discovered, in various fields. An excerpt is presented bellow, in connection with one of the most vulnerable area: the needed close work relations between educational and work services.

Barriers:

Closed systems (the schools and the employing companies are from two different worlds);
The schooling has a strong influence on the afterschool opportunities – the pupil is trained for only one career track, which is often in a specialised centre.

Facilitators:

Building networks (at the social and professional level – France);
Setting up creative measures (Portugal);
Extending the „double systems” (the theory from the school and the practice from the enterprises);
Organising flexible training measures (Germany);
Upgrading communication between sectors (especially between school and work places)
A data base regarding work employment available (Norway);
Monitoring the pupils by the schools (Netherlands);
Support measures (with human, financial, technical, material services – Greece).

Transition planning

A study on Individual Transition Plans (ITP) developed by EADSNE in 2006 was focused on the ITP in 19 EU countries. In these European countries it is already a practice of assisting the adolescents and youngsters with disabilities at the end of the schooling, for the passage from school to work and life. Building the transition support should include the ongoing participation of the young person and his family, the coordination of all responsible services and a close cooperation with employment sector. This complex activity, seen as a bridge between work and school is very well reflected in the Individual Transition Plan (ITP). Definition of ITP – It is a tool, formalised as a document, in which it is condensed the past, the present and the future of a person. ITP should contain life information concerning: family circumstances, medical history, free time, cultural context and values, education and training.

The design and use of an ITP should contribute to the following outcomes:

To increase the chances of a person to find a sustainable job;
To match the interests, motivations, skills, attitudes and competences of a young person to the demands of a profession, place and working environments, of a hiring company;
To increase the autonomy, motivation, self perception and self esteem of the young person;
To create a ‘win-win’ situation for both parties (the employed person and the employer).

Gaps and solutions

Main Gaps

Lack of support services for transition. While in the EU countries and USA there is formal and effective support, implemented in various ways, for the transition from school to work at young people with disabilities, in Romania this type of support is missing, both in legislation and in practice.
Lack of formal and institutional planning for transition. In most European countries and in the USA the planning for transition is seriously taken into consideration. In Romania there is no plan similar with an ITP.

Solutions suggested

Promoting legislative changes – in order to mention and strengthen specifically the need for support services during the transition period (from school to work) for youngsters with disabilities. There are provisions in the European Legislation (The European Disability Strategy 2010-2020, point 4), which could help the process of change.
Developing secondary legislation, based on some general provisions from the ones already mentioned above (The Law 448/2006 and The National Education Law no.1/2011) – in order to allow and develop the sheltered workshops inside or in close connection with schools, thus setting up as well the support for transition function of such a workshop.
Debates should be initiated and research undertaken focussing on the transition services needed (psychological counseling, educational and vocational orientation, employment expert in particular cases – disabilities – etc) in order to define these and make them operational.
Exploring – via action-research – the ways of designing and implementing the planning of transition at the individual level for all youngsters (age 16-18) with disabilities, at request.

Last modified: Wednesday, 9 February 2022, 10:49 AM