Creating Successful Outcomes for Students with Learning DisabilitiesPreparing Youth for Successful Transition to Employment:

Fostering Independence, Self-Reliance, and Self-Advocacy Skills

Job Corps National Health and Wellness Conference

2

• Introductions• Setting the Stage–LD, Outcomes, and Success• Strategic Learning• Individual Development Strategies• Disclosure and Accommodations

Workshop Agenda

3

• Patricia D. Gill Institute for Educational Leadership National Collaborative on Workforce and

Disability for Youth

• Debbie Jones Humanitas

Who Are We?

4

• Organization: Job Corps, Any Others?

• Title

• City, State

• Expectations (Activity)

Whoooo Are You? Who Who Are You?

5

Statistics & Characteristics

Learning Disabilities

6

• An estimated 25% to 35% of students with LD get assistive technology to support their instruction and learning.

• 69% of students with LD had a transition goal of obtaining employment after high school; 46% had regular paid employment after leaving high school.

• 54% of students with LD had a stated goal of attending a 2 or 4 year college. Among parents of students with LD the expectation was 14% would attend 2 year college and 10% would attend 4 year college.

National Center for Learning Disabilities 2011

LD Statistics

7

• A learning disability is a neurological disorder.

• There is a difference in the way individuals with LD brains are “wired.”

• They may be as smart or smarter than their peers.

• They may have difficulty reading, writing, spelling, reasoning, recalling and/or organizing information if left to figure things out by themselves or if taught in conventional ways.

• Processing all kinds of information is the key!

Learning Disabilities

8

• Can't be cured

• Impact individuals differently in different environments (classrooms vs. work places)

• Need supports and accommodations that are customized to the individual and the setting

Learning Disabilities…In School & Workplace

9

• Internally, a disability is about an individual’s sensory, cognitive, emotional, or physical impairment.

• Environmentally, a disability is society’s decision that a skill is deficient because of the length of time it take to complete a task.

• How does this relate to success?

A Few Words About Disability, Time & Success

10

• Disorganization and sensory difficulties

• Difficulty reading social cues

• Short attention span

• Poor memory

• Difficulty following directions

• Inability to discriminate letters, numerals, sounds

• Poor reading and/or writing ability

• Eye-hand coordination problems

• Difficulties with sequencing

Signs of a Possible Learning Disability: Career Technical Implications

11

Preparing students with learning disabilities for the workplace

Employment Considerations

12

• Responding to employer needs is the essence of all employment—no matter how knowledgeable, skilled, or able an individual may be.

• The dilemma for anyone with a disability is that employers usually cannot see how their needs will be met if they hire an individual with a disability.

• The key is to be prepared to show an employer how his or her needs will be met.

Responding to Employer Needs

13

• People with learning disabilities achieve success by accentuating their strengths, knowing their weaknesses, and learning strategies for dealing with specific difficulties.

• We focus supports in three areas:

1. Strategic Workplace Learning

2. Individual Development Strategies

3. Disclosure and Accommodations

Success with Learning Disabilities

14

• The process of incorporating specific tools and techniques to understand and learn new material or skills, to integrate new information with what is already known in a way that makes sense, and to recall the information or skill later, even in a different situation or place

• Design Elements:

1. Assessments (Tool 3.1 & List of Formal Assessments)

2. Universal Design

3. Strategy Instruction (How to Learn)

4. Compensatory Techniques (Strengths-based)

Strategic Learning for the Workplace

15

• An approach to designing course instruction, materials, and content to benefit people of all learning styles without adaptation. Multiple means of representation, to give learners

various ways of acquiring information and knowledge.

Multiple means of expression, to provide learners alternatives for demonstrating what they know.

Multiple means of engagement, to tap into learners' interests, offer appropriate challenges, and increase motivation.

Universal Design for Learning –3 Principles (Group Activity)

16

• Class Climate – Value Diversity & Inclusiveness

• Interaction – Cooperative Learning

• Physical Environments & Products – Accessible & Usable

• Delivery Methods – Multiple, Flexible, Cognitive Supports

• Information Resources & Technology – Accessible Formats

Tool 3.1 - Points to Consider for Inclusive Teaching Using Universal Design

17

• Feedback – Specific & Regular

• Assessment – Clear Expectations & Multiple Demonstrations

• Accommodation – How to Arrange (Cost?)

Tool 3.1 - Points to Consider for Inclusive Teaching Using Universal Design

18

Developing independence in youth with learning disabilities

Strategies

19

• Guide youth to be active and independent by asking such questions as So, how would you do that?

How would you find that information?

How would you remember that information?

How did you figure that out?

So, what should we do first?

Strategies—Environment that Promotes Learner/Worker Independence

20

• Involves teaching the young person about learning strategies, and about how and when to use particular strategies.

• Includes increasing the young person’s ability to engage in self-regulated planning, monitoring, and evaluating of their own learning.

Strategy Instruction

We believe that the most effective way to facilitate learning for all learners is by combining direct instruction (lecture, discussion, book learning)

with strategy instruction.

21

• Brittany understands math concepts and can explain them. However, when she completes problems for a homework (or especially on a test) she gets nervous, mixes up her numbers, and often doesn't answer the entire problem: You know it, (I KNOW how to do these problems!)

So show it, (I need to carefully write and show all steps.)

Don't wreck it, (Don't lose credit for careless work.)

So check it!! (Did you answer the ENTIRE question?)

• Your Turn: Tool 3.2 - Types of Learning Strategies and Supports: Cognitive and Metacognitive

Metacognitive: Example of a Self-Monitoring Strategy

22

• Strategies or tools that capitalize on youths' strengths

• Can use these to “self-accommodate”

• Key: knowledge of own strengths and weaknesses (self-awareness)

• Example: Youth has trouble moving to new tasks but can follow a strict time schedule....

• Your turn: Possible Compensatory Strategies for Youth with Learning Disabilities (Tool 3.4)

Compensatory Techniques:Building on Strengths

23

• Individual development strategies focus on processes, techniques, and practices that build skills in aspects of identity a sense of safety and structure

high self-worth and self esteem

feeling of mastery and future

belonging and membership

perception of responsibility and autonomy

a sense of self-awareness and spirituality

Individual Development Strategies

24

Disclosure

25

Internal Decisions

• Desire (taking a stand and making a decision to move ahead)

• Goal orientation (setting explicit goals to work toward)

• Reframing (reinterpreting the learning disability experience from something negative to something positive)

Taking Control of One’s Life

26

External Manifestations (or how the person adapts)

• Persistence (willingness to sacrifice and persevere toward goals)

• Goodness of fit (finding environments where their strengths are optimized and weaknesses minimized)

• Learned creativity (creating strategies and techniques to enhance the ability to perform well)

• Social ecologies (seeking and utilizing the support of helpful people)

Taking Control of One’s Life

27

• Disclosure—the process of discussing one's disability with others for the specific purpose of garnering understanding in school, work, and social settings

• Accommodations—physical, environmental, or procedural changes made in a classroom, work site, or assessment activity that help people with disabilities learn, work, or receive services (doesn't lower expectations for performance)

• 71% are <$500, 20% are no cost (Job Accommodation Network 2011)

Disclosure & Accommodations

28

• Factors to weigh before disclosure

1

2

3

• Differences between school and work settings

1

2

3

Strategies–Disclosure

29

• Factors to weigh before disclosure

1. Setting (School, Work, Social)

2. Relevance (Why?)

3. How (When, To Whom?)

• Differences between school and work settings

1. Entitlement vs. Eligibility

2. Legislation (IDEA vs. ADA/WIA Rehab Act Sec. 504)

3. Types of Accommodations

• 411 Guide on Disclosure

http://www.ncwd-youth.info/411-on-disability-disclosure

Strategies–Disclosure

30

• What exactly is your disability?

• How will your learning disability impact your productivity?

• What does learning disability or dyslexia mean?

• If we need to train you on specific job functions, how do you learn best?

• What kinds of modifications do you need in your work environment?

Once a disability is disclosed, an individual with a disability should be able to answer these questions:

31

• What are some of your past successes in team work?

• How can you best be efficient on the job?

• What are some of your past successes in leading others?

• What reasonable accommodations do you need?

• Why and how do you see them as ‘reasonable’?

Once a disability is disclosed, an individual with a disability should be able to answer these questions:

32

Let’s Practice!

33

• Student has a learning disability that inhibits her ability to read print.

• Her reading level is approximately 3rd grade and reading is very laborious also causing difficulties with retention of information read.

• Student’s ability to process and comprehend information provided orally ranges in the 8th grade range.

Scenario

34

What accommodations might you consider for this student?

35

Would the accommodations you suggest allow the student

to function independently?

36

• How do you decide which accommodations a student might need? Student requests them.

IEP lists them as an accommodation.

Supporting documentation indicates functional limitations that may indicate need for an accommodation.- Fine motor difficulties

- Processing difficulties

Accommodation Considerations

37

Resources

38

• Any item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether acquired commercially, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve functional capabilities

• State Contacts http://resnaprojects.org/nattap/scripts/nattapcontacts.pl

• Alliance for Technology Access www.ataaccess.org

• Learning Disabilities and Assistive Technology Guide http://www.gatfl.org/LearningDisabilitiesGuide.aspx

Assistive Technology

39

• Chuck Close, Artist

• Tommy Hilfiger, Clothes Designer

• Whoopi Goldberg, Actress

• Greg Louganis, Diver and AIDS advocate

• John Morgan, PGA Champion

• John Chambers, CEO of Cisco Systems

• Charles Schwab, Founder and Chair of brokerage company

• Erin Brockovich, Environmental Activist

• Gavin Newsom, Mayor

• Delos Cosgrove, MD, CEO Cleveland Clinic

• John Irving, Author

“Successful” People with LD

40

National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for Youth: www.ncwd-youth.info

41

Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy: www.dol.gov/odep

42

National Center on Secondary Education and Transition: http://ncset.org

43

Job Accommodation Network: www.askjan.org

44

JC Disability Website

45

Patricia D. Gill

202.822.8405 x154

gillp@iel.org

Debbie M. Jones

804.598.2118

debbiemjones@comcast.net

Contact Us

46

• Boston Region – Lisa Kosh lisa.kosh@humanitas.com

• Atlanta and Philadelphia Regions – Nikki Jackson nikki.jackson@humanitas.com

• Dallas Region – Laura Kuhn laura.kuhn@humanitas.com

• Chicago and San Francisco Regions – Kim Jones kim.jones@humanitas.com

Regional Disability Coordinators

Questions and Answers

47