Transportation: The Forgotten Related Service

1. Transportation: The Forgotten Related Service Ted Finlayson-Schueler Syracuse University tfinlays@syr.edu www.SafetyRules.net

2. Large print copies • Load from flash • Does anyone need audio description of slides? • Web link to presentation www.safetyrules.net/TASH.html • Poster session: Transportation Guide for Parents of Children with Disabilities

6. Short Bus Kid • Everyone knew what a short bus was for. When I got off that short bus with those wheelchair kids, everyone knew I was a retard. I came to hate that stupid, ugly, dopey short bus. I guess I hated it so much because those of us who went to school on it were teased by the other kids. We were the “short bus kids,” which was like calling us “retards,” only even more unkind, it seemed to me for some reason. (Anderson, 1989, pp. 2, 51)

8. General Education Bus Special Education Bus Inclusive Education Bus Bus !!! Terminology

9. Two trips… • Operation of transportation for CWD • Transportation’s location within education

10. Trip One details… • Definition of Related Service • IDEA language adaptations for transportation • Planning for transportation • Inclusion model of transportation

11. Related Services • “The law, while rejecting the traditional medical model of disability, recognized that some of these students needed more than educational services alone to be successful in school. Hence the concept of “related services” was developed, incorporating those services…necessary to enable students to take advantage of and benefit from the educational program.” Gartner & Lipsky, 2005

12. Related Services • Physical/occupational therapy • Psychological/counseling services, • Speech/audiology services, • Health/medical services, • Orientation/mobility services,and • TRANSPORTATION!!!!!

13. Role of Transportation • Travel to FAPE • Part of FAPE • “To the maximum extent appropriate, children with disabilities, including institutions or other care facilities, are educated (transported?) with children who are nondisabled” • Life skill….

14. “Transportation” includes… • Travel to and from school and between schools; • Travel in and around school buildings; and • Specialized equipment (such as special or adapted buses, lifts, and ramps), if required to provide special transportation for a child with a disability.”

15. Related Services Require… “A qualified provider of that service either • Attends the IEP meeting, or • Provides a written recommendation concerning the nature, frequency, and amount of service to be provided the child. This written recommendation could be a part of the evaluation report.”

16. Training • “All personnel who provide related services under this part, including bus drivers, must be appropriately trained.”

17. I got on the school bus by mistake

18. $64,000 Question • Who is the Transportation Related Service “Qualified Provider”?

19. What do they mean? • We are going to transport Sam on a RE type D ULSD bus meeting 2007 EPA emissions standards to help control his asthma. It is equipped with an ADA-compliant lift and has track seating as well as tinted windows, air ride suspension, and AC to maintain the environment. Inside the bus, we will secure his WC/19 chair with a J2249 WTORS and transfer him to a an orthopedic positioning CSRS meeting FMVSS 213 with tether in a LATCH-equipped FMVSS 210 seat at maximum spacing.

20. Find a common language • LRTE/TNA/ITP • Identify transportation “red flags” • Learn vehicle/routing options • Explore “length of ride” impact together • Administrative response plan • Understanding of emergency

21. T.N.A. Concepts: T.N.A. Transportation Needs Assessment • Previous transportation experience • Driver interview • Parent interview • Equipment used • Behavior reports • Medical/physical needs • B.I.P. needs • On-bus evaluation w/therapist

22. Concepts: I.T.P. Individualized Transportation Program • Vehicle/Equipment/Routing specifics • Staff needs • Emergency Information • Student characteristics impacting transportation • Necessary staff,parent, and student training • Evacuation Plan • Behavioral Intervention Plan (B.I.P.) on bus I.T.P.

23. Concepts: L.R.T.E. Least Restrictive Transportation Environment • Parallels L.R.E. in classroom • Transition – Travel Training…. • Equipment/Supervision/Support • Skill development • Access to peers • Safety first!

24. Collaboration: Agree on “Red Flags” • Distance to school/house/stop • School schedule • Medical staff needed • Medication/Training Procedures/Equipment • Staff ratio in class • History of violence • Emotional/Phobias • Communication challenges

25. Teamwork is working together towards a common goal…

26. Therapist knows… Child’s abilities Need supervision? Model size? Knows how to use? Maintenance Maneuver in bus? Transportation knows… Not on lift Use stairs? Wheelchair to load? Staff trained? Secure walker Seating location Securement in seat - Upper body support? Emergency evacuation Walker means…

27. Instructional knows… Child’s abilities Placement options Staff training Student training Transportation knows… Travel distance Travel time (traffic) Weather issues Access to EMS Vehicle ride Vehicle staff training Safety/Evacuation Placement means…

28. Inclusive Placement means… • What parents know • What students know…. http://www.thenthdegree.com/

29. Artiles 2005 • The inclusion movement has argued that equal access to general education spaces (buses), curriculum, and accountability standards is just. • Old understandings that linked special services or accommodations to segregated spaces (buses) are broken down by inclusion and services are based on need rather than limited by location.

30. Walk to school School bus Ambulance Group stop …. Unsupervised …. Get on alone .... Sit in seat …. Wheelchair …. No medical …. Behavior OK …. Transit bus Lift/Special S.B. Parent contract Special stop Supervision/nurse Assisted loading Seat w/restraint Custom w/c equip Medical procedures Behavior plan Parameters: Range of Services

31. Trip Two details… • Location of special education transportation • Reality of school transportation • Court challenges • Reality Transportation

32. Special Education • The breaking off of problem areas into separate programs and specializations is supported by the accompanying development of professional experts to serve these programs. These experts reify and are reified by the programs, each serving the other’s purpose. Credential experts retain a sense of their validity by relying on tradition, deference to authority, and inherited privilege Gouldner, 1979

33. Special Ed Transportation • Small Bus drivers paid less than Big Bus • Drivers coming back from “comp” put on small bus • District fleets contract out “IEP trans” • “Bertram isn’t a fit man, not A-1. That’s why they put him on the fruit-cake run. ‘You’ll take the specials, O.K., Bert?’ the boss told him.” Anderson, 1989

35. Bus Environment • “I’ve not been in a single school in the last 5 years where the bus was not a problem regarding aggressive behaviors.” Chuck Saufler, Olweus Bullying Prevention Program • “I see that most put-downs happen on the bus, in the locker room, and at lunch…on the bus there is just the bus driver who is focusing on the road” Taylor Henry, middle school student

36. CWD Disappeared • “Increases in the number of special classes for exceptional children in both urban and rural areas are creating demands for additional routes; and in some instances, are requiring the transportation of children who are not now being transported and the use of special types of vehicles.” Noble, 1940 1933 Wheelchair Bus www.disabilityhistory.org

37. Segregation Model • “There are two categories of students with disabilities: (1) Those for whom transportation is a related service, but delivering that service does not require any accommodation. These students can ride with their nondisabled peers. (2) Those for whom transportation is a related service and accommodation is necessary to ensure they can access educational services.” CASTO, 1999

38. Segregation means… • Separate program not home school separate bus • Separate program in home school separate bus • Inclusive program separate bus • Segregated spaces on lift-equipped buses • Field/activity trip fiascos

39. “Reasons” to Segregate • Scientific Management • Funding “It is a system for targeting otherwise unavailable resources to designated students, even though the process stigmatizes the students and the services do not necessarily benefit them.” Skrtic, 2005 • Protects nondisabled students • We’ve always… • “Pretending that gate-keeping points don’t exist is to ensure that many students will not pass through them.” Delpit, 2005

40. Inclusion Model • “Schools should only consider a more restrictive transportation arrangement if regular transportation, with supplemental aids and services, is not appropriate for that particular student.” Putney & Bird, 2001

41. Non-instructional Time • “Although these routines are not considered ‘instructional,’ they do teach important life lessons to the children who engage in them day-to-day…they are full of lessons about personal worth and respect.” Koplow, 2002 • “Although for most students academic learning does not take place on the school bus, the social benefits that students with disabilities derive from their nondisabled peers during this experience are considered just as important as those available in the classroom.” Putney & Bird, 2001

42. Attack on Inclusion • Transportation was just a ride unless specific goals for transportation, socialization, etc., had been established in the IEP. North East Independent School District (Texas State Educational Agency) 104 LRP 30667, April 23, 2004

43. Parent’s Experience • ±10 minute rule • Getting off bus alone rule vs. goals • Multitudes of substitutes – union rules • Anger instead of accommodation • No people first language • High School segregation • Great teacher/bus driver “has a great heart and wants to make a difference – plant seeds and enjoy watching them grow into flowers.”

44. By Steve Breen November 4, 2003

45. Trip One details… • Definition of Related Service • IDEA language adaptations for transportation • Planning for transportation • Inclusion model of transportation

46. Trip Two details… • Location of special education transportation • Reality of school transportation • Court challenges • Reality Transportation • What are your ??? • What has your reality been?

47. During a dinner party, the hosts' two little children entered the dining room totally nude and walked slowly around the table. The parents were so embarrassed that they pretended nothing was happening and kept the conversation going. The guests cooperated and also continued as if nothing extraordinary was happening. After going all the way around the room, the children left. As they disappeared out of sight, there was a moment of silence at the table, during which one child was heard to say, "You see, it IS vanishing cream!"

48. Transporting Children… Physically safe, Emotionally Secure, and Ready to learn. tfinlays@syr.edu schoolbusted@safetyrules.net