Students with disabilities travel same road to college

By: AGNES DIGGS - Staff Writer | Saturday, April 23, 2005 8:28 PM PDT ∞

Increasing numbers of students with disabilities are joining the ranks of those planning the transition from high school to colleges, universities, career and vocational schools. Their road to college is the same as everyone else's, with one difference: how they make the trip.

Laws on the books prohibit schools from discriminating against students with disabilities, but it's important that they and their families realize the rules for higher learning are a whole different ball game compared with elementary and high school.

"The difference between high school and college is that they (students) need to take more responsibility," said Loretta Bohl, coordinator of Disabled Student Services at MiraCosta Community College. "We help them, but we need them to take that first step and walk through our door, make contact with us. Some parents want to do it without having the student involved, but we can't do it (that way). If the student is not engaged in the whole process, it doesn't work."

Bohl said being part of the planning is an important step toward independence. "We want to teach them advocacy skills, because they're going to have to learn how to advocate for themselves anyway," she said. "So we take baby steps."

Planning and preparation

For most people, the goal of attending college is the potential to get a job and gain personal and financial self-sufficiency. The key to finding and keeping employment after college is the same for all students: preparation.

Research shows that lack of preparedness, misinformation about disabilities and lack of information about what the law calls "reasonable accommodation" available in the workplace can be factors in low employment success rates for secondary students with disabilities. Career guidance can improve the rate after high school, according to the National Center on Secondary Education and Transition, which was established to create opportunities for youth with disabilities to achieve successful futures.

Career guidance should help students understand their own strengths and interests, the specific ways their disability affects their chosen profession ---- positively or negatively ---- and possible accommodations necessary to succeed. They can also learn about existing prospects, and explore desired vocations through job shadowing, internships or other means. As with all students, doing actual job searches and practicing interviews are recommended exercises.

It's important for students to develop self-determination skills, including decision-making and self-awareness, and career guidance strategies should aim at developing them, along with financial-management, job-search, goal-setting, resume-writing, interviewing and social skills.

This is one reason MiraCosta administrators prefer to begin working with incoming students as soon as possible, Loretta Bohl said. Registration begins in August and they like to see those planning to attend by June at the latest.

"We'll help them with the bureaucracy," she said. "The application process blows the average high schooler out of the water. We throw alphabet soup at them, and they're in a daze if they don't have someone to help them."

Identify the needs

The process begins with placement tests. "It's not a pass/fail thing, but an advising tool to help them help us on the path," she said. "We sit with them and plan their schedule."

Students who need classroom assistance must have their disability verified by an appropriate person such as a physician, Bohl said. "We need documentation that provides information, based on which we authorize accommodations ---- like a notetaker or extended time on a test. But all of that needs to be documented."

Some students already have documentation from high school, she said. But "the four-years (schools) have the right, as do we, to request documentation that they think is appropriate," she said. "So they could request the same or more recent documentation."

Students with disabilities are held to the same standard as everybody else, Bohl said. "We just try to level the playing field by putting accommodations in place that let them show what they know. The idea is to level the playing field so you're testing the material, not the disability."

An early start

From another perspective, children with disabilities have an advantage in some ways, said Carol Bartz, senior director of the North Inland Special Education Region in Ramona. Bartz coordinates the special education program for the more than 5,000 students with disabilities who live within her region. Bartz works through the San Diego County Office of Education with 10 school districts, at both elementary and high school level, in northeastern San Diego County. That includes Valley Center, Escondido, San Pasqual, and Ramona, and extending to Julian and Borrego, Warner Springs and Spencer Valley.

Bartz explained that the advantage stems from a transition plan that is begun for a student at age 14, as the student begins high school. "We work out a plan for what classes they'll take, their vocational interests, link them with other agencies," she said. "At age 14, we start talking about how to transition them to college or the work force. We do interest inventories, resumes, job experience projects."

The Individualized Education Plan includes encouraging students to visit community colleges to learn how they can enroll in programs that can support them, Bartz said.

Also, parents, counselors, teachers and administrators meet yearly as part of the IEP process to discuss student progress and adjust goals, among other things.

Seek self-sufficiency

Once students with disabilities receive a high school diploma, they are no longer under the high school system, Bartz said. Once they move on, they are under the program of the institution they are attending.

"At that point, they have to be their own advocates," Bartz said. "So we teach them how to advocate in a positive way to find out what help they need and where do they get it. It's up to them to take the steps to make it happen, and it's hard for some kids because they're used to having Mom or Dad pave the way.

"And part of growing up is doing it on our own. We can teach them how to approach the teacher or the center, but they're the ones who have to ask. I think it's the biggest challenge, and it's a challenge for other students as well."

The special-needs support offices at the colleges are there to help, Bartz said. As they start to apply, students should go to the special-needs office at each school to make sure the institution can handle their particular disability.

Also, some planning and practice can smooth the transition to independence, Bartz said. First, students need to describe what kind of help they will need, she said. For example, they might say, "I have a learning disability and it takes me longer on a written test to show you what I know. What kind of support can you supply that will help me get through a test?"

Or "It takes me longer to walk across campus. Is there a shuttle service that can help me get across campus to get to class faster?"

'This is what I need'

Since many students don't have a firm idea of what they want to do, they should ask what kind of career-interest evaluations are available, saying, "How do I find out the skills that are needed for a particular job, and what kinds of courses do I need to take to prepare me for that job?"

Another very important question is "What kind of financial support is available for me?" Some financial-aid funds are designated for students with disabilities, Bartz said.

"If the student can go in saying, 'This is me, this is what I need,' they can find out if the school can provide them what they need," Bartz said. "And if they (the school) can't ---- find another one."

One of the worst things is for students to start, later find that the school doesn't have what they need and drop out ---- because they might not go back.

The important thing to keep in mind is that disabilities are relative, Bartz said.

"We are all disabled in some way," she said. "In school, students have to deal with a variety of classes and academic challenges. When students have a significant weakness that interferes with learning, special accommodations and/or modifications are needed to help them be successful. Schools, including community colleges and universities, can provide this assistance.

"Everyone benefits when individuals with disabilities are successful, independent, and lifelong learners. That is the ultimate goal of education."

Some information for this story came from several Internet sources.

Fast Facts and Information for Students with Disabilities

The Job Accommodation Network, a free service of the Office of Disability Employment Policy of the U.S. Dept. of Labor, works with employers, people with disabilities and their families, and others to help people with disabilities gain employment, and to increase their rate of retention in the workplace.

JAN is a collaborative effort between the Department of Labor Office of Disability Employment Policy, the International Center for Disability Information at West Virginia University and several North American private industries, according to their Web site at www.jan.wvu.edu.

The rights of disabled students are protected by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The law protects them from discrimination "under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance," including public school districts and institutions of higher education, according to the Department of Education. Section 504 is enforced by the Office of Civil Rights. Noncompliance could result in termination of financial assistance to the offending institution or judicial action.

In 2003, more than 680,000 individuals, from newborn to 21 years of age, received special education in California, according to the California Department of Education's 2005 Handbook of Education Information, Special Education section. "Special education" is defined as "specifically designed instruction, at no cost to the parent, to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability.

While elementary and high school students are required to provide "a free, appropriate public education" to qualified students with disabilities, post-secondary schools are only required to provide appropriate academic adjustments, aids or services to allow a student with a disability to participate in school programs.

Web sites

www.cde.ca.gov/sp/se/sr/documents/transitiongde.pdf

www.cde.ca.gov/sp/se/sr/wrkabltyI.asp

www.cde.ca.gov/ci/ct/sc/

www.calstat.org/transitionmessages.html

www.jan.wvu.edu/sbses ---- information about services and resources for self-employment and small business ownership

www.ncset.org ---- Career Guidance and Exploration

www.ed.gov ---- Services for Postsecondary Students with Disabilities

www.dol.gov/odep/ ---- Department of Labor, Office of Disability Employment Policy

We would like to acknowledge the organizations that maintain the above Web sites for the wealth of information they provided.

Contact staff writer Agnes Diggs at (760) 740-3511 or adiggs@nctimes.com.

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