advocacy Archives – Page 4 of 18

Least Dangerous Assumption

November 20, 2018 by Courtney

If you’re a teacher or parent of a child with an Intellectual or Developmental Disability (IDD) understanding Least Dangerous Assumption theory could be life-altering for yourself and your students and/or children. It’s not a new idea, but it’s still a theory that should be thought of often and practiced ALWAYS.

What is Least Dangerous Assumption?

More than 30 years ago, Special Educator Anne McDonnellan stated that in the “absence of conclusive data, educational decisions ought to be based on assumptions which, if incorrect, will have the least dangerous effect on the likelihood that students will be able to functional independently as adults.” She also argued that educators should assume a student’s “poor performance is due to instructional inadequacies rather than student deficiencies.”

Read Related Post: Creating a Circle of Support

Wow! Even today McDonnellan’s argument totally flips special education around. The problem is not the child, McDonnell argues. The problem is how we instruct that child, and the environmental inadequacies the child faces. The least dangerous assumption is to PRESUME COMPETENCE of all children. Assume they can learn. Assuming they cannot learn leads to segregated settings, missed educational interventions, and ultimately dependence in adulthood.

Read Related Post: Everything is Still Possible

We must always presume competence. Society’s ingrained discrimination of people with disabilities leads us down a very dangerous path. Low expectations and segregation become the norm with this world view. It’s so important that every person is given the opportunity to be included and try participating in typical activities. Too often the a child has to prove they can participate in general education or an inclusive activity outside of school. When we presume incompetence and fail to give the child the support they need to be successful we are the problem, not the child.

You can learn more about Least Dangerous Assumption here.

Why do you think society has yet to fully embrace the Least Dangerous Assumption? How do we change this world view? Comment below.

7 Research Studies You Can Use At Your Child’s Next IEP Meeting to Win the Fight for Inclusion

November 5, 2018 by Courtney

“Almost 30 years of research and experience has demonstrated that the education of children with disabilities can be made more effective by having high expectations for such children and ensuring their access to the general education curriculum in the regular classroom, to the maximum extent possible.”

Most parents of students with Down syndrome have heard a variation of the quote above, especially if you’ve tried fighting for inclusion. I assumed this statement was just hyperbole. I figured there was some truth in it, but that there was probably just as much research showing self-contained classes were more beneficial than inclusion. At least that’s what most school districts and even many parents would have you believe.

Imagine my surprise then, when I read the EXACT quote above in the introduction to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (read it for yourself right here). The actual law, supported by both Democrats and Republicans, states that a regular classroom with proper supports is best for ALL students with disabilities. I was a bit taken back, and wanted to know more about this research the law touted.

Read Related Post Here: 5 Tips for Including Students with Down Syndrome in a General Education Classroom

What I found was even more surprising. Did you know there’s not one quantitative research study, since research began on the topic, that shows an academic advantage for students with intellectual disabilities in separate settings? None! Zip! Nada! Here’s the research study citation to prove it: Falvey, Mary A. (Spring 2004) Toward realization of the least restrictive educational environments for severely handicapped students. Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities. 29 (1), 9-10.

Luckily, I’ve learned a lot more about the research that supports proper inclusion for students with even the most severe disabilities as part of the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates Special Education Training. It’s a year-long course I’m taking to prepare for my own son’s entry into public education, as well as to fulfill my goal to help other families advocate for inclusion for their child. The information below is credited to the amazing Selene Almazan, special education lawyer who specializes in the least restrictive environment.

So, without further ado, below are 7 quantitative research studies that show the benefits of including students with even the most severe disabilities in a general education classroom:

In the area of IEP quality, time of engagement, and individual supports:

1. In a 1992 quantitative study, Hunt and Farron-Davis found a significant increase in Individualized Education Plan (IEP) quality in measures of age appropriateness, functionality, and generalizations when students were moved from a self-contained classroom to a general education classroom. This was true even when the special educator stayed the same and moved with the child into the least restrictive environment. Experts interpret this to mean that there’s nothing going on within the four walls of a self-contained classroom that provides value and quality when stacked up against general education classroom settings.
  - Citation: Hunt, P., & Farron-Davis, F. (1992). A preliminary investigation of IEP quality and content associated with placement in general education versus special education. Journal of the Association for Persons with Severe Handicapps, 17 (4), 247-253.
2. Two years later, the same researchers looked at engagement of students with severe disabilities within general education. They found that there was an increase in the amount of instruction for functional activities for students with severe disabilities within general education compared to self-contained classrooms. Students in self-contained classrooms were less engaged and more isolated.
  - Citation: Hunt, P., Farron-Davis, F., Beckstead, S., Curtis, D., & Goetz, L. (1994). Evaluating the effects of placement of students with severe disabilities in general education versus special education. Journal of the Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps, 19 (3), 200-214.

3. Similar results were found in a study of a small group of students with severe disabilities. Some of the students were placed in general education and some were in a self-contained classroom. The study found the general education setting provided more instruction time, a comparable about of one-on-one time, addressed content curriculum more, and engaged in peer-modeling more.

Citation: Helmstetter, Curry, Brennan, & Sampson-Saul, (1998). Comparison of general and special education classrooms of students with severe disaitatebilities. Education and Training in Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, 33, 216-227.

Read Related Post Here: So you survived IEP season? 3 steps to get organized NOW for the next one

In the area of non-academic time and individualizing supports:

4. A 2000 quantitative study found 58% of time spent in a self-contained classroom was classified as “non-instructional,” compared to 35% of the time in a general education classroom. The students with severe disabilities in general education classroom were also 13 times more likely than their typical peers to receive direct instruction during whole-class time, and 23 times more likely to receive one-on-one support. This challenges the common argument that students with disabilities cannot receive individualized instruction in a general education setting.

Citation: McDonnell, J., Thorson, N., & McQuivey, C. (2000). Comparison of teh instructional contexts of students with severe disabilities and their peers in general education classes. Journal of the Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps, 25, 54-58.

In the area of student outcomes and impact on typical peers:

5. A 2001 study out of Indiana looked at academic progress for students with disabilities in general education and self-contained classrooms over two years. 47.1% of students with disabilities in general education made progress in math, compared to 34% in self-contained classes. Reading progress was comparable in both settings. Interestingly, the study found typical peers made higher gains in math when students with disability were present. Researchers hypothesized that extra help and supports in these classes created gains for all students.

Citation: Waldron, N., Cole, C., & Majd, M. (2001). The academic progress of students across inclusive and traditional settings: a two year study Indiana inclusion study. Bloomington, IN: Indiana Institute on Disability & Community

6. A study looking at the outcome of 11,000 students with all types of disabilities found that more time in a general education classroom correlated to less absences from school, fewer referrals for misbehavior, and more post-secondary education and employment options.

Citation: Wagner, M., Newman, L., Cameto, R., and Levine, P. (2006). The Academic Achievement and Functional Performance of Youth with Disabilities: A Report from the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 (NLTS2). (NCSER 2006-3000). Menlo Park, CA: SRI International

7. Many schools and parents make the argument that typical peers may be negatively impacted by the presence of students with disabilities. Especially those students with behavior problems. But a 1998 study out of Montana found that inclusion does NOT compromise a typical students academic or social outcome. The Indiana study above shows they actually make more progress because of inclusionary practices.

Citation: McGregor, G., & Vogelsberg, R.T. (1998). Inclusive schooling practices: Pedagogical and Research Foundations. A synthesis of the literature that informs best practices about inclusive schooling. University of Montana, Rural Institute on Disabilities.

So with all this proof, why are students with intellectual disabilities still only being included in general education 17% of their day on average? Tell me below why you think this is the reality for our loved ones. I’ll do a blog post giving my answer as well.

How to Vet College Programs for Students with Intellectual Disabilities

October 25, 2018 by Courtney

Vineet Narayan graduated from high school last spring and during his gap year he’s on the hunt for a college program that fits his needs. Searching for the right college program is daunting for most students, but Vineet’s mom, Nithya Narayan, says sending her son with Down syndrome to college adds a few extra concerns.

Although the college search process has been surprisingly typical in many ways, Narayan says “It did seem surreal to hear from schools and acknowledge the gap between having no access to curriculum and having to audit college classes, which seems incomprehensible. So I attended the State of the Art conference to see if he could really attend these programs without barriers. We want him to have the liberty to choose classes and make a career path, which is what the typical students do. As I was researching, some of these programs have definitive classes that they have to take which is not what we want.”

College programs for students with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) have increased by 73% in the last decade. Currently there’s around 260 programs across the nation. These programs range from fully inclusive community colleges or 4-year university settings with on-campus living, to segregated programs on college campuses. There is much to celebrate with this tremendous growth of post-secondary opportunities for students with IDD. But compared to the 7,000 college programs for typical college students across the nation we’re really still in the infancy of this movement.

Read Related Post: College Scholarships for Students with Down Syndrome

I’ve written recently about the good, the bad, and the ugly of these college programs. Although there is federal regulations for the few programs that receive federal funding (about 25 programs), the vast majority receive no federal or state oversight. It’s up to the college and increasingly parents to self-monitor the efficacy of these programs. So, how can parents and students ensure the program they choose lives up to their expectations?

“Parents and students don’t know what they want until they don’t get what they want. Students with Intellectual Disabilities don’t often go to college night like their typical peers. They go to transition fairs instead. There needs to be a whole mindset change starting in high school,” explains Think College Co-Director, Meg Grigal.

Think College is a great place to start your search. Parents and students can search for programs using an interactive map, and check out the organization’s new “How To Guide on Conducting a College Search.” Grigal says parents should share this with your child’s high school transition team to better prepare for that next step.

But don’t stop there! Jennifer Luebke and her 19-year-old son, Antonio, had to renew his college search after the program he was attending failed to keep promises of at least a 50% inclusive course load (As of February 2019, the matter has been resolved to the satisfaction of all parties). Antonio left the program after a year, and now Jennifer has many more questions for the next college Antonio attends. Even though your student may be looking for a different type of college experience, her questions could help guide your inquiry and get you thinking about what questions to ask.

Read Related Post: Bethel University Fails to Keep Promises of Inclusive Education for Students with Intellectual Disabilities

“We developed key questions that will hopefully reveal answers that go beyond the self-reported information on Think College and the college’s marketing materials,” explains Luebke. Parents from the Facebook Group “Families Think College” also chimed in with other questions that are added to Luebke’s questioning below:

“Academic Inclusion: What courses (if any) are inclusive? Provide a list of catalog courses that are available for students with IDD to take where the coursework is modified and where they receive in-class and out-of-class academic support. Do you have courses where typically-abled students are also present, but their role is different from a student with IDD (e.g. as a mentor, co-enrolled as a lab to help students with disabilities, etc.)?
Residential Inclusion: Do you have a policy that prevents a student with IDD from being roommates with a typically-abled student?
Social Inclusion: Tell us how students with IDD are intentionally and regularly included in campus social activities?
Job Training and Internships: How will you leverage his strengths to provide job training to him? What might a few conversation starters be to help him identify a good job fit? What internship opportunities do you have that might be a good fit for him considering his strengths? What percentage of students are employed after leaving the program?
Parental Involvement: Do you require a student with a disability to be their own guardian? How do you determine what level of communication is appropriate with parents and how do you calibrate it?
Metrics: What metrics do you track and how often do you track them to assess the effectiveness of your program and areas for improvement? With whom do you share your findings? How do you measure and assess each student’s learning and progress?
Membership & Belonging: Are students in your program considered enrolled students in the university? Do they have full alumni benefits when the complete the certificate program? Do you have a separately published student handbook and policies apart from the general student handbook (with some areas where additional support is provided where needed).
Philosophy of Inclusion: What is your program’s definition of inclusion or what is your program’s inclusion statement that guides the program?
Qualifications: What are the program director’s educational background, work experience, and specific qualifications to run this program? Are the professors who teach the courses that students with IDD take qualified university professors? What training have the professors received in universal design? What training do students on campus receive about ability diversity?
Please provide us a list of all students and alumni (and their parents and families) that we may contact to ask further questions about your program.”

Nithya Narayan says a “parent comments section” could provide invaluable real-life reviews of how a program actually operates. She says good programs are out there, if you know how to look. “When typical kids go away they shape their life by being an adult and making decisions on their own for their life, and we are very glad that opportunity is available for Vineet.”

How’s your child’s college search going? What is your child looking for in a program and have they found it? What questions have you asked? Share in the comments below.

From Awareness to Advocacy at the Buddy Walk

October 2, 2018 by Courtney

Our local self-advocates proved how important advocacy is at our 15th Annual Miami Valley Down Syndrome Association (MVDSA) Buddy Walk.

Nothing About Us, Without Us!

Often good-intentioned parents and loved ones create fundraising events like the Buddy Walk to spread awareness about Down syndrome, but don’t include actual people with Down syndrome in leadership or advocacy roles. This mind set has got to change

Down Syndrome Affiliates in Actions gave me the idea of having our local self-advocates lead the Buddy Walk with a advocacy table. This idea started six months ago with a Self-Advocate Communications Workshop that you can read about here and here. At the workshop, teens and adults with Down syndrome learned the skills they need to become self-advocates and lead our Buddy Walk.

Have any questions about our Self-Advocate Table or want to start your own? Comment below and I’ll be in touch.

3 Words That Will Transform Your Next IEP Meeting

September 12, 2018 by Courtney

I’ve been to numerous Individualized Education Plan (IEP) meetings as a parent, and at the end of each one the school counselor hands me a little booklet. Inside are parents’ procedural safeguards under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Do you think I ever read that tiny book?

My son is JUST in preschool, I explained to myself. I’m a former educator with a Master’s Degree (like it mattered). I don’t need to read that book. I’ll look up specific questions if I have them, as I tossed it into the trash. It wasn’t until I started a year-long Special Education Advocacy Training through the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates that I realized the importance of the booklet and 3 words found inside.

Read Related Post Here: 7 Research Studies You Can Use At Your Child’s Next IEP Meeting to Win the Fight for Inclusion

I learned that we parents can actually wield a lot of power at the IEP table. It often doesn’t feel like it. Most of the time it feels like the story of David and Goliath; me being the former and the cadre of school officials being the latter. But when things get hot, often parents only need to use 3 words: PRIOR WRITTEN NOTICE.

Parents often think they can shutdown an IEP meeting by refusing to sign the actual IEP. In most states, failure to sign means nothing. In the worst case scenario, an IEP immediately takes effect if you DON’T sign. Your signature doesn’t hold as much weight as you might think. And you can ALWAY revoke your signature… it’s not a permanent thing.

Instead, try using the phrase “prior written notice,” if you disagree with a specific aspect of the IEP process. Prior Written Notice (PWN) means that when a school district adds, changes, or denies educational services to your child, they must explain to the parent in WRITING why the services are being added, changed, or denied. Now, that’s permanent. If the school district is denying your services, they most likely will NOT provide you prior written notice voluntarily – YOU WILL HAVE TO ASK THEM TO DO IT! If you request something be added to your child’s IEP, likely you’ll need to make that request in writing and ask for written acceptance or denial of the request in the PWN.

Read Related Post Here: 3 Steps to Get Organized For Your Next IEP Meeting

This came in handy when my own son wasn’t even working on a functional communication goal we had set six months prior. I asked at Parent-Teacher Conference why the goal had yet to be addressed. The speech pathologist and teacher said they still had time. I argued in person and then via email for more speech time in the classroom to work on the skill. They politely pushed back. Then I called a meeting and used those 3 magic words, along with presenting research to make my case for more time.

Suddenly the IEP team took the matter more seriously. We walked out of the IEP meeting that day with more than double the speech time in the classroom. I was actually shocked by the lack of pushback after just threatening the use of “prior written notice” and presenting research. I was creating a paper trail of possible denial of services, and the school didn’t want that.

I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to know your rights under IDEA. Next time your at your child’s IEP meeting and they ask you if you’d like a copy of your procedural safeguards, say “Yes! I like to reread it often.” The tone of your meeting might just change right then and there.

Have you ever read the procedural safeguards booklet? Are there any times you have requested “prior written notice,” or now wish you had? Tell me about your journey below.