Youth Transition Programs

Throughout Oregon, Youth Transition Programs (YTP) help students with disabilities transition from school to paid, competitive employment, post-secondary education and/or independent living.

Federally financed, YTP is a service of DHS, the University of Oregon and the Oregon Department of Education. School districts commit matching dollars to help pay for a transition specialist in the school.

A national study of high school students with disabilities says 47 percent drop out without graduating but, among Oregon YTP students, 90 percent leave high school with a diploma.

Transition – More Important than Ever
(Used with permission from the Council for Exceptional Children)

It is absolutely essential that transition planning and services stay in the forefront of special education services, say those who work in the field. Statistics show they are right. Though we are gaining steadily in educational progress for students with disabilities — more than ever before (56 percent in 2000) graduate with a standard diploma, and the number of students with disabilities going to college has more than doubled — the picture is not so bright for our students after high school. Only 30 percent of individuals with disabilities who graduated with a high school diploma and 45 percent of those with some post-secondary education are employed, according to the National Center on Secondary Education and Transition report, Current Challenges Facing the Future of Secondary Education and Transition Services for Youth with Disabilities in the United States. Of those students with disabilities who have gone to college, research shows that less than 25 percent graduate, according to Carol Kochhar-Bryant, professor at George Washington University and member of the Board of Directors of CEC’s Division on Career Development and Transition (DCDT).

Only 30 percent of individuals with disabilities who graduated with a high school diploma and 45 percent of those with some post-secondary education are employed.

Transition has taken on the challenge. Even in the midst of standards-focused education, transition experts are working to ensure students with disabilities receive transition services. Transition educators have also implemented a number of innovative programs. Some enable students with disabilities to gain real-life skills and job experiences while still in high school, and others enable students with disabilities to gain age-appropriate education after graduating.

The Challenges

For reasons numerous and multifaceted, ensuring students receive good transition services can be an uphill battle. A new wrinkle is that transition is taking a back seat to standards-based reform. Too often students with mild/moderate disabilities who are placed in general education classes and expected to meet general education standards are being short-changed in transition planning. The challenge is to merge transition planning with the education reform efforts, says Debra Neubert, professor at the University of Maryland.

Transition planning is further weakened by lack of consistency and inadequate numbers of transition specialists. Some states have transition credentials, others courses on transition as part of certification, and some offer nothing on transition as part of certification, says Jane Williams, professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and DCDT treasurer.

...transition specialists require a vast array of skills.

Even so, transition specialists require a vast array of skills. They should understand the services in the schools, general and vocational education, the adult service system, and links to colleges. They also need to be able to link families and students to transition services and be public relation specialists.

Even where transition specialists exist, they are often too few for the number of students they serve, adds Margo Izzo, program director at Nisonger Center of Ohio State University and past DCDT president. Some also say transition planning for students with disabilities should no longer be the exclusive province of special education. In addition to guidance counselors, general education’s vocational and career personnel should work with students with disabilities.

Ensuring transition planning truly prepares students for their post-secondary goals continues to be somewhat elusive. Once students with disabilities set a goal, they must be given opportunities to “try out” the chosen professions or trades, transition experts say. They should take courses related to the field and obtain unpaid work or job tryouts in related fields. If a plan becomes inappropriate, the student’s career goal should be revised so he or she leaves school with a workable plan for meaningful engagement, says Izzo.

Finally, we need improved interagency collaboration so students and families can be linked to the appropriate services.

“We’re still struggling to implement a coordinated and effective transition process so kids don’t transition to a waiting list and lose the skills we spent hundreds of dollars teaching them,” says Izzo.

Living Independently

Most will agree: it’s hard to teach independent living skills from a book. When Teri Lindner, special education teacher in State College, Pa., realized her students were unprepared for adult life, she, her colleagues, and the students came up with LifeLink. LifeLink lets high school students live independently while still in high school. The students (same sex) live in a four-bedroom apartment for up to two weeks and are allotted $125 a week for food and cleaning supplies.

Through LifeLink, students learn how to cook, shop, do laundry, budget, pick a roommate, plan social activities, and a host of other life skills.

The students run the program, says Lindner. They make up the rules and consequences for apartment living. And though there is a coach at the apartment to ease the rough spots, the students hire the coach.

Students also choose their own roommates for apartment life, and frequently lower and higher functioning students live in the apartment at the same time, says Lindner. Occasionally a student will be unpopular. When this happens, the student is informed of the reasons others don’t want to room with him or her and strategies to change behavior are discussed. At the same time, the class is encouraged to include the student, being reminded that the student is working on a particular skill, just as they had to improve other skills earlier.

These issues are raised in the required transition class. Other topics for discussion include budgeting, roommate disagreements, someone not doing chores, or problems with work, family or friends. If time allows, the teacher also presents a lesson on a topic that needs to be tackled.

Students participate in the program for two years, staying at the apartment for short times at the beginning and, as they learn additional skills, extending their stays.

“The aim is not for all students to live on their own,” says Lindner. “The aim is for each student to leave with a much higher level of independence, wherever he or she chooses to live.”

But many students leave the program able to live on their own. Two students with developmental delays went from renting an apartment to buying a condo. They haven’t missed a mortgage payment yet!

Getting Experience

Many transition experts agree that work experience is essential, even if a student with moderate disabilities is going to college. In addition to after-school jobs, students with disabilities gain that experience through “Job Olympics,” service learning programs, and work experience programs.

Many transition experts agree that work experience is essential...

To reinforce job skills, Jim Heidan, director of student services in Milwaukee County, Wis., and DCDT president, holds job skill “Olympics.” Students compete on job interviews, resumés, and general employment skills such as typing and collating, office work, alphabetizing, and setting and bussing tables. In the popular event, 15-20 high schools and about 150 students participate. He holds a similar “Olympics” for college-bound students, who compete on the application process.

In another program, students with disabilities get career exploration and work experience at a local mall. For some students it is their first work experience; others reinforce work skills. Depending on their ability level, some go to an individual placement while others go to a placement as a group.

The work experience is tied to the student’s IEP, usually employability skills such as communication or social skills that can be applied in community settings, says Betty Joe Lill, transition coordinator for the Tuttle Mall Project in Dublin, Ohio. If the students receive support services, such as occupational therapy, they are conducted at the job site. 

Service learning also provides opportunities for students to learn job skills. Some programs are done at the school site while others involve going to another setting. Programs range from recycling to tutoring children to helping senior citizens to assisting at animal shelters to building homes.

Robert Tadjiki, life skills teacher in Bend, Ore., places his students as volunteers in a variety of jobs: courtesy clerks, movie ushers, humane society helpers, and restaurant kitchen help. They also run their own kiosk at the mall and sell items on consignment. 

His students receive task analysis sheets in which they break down their jobs and rate their performance and knowledge. They also learn how to act on the job — make eye contact, stand erect, maintain a working image.

In another service learning project, Roy Sprinkle, assistant principal in Northport, Fla., teamed with Habitat for Humanity to help students with disabilities gain professional job skills. Students learn plumbing, electrician, engineering, and other skills as they build houses for Habitat for Humanity.

Some transition programs go into effect after high school. At Project Plus, students with cross-categorical disabilities learn work skills at the Ohio State University Medical Center. The program focuses on work behaviors, and the students rotate through a variety of jobs. Initially a job coach works with the students, but supervision fades as the students become more competent.

In class, students discuss their day and learn job acquisition skills. They write their resumés and practice interviewing with the hospital’s human resources personnel.

The program also helps the students face general life challenges. Adults with disabilities share their experiences, establish links for best buddies, and talk about what it is like when one’s parents pass away. In addition, the students establish ties to the community through service projects, such as working with adults in an osteoporosous study.

“It is amazing to see the kids grow and blossom as individuals,” says Nancy Longman, Project Plus special education teacher. “To see them realize, ‘I can do this myself.’”

Life after High School

After students with disabilities graduate, some school systems move their education to a college campus. In this win-win situation, the school district pays for the special education teacher and materials, and the college offers free space. But the real gains are for the students — special education and college. While the students with disabilities learn academic and social skills, college students, often those majoring in education, psychology, and social work, serve as mentors and gain practical experience working with individuals with disabilities.

The students with disabilities who participate in these programs have busy, multifaceted lives.

The students with disabilities who participate in these programs have busy, multifaceted lives. They participate in the class provided by the high school, take appropriate college classes, and may have a job. Classes range from the social to athletic to academic. At the LifeLink Plus Program at Penn State University, also run by Lindner, students take ballroom dancing, yoga, theater, basic writing, sign language, social problems, introduction to psychology, and criminal justice. The students’ goals for each class, for which they receive high school credit, are developed by the student, parent, and professor. In some classes, the student completes all the assignments. In others, the student goes with his or her mentor, who takes notes. After class, the student and mentor talk about and highlight the important points the student should learn.

The gains for students with disabilities in these programs are astronomical, says Lindner. She saw a huge improvement in social and verbal skills and confidence. The students think nothing of joining a campus dance on Friday night. In addition, the students learn how to negotiate a system — look up courses on a computer, figure out when they are offered, make a schedule.

Lindner attributes the students’ progress to peer interaction and caring.

“There are people in the classroom who care and are part of your development,” she said. “They are coming with you, helping you, and they are not a para or a teacher. It’s your peer.”

Another trend is to provide individual “coaches” for students with disabilities ages 18 and above. Here, a special educator acts as a case manager and helps students reach their goals, whether that means taking a college, technical, or recreational course; working as an apprentice; or being employed, says Neubert.

College

While many colleges now offer services for students with disabilities, success at the college level is still elusive. Unfortunately, often colleges only meet minimum ADA requirements, says Kochhar-Bryant. Even those that do more are small and able to help only a third or so of the students who need their services, she continued. Also, professors receive little or no training in how to make accommodations for students with disabilities.

...college students with disabilities can have difficulty finding peers and mentors to support them...

Second, college students with disabilities can have difficulty finding peers and mentors to support them, aren’t prepared for the challenge and difficulty of college courses, and give up more easily than non-disabled peers.

“We need educational coaches in college settings who can pull support together (for students with disabilities),” Neubert says.

Other problems exist at the high school level. Special educators need to work with guidance counselors to help them prepare our students for college. First, we need to identify the documentation students with disabilities need to obtain services in college, find out if they can get it ahead of time to submit as part of the admissions process, and decide who pays for it, Kochhar-Bryant says. The documents need to show the student has a disability that continues over a period of time and prove the disability requires an accommodation. Guidance counselors also should know which colleges have good programs for students with disabilities.

Finally, in high school, our students must learn how to advocate for themselves, study strategically, and manage their time, transition experts say. Likewise, choosing the right college is essential. Students should visit colleges for extended tours, recommends Heidan.

This article has been used with permission from the Council for Exceptional Children.The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) is the largest international professional organization dedicated to improving educational outcomes for individuals with exceptionalities, students with disabilities, and/or the gifted. Please click on the logo below to see this article on their website.

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