SHERATON BLOOMINGTON HOTEL JULY 12, 2006 2:00 p.m. –3:30 p.m.

1. EDUCATION COMMISSION OF THE STATES “LIFE AFTER HIGH SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS WITH SIGNIFICANT DISABILITIES” SHERATON BLOOMINGTON HOTEL JULY 12, 2006 2:00 p.m. –3:30 p.m. Colleen Wieck, Ph.D., Executive Director Minnesota Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities

2. Dr. Oscar Arias, Nobel Peace Prize winner and former President of Costa Rica stated: • The most beautiful and enriching trait of human life is diversity—a diversity that can never be used to justify inequality. Repressing diversity will impoverish the human race. We must facilitate and strengthen diversity in order to reach a more equitable world for all of us. For equality to exist, we must avoid standards that define what a normal human life should be or the normal way of achieving success and happiness. The only normal quality that can exist among human beings is life itself.

3. Brief Timelines about Education and Employment for Individuals with Significant Disabilities Attachment #1: A Brief Timeline of Educational Milestones for Students with Significant Disabilities Developmental model Normalization principle Section 504 P.L. 94-142—LRE, IEP, FAPE Cascade of services, mainstreaming 1980s All Means All Integration Natural Proportion Criterion of Ultimate Functioning Transition mandate Functional Curriculum Early special education mandate 1990s Americans with Disabilities Act Inclusion Olmstead decision-most integrated setting Universal Design 2000s No Child Left Behind Postsecondary education enrollment issues Introduction IN SUMMARY, FROM TOTAL EXCLUSION -- EXPERIMENTAL CLASSES -- IQ BASED CLASSES -- LEGISLATION/LITIGATION TO ENROLL STUDENTS -- MAINSTREAMING -- INTEGRATION -- INCLUSION -- UNIVERSAL DESIGN -- NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND. • 1950s • Brown v. Board of Education • Special Education based upon IQ (those above 50/mandatory classes and those below 50/permissive classes); with age limits • Retardation meant lagging one or more grades. Retardation referred to environment issues and deficiency referred to organic causes. • 1960s • Questions about the quality of special education compared to regular education (Lloyd Dunn classic article) • Burton Blatt, overnight cure of millions of people by changing the IQ from 85 to 70. • 1970s • Early intervention • Teaching children with Down Syndrome to read • Behaviorism’s influence on goals, objectives, task analysis

4. 1950s Sheltered employment based upon IQ Institutional peonage for anyone living in a state hospital (wages of no more than $1 per month) 1960s Day activity centers began Lawsuits against institutional peonage Sub-minimum wage certificates Ecolab experiment in hiring janitors with disabilities Minneapolis experiment with work experience half time at local day programs 1970s Try Another Way (task analysis) to teach complex skills Behaviorism Work Activity Section 504 1980s Blow up readiness model. You don’t need to be ready to live, learn, work and play in regular settings, you need support Supported employment Day programs are “retarding environments” 5 Fs of employment (food, filth, flowers, folding, fetching) Career Planning 1990s ADA Presume employability Presume competence Self-employment 2000s Self-determination for employment supports Customized employment Universal design Attachment #2: A Brief Timeline of Employment Milestones for Individuals with Significant Disabilities IN SUMMARY, INSTITUTIONAL EMPLOYMENT -- DAY ACTIVITY -- SHELTERED EMPLOYMENT BASED UPON IQ -- WORK ACTIVITY -- TRY ANOTHER WAY -- SUPPORTED EMPLOYMENT -- 5 F’s OF EMPLOYMENT -- CAREER PLANNING -- ADA -- PRESUME EMPLOYABILITY -- SELF EMPLOYMENT -- CUSTOMIZED EMPLOYMENT.

5. The U.S. Department of Education contracted with SRI to conduct a longitudinal study of 8,000 students with disabilities who were two years beyond high school for the years 1987-1991. • Those with significant disabilities were least likely to be employed: • deaf blind (9.5%) • multiple disabilities (5.7%) • orthopedic (13.9%) • other health impaired (28.8%) • developmental disabilities (31%) • Those with significant disabilities were not in vocational education and were not receiving job counseling or job readiness training. • Males (61%) were more likely to be paid than females (46%). • Paid employment was in low skill jobs such as labor or babysitting. • Earnings were at or below minimum wage for those with significant disabilities who were employed. • Those with multiple disabilities rarely did household chores and were least likely to be on their own in their own homes. • Only 14% of youth with disabilities had any postsecondary education. Results:

6. The most recent Harris polls indicated that the unemployment rate among people with disabilities is 72 percent and of those, 2/3 wanted to go to work. • Postsecondary education has a positive impact on rates of employment and wages.

7. The President’s Committee on People with Intellectual Disabilities released its report to the President in 2002 and indicated: 1. 90 percent of adults with intellectual disabilities were not employed. • Over 20 percent of students were drop outs of high school • <15 percent of students advanced to postsecondary education • Over 700,000 people with developmental disabilities lived with older parents.

8. The National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 compared transition experiences of students from all 13 disability categories and found that: • Students with autism experience greater difficulty in social adjustment and are least likely to socialize with their peers, engage in extracurricular activities, participate in transition planning, and assume high levels of responsibility within their households. • Although students with autism are among the most likely to be engaged in work study employment, they are the least likely to hold regular paid jobs.

9. A separate study cited by Nesbitt, 2000, found that students with Asperger Syndrome were in regular employment and that even with formal qualifications, employment levels were disappointing and occupational status was low.

10. Another study by Muller found that adults with autism often experienced high levels of unemployment and underemployment and that lack of social skills frequently led to poor outcomes including being fired from jobs.

11. How are colleges and universities adapting to serving this unique population of students? • One recent paper by Martinez found 94 institutions of higher education offering programs or individualized supports for students with the most significant disabilities. • “Access to postsecondary education is slowing becoming more inclusive.” The individuals and families who pioneered inclusion in K-12 settings are now pushing for inclusive postsecondary education. • Postsecondary education enables higher goals, higher academic achievements, and better careers and the last group to benefit are those with the most significant disabilities.

12. In British Columbia, parents created a nonprofit called STEPS Forward—Inclusive Post Secondary Education Society. The major premise is “social skills and healthy relationships in the work place are a predictor of success as well as retention.” http://www.stepsforward.org/index.html

13. Shasta Community College in California • Individual Placement model means students are enrolled and receive assistance and support within regular college classrooms. http://transitionservices.info

14. Bellevue Community College in Bellevue Washington offers a 90 credit AA in Essential Studies through which an individual can master an established body of knowledge and skills for lifetime success. http://www.bcc.ctc.edu/venture

15. Other examples include: • Lakeshore Technical College in Cleveland WI, • Kapi ‘olani Community College in Hawaii, • George Mason University LIFE program, • Anne Arundel Community College, • Baltimore City College, • Essex Community College, • El Camino College in Torrance CA, • J. Sergeant Reynold Community College in Richmond VA, • and Asbury College in Kentucky.

16. The typical concerns of institutions of higher education are: • lack of funding, • the type of accommodations needed, • dealing with bureaucracies, • and the lack of training for faculty.

17. Colleges and universities need to look at access in terms of: • attitudes, • policies, procedures, and processes, • information environment, • as well as physical and programmatic access. • Examples of accommodations include: • pre-admission and academic adjustments, • assistive technology, • adapted transportation, • scheduling adjustments, • and books on tape.

18. New brokers: Erin Sperling from Minnesota has turned this issue into a small business. www.collegeconnectors.com

19. Are there jobs for students and what are they? What are the issues surrounding these young people’s entry into the workplace? • Individuals with disabilities are more than twice as likely to live below the poverty line as individuals without disabilities (New Freedom Initiative, 2001). • Individuals with disabilities are less like to be employed than individuals without disabilities across all age groups (NCSPES, 2002).

20. Only 49 percent of individuals with disabilities are employed vs. 79 percent of individuals without disabilities (US Census, 2000). The employment rates for individuals with significant disabilities are even lower (Kiernan, 2002). • 67 percent of youth with disabilities with a BA degree were working full time compared with 73 percent of people without disabilities holding the same degree (NCSPES, 2002)

21. People with disabilities seem to be learning at an early age that they have only two options—a low paying jobs or living on benefits rather than aspiring to have a career (Half the Planet Foundation, 2002). • 36 percent of employed people with disabilities report encountering at least one instance of discrimination in the workplace (NOD, 2002)

22. The vast majority of people with disabilities who are employed work at low paying, nonprofessional jobs which require no higher education, are associated with less prestige and provide no security, room for advancement or significant medical/retirement benefits (Stoddard, 1998). • Working age adults with disabilities consistently earn less than do their peers without disabilities.

23. Today’s students have higher expectations for full access to community resources and paid employment. • Today’s students have strengths, gifts, capacities, and preferences that should be honored; employment should not be based on diagnoses.

24. Those who have paid employment opportunities during school have more likelihood of paid employment after school. • Do people with disabilities work to keep benefits or do people with disabilities work to get off of benefits?

25. What can policymakers do to ensure communities are ready for these students and students are ready to participate in these communities? (communities refers to college and work) Colleges: • On March 20, 2006 Suzanne Boudrot Shea testified to the Commission regarding the future of postsecondary education for students with developmental disabilities. Shea is a mother of a child with Down Syndrome. • The Commission was established by the Secretary of Education to develop recommendations on how best to improve the system of higher education to ensure that graduates are well prepared to meet our future workforce needs and are able to participate fully in the changing economy. The Commission will submit its final report by August 1, 2006.

26. Recommendations offered by Shea included: • Clarify that it is permissible for school districts to use IDEA funds to support transition services on college campuses and dual enrollment in college programs for students still eligible to receive special education services. • Clarify that it is permissible to use Voc Rehab funds to support students with developmental disabilities in postsecondary education. • Create a coordinating committee within the Dept of Education to identify and fund research and training to help develop and support transition and postsecondary education services for students with developmental disabilities. • Support amending the Higher Education Act to allow students with developmental disabilities to access student financial aid, including loans and work study.

27. Rep. Pete Sessions of TX introduced an amendment to the College Access and Opportunity Act that provides students with intellectual disabilities access to work study funds.

28. Employers: • In the summer of 2005, the MN Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities in cooperation with other state agencies interviewed 300 employers that hire people with disabilities and 300 employers that do not. • The Employers recommended that more information about WorkForce Centers, • About supported employment agencies, and tax credits. • See the report at www.mncdd.org/extra/customer-research/employer_survey_rpt.pdf

29. Schools: • Individual transition plans need to be in place. • Prepare students for postsecondary education or employment • Job resumes and how to work in a work environment. • Provide choices, opportunities, and raised expectations for all students. • Presume competence and presume employability.

30. RESOURCES • http://www.edgov/about/offices/list/ocr/transition.html “Students with Disabilities Preparing for Postsecondary Education: Know Your Rights and Responsibilities” • http://thinkcollege.net Youth with intellectual disabilities have not had many chances to go to college, this website is for students, families, professionals about postsecondary education, programs, listserv, discussion board, and resources. • http://www.heath.gwu.edu/ Email askheath@gwu.edu with any questions about postsecondary education for individuals with disabilities. • http://thechp.syr.edu The Center for Human Policy at Syracuse University offers a paper called, Beyond Compliance—An Information Package on Inclusion of People with Disabilities in Post Secondary Education.