CHAPTER 16
The Professional School
Counselor and Students with
Disabilities
Improving Outcomes for Students with
Disabilities
• Since the passage of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act in 1975,
education has made great national progress in serving students with
disabilities
• However, these students still face barriers to successful school and postsecondary outcomes
Improving Outcomes for Students
with Disabilities
• The most common disabilities affecting more than 90% of students receiving special
education are:
•
•
•
•
•
Learning disabilities
Emotional/behavioral disorders
Mild intellectual disability
Language disorders
Other health impairments including AD/HD.
• Students with disabilities struggle with academic achievement, and frequently receive
inadequate education services.
• Dropout rates range from 15% of students with visual impairments to 56% of students with
emotional/behavioral disorders.
Improving Outcomes for Students with
Disabilities
(cont.)
•
When these students become adults, they have lower rates of post-secondary educational
involvement and higher rates of unemployment and underemployment.
• Despite a long history of poor outcomes in the academic arena, students with disabilities
are capable of positive school and adult outcomes.
• In the 2004 reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act
(IDEA), Congress emphasized the importance of education results for children with
disabilities, and their right to participate in and contribute to society.
• Through IDEA and the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), Congress mandated the delivery
of special education to students with disabilities.
Serving Students with Disabilities
• Students with disabilities are capable of becoming, and expected to become, contributing
members of society.
• To achieve these ends, Congress mandated the delivery of special education and related services
in the IDEA.
• The professional school counselor has many roles and potential responsibilities as a member of
the multidisciplinary team responsible for developing and implementing special education
programs and services.
• ASCA asserts that school counselors need to take an active role in student achievement and
advocate for student needs.
• Owens,
Thomas, and Strongwith
(2011) madeDisabilities
suggestions for how professional
Serving
Students
(cont.)
school counselors can support students with disabilities
•
•
•
•
•
•
Provide classroom guidance
Consult and collaborate with staff and parents
Advocate for students
Contribute to the school’s multidisciplinary team
Collaborate with related student support professionals
Provide assistance with developing academic and transition plans
• EducationFederal
Laws
Legislation
• Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA)
• Provides federal funding and requires states to guarantee a free,
appropriate, public education to students who need special education
and related services because of an eligible disability.
• Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)
• No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB)
• Civil Rights Laws
Federal Legislation (cont.)
• Section 504 of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504)
• Provides no federal funding, but does mandate programs receiving
federal funding under other laws may not exclude an individual with a
disability from participating in the program.
• Also requires individuals with disabilities be provided reasonable
accommodations to allow them access to these programs.
• Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA)
• Extends protection from discrimination because of disabilities to all
public and private schools (religious schools excluded).
Major Differences between IDEA and Section
•
IDEA
504 • Section 504
• Focus: educational remediation
• Focus: prevention of discrimination
• Attempts to address gaps in skills or
• Attempts to level the playing field for
abilities by assuring appropriate
services
• Eligibility limited to specific list of
disabilities
students with disabilities in order for
them to achieve at their ability level
• Eligibility not limited to specific list of
disabilities
• Provides
students
“special
education,”
Individualsthat
witheligible
Disabilities
Educationreceive
Improvement
Act (IDEA)
which is defined as “specially designed instruction, at no cost
to parents, to meet the unique needs of a child with a
disability, including instruction conducted in the classroom, in
the home, in hospitals, and institutions, and in other
settings…” (IDEA, 2004).
• Requires documentation that nearly all disabilities affect
educational performance.
• Autism
• Orthopedic
impairmentIDEA
Handicapping
Conditions
under
• Deaf-blindness
• Deafness
• Developmental delay
• Emotional disturbance
• Hearing impairment
• Intellectual disability
• Multiple disabilities
•
•
•
•
•
Other health impairment
Specific learning disability
Speech or language impairment
Traumatic brain injury
Visual impairment including blindness
IDEA (cont.)
• When a student is determined eligible for services under IDEA, the school system is required to
provide Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE).
• The law uses the word “appropriate,” not “best,” therefore IDEA does not require optimal
programming, only appropriate programming that enables a child to make reasonable educational
progress.
• The requirement under law for school systems is to educate students, not rehabilitate them.
Special Education Process
Identification

Request for evaluation
Screening

Multidisciplinary team reviews records
Notification and Consent

Written consent from parent for all areas to be assessed
Assessment

Tests administered in non-discriminatory manner
Eligibility Determination

Determined by multidisciplinary team
IEP Development

Team creates individualized program to address academic and related issues
Implementation

Team determines LRE and services are initiated
Section 504 and the Americans with Disabilities
• A student is eligible under SectionAct
504 if he has a physical or mental impairment that
substantially limits one or more major life activities.
• All students found eligible for services under IDEA are qualified under Section 504
because they have a substantial impairment of a major life function – learning.
• A student is also qualified under Section 504 if he/she has a record of having such an
impairment, or is regarded as having such an impairment.
• Eligibility under Section 504 is not limited to a specific list of disabilities.
Section 504 (cont.)
• Schools receiving federal funding are required to comply with Section 504.
• Although there is a clear overlap with the term “special education” in both IDEA
and Section 504, in practice students who require only accommodations and
support are served under Section 504.
• Section 504 is a civil rights statute that addresses discrimination in access to
programs and services, not remediation of learning.
•
504
Plan
Services
Provided
Counseling services
• Special interest groups/clubs
• Physical recreational athletics
• Referrals to other agencies
• Transportation
• Employment of students
• Health services
• Recreational activities
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
• Defines access to and
confidentiality of student educational
(FERPA)
records.
• Parents have the right to control access to academic records
until the student is 18 years of age, at which time the rights
are transferred to the student.
• It is important that records are in a safe, locked location and
that only approved individuals have a key.
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
• Three issues of particular importance
to professional school counselors regarding
(FERPA)
FERPA:
• Parents have a right to inspect and review all educational records, and to decide if
the school may share the report in the future.
• Any personal confidential notes a school counselor may have must not be shared
with anyone at any time, or it will be deemed an education record and be placed in
the student’s record.
• The parent has the right to challenge what is in the school records and to have
anything that can be proven to be inaccurate or misleading removed.
IDEA defines related services as “transportation, and such developmental,
Related Services
Students
with Disabilities
IDEA
Sectionto504
corrective,
and for
other
supportive
servicesunder
as may
be and
required
assist a
child with a disability to benefit from special education.”
• Services include:
• audiology
• counseling
• early identification and assessment
• interpreting services
• medical services
• occupational therapy
• orientation and mobility services
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
parent counseling and training
physical therapy
psychological services
recreation
rehabilitation counseling
school nurse services
social work services
speech language services and
transportation
Related
Services
counselors for students with disabilities:
• The following three service areas are often performed by professional school
• Counseling services: focus on needs, interests, and issues related to various
stages of student growth.
• Parent counseling and training: can help parents enhance the vital role
they play in the lives of their children.
• Rehabilitation counseling services: generally includes assessment of
student’s attitudes, abilities, and needs; vocational training; and identifying
job placements.
•
Transition
Services under IDEA 2004
According to IDEA, “transition services” means a coordinated set of activities for a child
with a disability that:
• is designed to be within a results-oriented process,
• is based on the individual child’s needs, and
• includes instruction, related services, and community experiences.
• Beginning with the first IEP when the child is 16 years old, and updated annually thereafter,
each student’s IEP must include:
• measurable postsecondary goals,
• the transition services needed to achieve those goals, and
• a statement that the child has been informed of his/her rights under state law, once
the student reaches the age of majority.
Support Services for Children with Disabilities which May Involve the Professional School
Counselor
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Advocacy
Assessment
Career counseling
Clinical case management
Clinical support
Collaboration
Crisis intervention
Decision making
Discipline and manifestation determination
Dropout prevention
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Direct services
Individualized Education Programming (IEP)
IEP team membership
Parent counseling and training
Positive behavioral support
Referral
Safekeeping confidential records
Self-determination training
Transition program planning
Providing Services to Support Students with
•
Disabilities
Responsibilities of a professional school counselor can
be divided into the following four categories:
• Development and implementation of a
response to intervention (RTI) process
• Collaboration on the multidisciplinary team
• Providing direct services to students
• Supporting students indirectly by providing
case management, consultation to teachers,
and training parents
Developing and Using Response to
Intervention (RTI)
RTI is a multi-tier approach to help students in both general and special education who are
struggling academically and behaviorally through early identification and support.
Learners experiencing academic and behavioral problems receive interventions at increasing
levels of intensity to address problems and return their learning trajectory to normal levels.
Early interventions are provided by school personnel from various disciplines
Developing
and
Using
RTI
(cont.)
•
• Professional school counselors assist in the RTI process by:
Providing all students with a standards-based guidance curriculum.
• Analyzing academic and behavioral data to identify struggling students.
• Identifying and collaborating on research-based intervention strategies that are
implemented by school staff.
•
•
•
•
•
Evaluating academic and behavioral progress after interventions.
Revising interventions as appropriate.
Referring to school and community services as appropriate.
Collaborating with administrators about RTI design and implementation.
Advocating for equitable education for all students and working to remove systemic
barriers.
Positive
Behavioral
Support
Supports” under IDEA:
• Three primary occasions that require the provision of “Positive Behavioral
• The development of school wide systems of support
• Professional school counselors serve on the school improvement team
• Helps provide staff development activities
• Provides assistance for student well-being
• Positive behavioral support to individual students
• Professional school counselors collect information for Functional
Behavioral Assessment
• Positive behavioral support after a serious behavior
• Professional school counselors aid in development of the Behavior
Improvement Plan
Positive Behavior Support
• School-wide systems of PBS
• Prevention and increasingly intensive tiers for student behavior is often called Positive
Behavior Support (PBS) or Positive Behavior Intervention Strategies (PBIS)
• These comprehensive behavior management systems are very effective, decreasing
office referrals by 50% for problematic behaviors
Positive
Behavior
Support
wide systems:
• The U.S. Dept. of Ed. (2005) offers seven major components to effective school
• An agreed-on and common approach to discipline,
• A positive statement of purpose,
• A small number of positively stated expectations for all students and staff,
• Procedures for teaching these expectations to students,
• A continuum of procedures for encouraging displays and maintenance of these
expectations,
• continuum of procedures for discouraging displays of rule-violating behavior, and
• Procedures for monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of the discipline system on
a regular and frequent basis.
Multidisciplinary Team Responsibilities
• Assessing Students with Disabilities:
•
Functions of the Professional School Counselor:
• Carry out and/or interpret functional behavioral assessments.
• Interpret educational skill assessments.
• Carry out and/or interpret curriculum-based assessments.
• Explain psychological testing.
• Carry out and/or interpret counseling assessments.
• Carry out structured observations of the student.
• Carry out a student records review.
• Help stress the need for assessing student strengths.
• Assess peer attitudes toward students with disabilities.
• Collaborate with others using portfolio-, performance-, and curriculum-based
assessments.
• Information obtained during the FBA process is used to develop strategies to:
• prevent
occurrence
of the behavior,
and (FBA) Process
Thethe
Functional
Behavioral
Assessment
• substitute more appropriate behaviors when similar conditions arise.
• The steps in the FBA process include:
• Identifying and describing the problematic behavior.
• Identifying the conditions and settings when the behavior does and does not occur.
• Generating a hypothesis regarding the “function” of the behavior to the child.
• Testing the hypothesized function of the behavior by manipulating the
environmental antecedents and consequences.
Assessing Students with
Disabilities
• Professional school counselors may assess students with disabilities along a wide range of
areas:
• Observable behavior
• The Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), part of the Achenbach System of EmpiricallyBased Assessment (ASEBA) by Achenbach and Rescorla (2001) assesses nine
observable behavior areas.
• Social, emotional, and behavioral functioning
• Many other instruments are available to measure these specific areas.
• Most of the survey instruments used by counselors to describe how a student
perceives the situation (rather than evaluating or diagnosing) only require training
on the instrument.
• Measuring the attitudes of students without disabilities toward students with disabilities to
find out how much cooperative and beneficial interaction affects students with disabilities is
also helpful to professional school counselors in order to develop a positive attitude toward
these students.
Assessing
Students
• Behavioral
Assessment with Disabilities (cont.)
• Due to changes in IDEA in 1997, when a disciplinary action results
in extended periods of removal from school (e.g., suspension), the
IEP team must meet within 10 days to:
• Formulate a functional behavioral assessment plan for developing an
intervention plan, or
• Review and revise a behavior intervention plan, if one already exists.
• Used toThe
provide
information
educators
and parents to
Behavior
ImprovementtoPlan
(BIP) Process
address the student’s target behavior.
• Steps include:
• Identifying ways to prevent or minimize the occurrence of the
behavior.
• Provide appropriate methods to change the behavior.
• Assist the student in building more appropriate behaviors to meet
the same function as the inappropriate behaviors.
Implementing the FBA and BIP Processes
•
•
Effectively
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Identify the case manager responsible for
overall management.
Specify the interventions used to achieve the
goals.
Describe expected outcomes and goals for
the plan.
Specify person/people responsible for
specific interventions.
Identify the problem.
Conduct the FBA.
Identify expected outcomes/goals.
Develop interventions.
Identify barriers to plan implementation.
• Specify a review date.
• Implement BIP.
• Collect follow-up data on the effects of the
BIP.
• Review data and modify the plan as
necessary.
•
(Sugai et al., 2000)
Positive Behavioral Support to Individual
• When a student’s behavior interferes with learning, the IEP team must consider the
need for a targeted intervention
comprised of strategies and support systems to
Students
address disruptive or problematic behavior in children with disabilities.
• In order to address the specific target behavior, this involves:
• the completion of the functional behavioral assessment (FBA), and
• the development of a behavior improvement plan (BIP).
• The FBA/BIP process has also been used to successfully reduce disruptive classroom
behaviors in students with mild disabilities.
Positive Behavioral Support after a Serious
• According to IDEA, FBAs
and BIPs are required in connection with disciplinary
Behavior
removals for drugs and weapons offenses, for offenses involving serious bodily
injury, or for any combination of school removals totaling 10 days.
• The IEP team must meet within 10 days to conduct the FBA and formulate a BIP.
If a behavior plan already exists, the team must review and revise.
• This process follows the same series of steps, but is less preventive in nature.
•
Collaboration
and Group Decision Making
The professional school counselor must be a supportive member of a group decisionmaking process whose goal is to enable a student with a disability to learn.
• A primary task of the professional school counselor is to help the multidisciplinary team
understand the whole student, especially the individual assets of the student that are
sometimes not readily apparent in paper reviews.
• Professional school counselors should consider whether peer tutoring or some other
available services would address the student’s needs without labeling the student with a
disability. However, no student may be refused the opportunity to receive special education
under IDEA when qualified.
• Manifestation hearings are multidisciplinary team meetings convened because a student has
Manifestation Meetings
been excluded from school for disciplinary reasons for 10 or more days during one school
year.
• The meeting must occur within 10 days of the student’s removal from school.
• The purpose is to determine whether the student’s behavior was caused by, or had a direct and
substantial relationship to, the student’s disability.
• If it is decided the behavior was caused by the student’s disability, the student is reinstated
with all information related to the disciplinary issue removed from the discipline record and
cumulative file.
Manifestation Meetings (cont.)
• If it is determined the student’s disability did not cause the behavior, the
student may be suspended or expelled unless the team finds one of two
situations occurred:
• the student’s IEP was not implemented
OR
• the team determines that the IEP did not provide the student with a FAPE.
Manifestation Meetings (cont.)
• Rules of Continued Education:
• Under IDEA, if a student with a disability is removed from school for more
than 10 days, the student must continue to receive programs and services
that will allow her to progress toward meeting the goals on the IEP.
• Under Section 504, if the problem behavior is not a result of the student’s
handicapping condition, then the student may be excluded, and there is no
requirement for additional educational services.
Manifestation
Meetings
(cont.)
school for 45 school days if:
• A student’s behavior may relate to a disability and still result in removal from
• the student is involved in a drug offense,
• the student is involved in a weapon’s offense, or
• the student’s behavior inflicted serious bodily injury.
• During these meetings, the professional school counselor is responsible for
helping the team better understand the nature of the student’s emotionally or
behaviorally based disability.
• When considering individual counseling for a student, the professional school counselor should work
with
the family and
staff for
to construct
a list of
social, emotional,
or behavioral
issues and concerns
Determining
Need
Counseling
Services
for Students
with Disabilities
affecting the student’s educational performance.
• A review and prioritization of this data can help the team to:
•
•
•
•
Clarify the problem
Identify ways to involve parents and other staff
Recognize the need for implementation in multiple settings
Reveal the extent of the needs and the impact on types and amounts of services
needed
• It is important for the professional school counselor to help the team remain focused on the purpose
of school counseling for children with disabilities—to enable the student to learn.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
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•
Anger management
TypicalStress/anxiety
Areas management
Addressed by Counseling Goals
Respecting authority
Following school rules
Self determination/life planning
Career awareness/vocational development
Coping skills
Frustration tolerance
Interpersonal skills
Family issues regarding post-school outcomes
Self esteem
Counselor Concerns about Providing IEP
• The IEP team, not any oneServices
individual, determines what services the student is to
receive.
• In certain cases, professional school counselors may disagree with some
components of the IEP, however they must follow the IEP as written until it is
changed.
• Under the 2004 provisions of IDEA, nonsubstantive changes can be made to the
IEP without another meeting.
• It is important for professional school counselors to limit their role and assure
they do not perform activities outside of their area of qualifications.
IEP Development:
•
Writing Counseling IEP Goals
• Goals are intended to establish what the IEP
team, along with the parent and child, think
the student should accomplish in a year.
• IDEA requires goals to address all areas of
identified needs in academic and functional
skill areas which may include:
•
•
•
•
•
Adaptive skills
Classroom behavior
Social/interpersonal skills
Self-determination
Vocational skills
IDEA specifically requires the IEP team to
consider:
• The strengths of the child
• The concerns of the parents for enhancing
the education of their child
• The results of the initial evaluation or most
recent evaluation of the child
• The academic, developmental, and
functional needs of the child
• Goals focus on the student’s expected
achievement in one year’s time and are generally
written in broad, measurable terms
IEP Development:
Writing Counseling IEP Goals (cont.)
• Direction of change desired
• Each annual goal should include five components:
• Deficit or excess
• Present level
• Expected level
• Resources needed
• The direction change is either:
• increase (e.g., social skills, impulse control)
• decrease (e.g., hitting, temper tantrums, days absent)
• maintain (e.g., attention span, attendance)
Evaluation Procedures
• IEPs must include evaluation procedures and schedule for determining, at least on an annual
basis, whether the goals and objectives are being achieved.
• The evaluation procedure selected must be appropriate for the behavior or skill in question.
• Some evaluation procedures that might be used for different objectives include:
• Direct observation
• Formal or informal assessments
• Permanent products
• The frequency of data collection should be determined by:
• The importance of the objective in question.
• The amount of additional staff time that it takes.
Specifying IEP Services
• IDEA requires that the IEP include a statement of the special education, related services
and supplementary aids and services to be provided to or on behalf of the child.
• The IEP must describe:
• the student’s participation in regular education programs;
• a list of the projected dates for the initiation of service; and
• the anticipated duration of the services.
• At the IEP meeting, the team will determine:
• The frequency and intensity of counseling sessions.
• Whether the services will be provided individually or in group sessions.
• Whether the service is delivered directly or via consultation with another staff
member or parent.
• IDEA requires the IEP team
to create a transition plan for a student with a disability by the time
Individualized
Transition
Program Planning
the student is 16 years old; Section 504 has no transition requirements.
• Students, as well as representatives of other programs involved, must be invited to the IEP
meeting when transition plans are discussed.
• The transition plan is intended to address all areas of the student’s post high school life,
including:
•
•
•
•
•
Education
Career
Independent living
Recreation
Community involvement
Individualized Transition Program Planning
•
(cont.)
•
Professional school counselors can help the team by:
Assessing student career interests
• Developing appropriate transition goals
• Providing resources and connections to adult services as needed
• Helping the student with personal adjustment, self-concept development, self-determining
training, career exploration, and job coaching
• Since a transition plan focuses on the individual’s present needs and preferences, assessment is
required (many times provided by the counselor), such as:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Interest inventories
Interviews of the student and parents
Review of work history and work habits
Review of progress towards graduation and postsecondary acceptance
Self-determination assessment
Other information specific to the student as needed
Individualized Transition Program Planning
• Transition program planning
is developed after information collected on the
(cont.)
student’s and family’s hopes and expectations for the future are synthesized
with assessment results.
• Transition planning includes goals related to:
• Personal development
• Independence
• Self-determination
• Social skill development
• Other needs for adult independent functioning
Secondary Transition Programming
IDEA requires transition programming to support the needs of the
students and enable them to meet their specific goals.
The following is a list of recommended practices intended to be integrated
into secondary programs serving students with disabilities.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Vocational training
Parent involvement
Interagency collaboration
Social skills training
Paid work experience
Follow-up employment services
Integrated settings
•
•
•
•
•
•
Community-based instruction
Vocational assessment
Community-referenced curriculum
Career education curricula and experience
Employability skills training
Academic skills training
Secondary
Transition
Programming
(cont.)
secondary school
counselors can incorporate
into any school program:
• Hughes et al. (1997) identified some socially validated transition support strategies that
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Identify and provide social support
Identify environmental support and provide environmental changes
Promote acceptance
Observe the student’s opportunities for choice
Provide choice-making opportunities
Identify the student’s strengths and areas needing support
Teach self-management
Provide opportunities to learn and practice social skills
National Alliance for Secondary
Education and Transition (NASET)
• NASET is an excellent resource for schools and professionals serving secondary students with
disabilities.
• NASET is a voluntary coalition of 30 national organizations representing general education, special
education, career and technical education, youth development, postsecondary education, workforce
development, and families.
• It was formed specifically to promote high quality and effective secondary education and transition
services.
National Alliance for Secondary Education and
• In its Standards for Secondary
Education and Transition,
NASET has identified benchmarks
Transition
(cont.)
that reflect quality secondary education and transition services for all students in five
areas of adult living:
•
•
•
•
•
Schooling
Career preparatory experiences
Youth development and youth leadership
Family involvement
Connecting activities and service coordination
• www.naset.org/teleconferences/doc/TransitionToolkit.pdf
• Recent data:
• Students with disabilities have significantly increased the number of academic
High School Programming
courses they are taking in math, science, and foreign language.
• Possibly due to the effect of increased requirements for access to general curriculum
under No Child Left Behind.
• The numbers of students taking vocational courses in recent years has decreased.
• Likely a fallout of the increase in courses taken in the general curriculum by students with
disabilities.
• Cause for concern as vocational programming can significantly increase positive
postsecondary outcomes for students with disabilities.
• Professional school counselors should:
• advocate for curricular programming to address individual student needs
• help families to determine whether goals should relate primarily to post-secondary education or
to employment and independent living.
• Students with disabilities attend college and other post-secondary educational programs at rates far
Post-secondary Educational Programming
below their non-disabled peers.
• It is critical that students hold high expectations for their continued education.
• Excellent resources are available to help students identify appropriate colleges, seek reasonable
accommodations, and access support services, including:
• DO-IT (Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, & Technology)
• Post-ITT (Postsecondary Innovative Transition Technology project)
• HEATH Resource Center (Higher Education and Adult Training for People with
Disabilities)
Post-secondary Educational Programming
•
(cont.) •
Professional school counselors can help students by
providing specialized information to parents and
students with disabilities regarding:
• Readiness for college
• Information on disability disclosure during the
application process
• Methods to interview effectively
• Ways to document a disability at the postsecondary level
• Information on how to identify available
accommodations in various colleges
• Tips for finding a “good match” for a specific
student’s special needs
Tips on supporting transition to
college:
• Teach students about their
disability and compensatory
strategies
• Teach students to selfadvocate
• Teach students about the
law
• Help students select
postsecondary schools
wisely
Career Counseling
• Professional school counselors must understand the implications of the disability on a
potential career.
• Professional school counselors must encourage and support, while remaining realistic.
• Excellent resources include:
•
•
•
•
Kids & Youth Pages from U.S. Department of Labor
Occupational Outlook Handbook
Teenager’s Guide to the Real World Careers
Job and Career Resources for Teenagers
• Resources specifically for students with disabilities:
• Partners in Employment
• Life Skills for Vocational Success
Vocational/Career Planning
• There are many online and software programs available to assist students in career planning which
typically include interest inventories, career-trait surveys, and sometimes decision-making support.
• In addition, there are either school system or local agency staff trained to do vocational aptitude
testing of students with disabilities.
• Other information necessary for career planning:
• Interview data from parents regarding their expectations and dreams for their child
• Student’s stated career goal
• History of work experience
• Reports of work habits and behaviors
• Observation of the student’s functioning at the work-site
• Involvement of staff from the Division of Rehabilitative Services is essential in:
Vocational/Career
• Obtaining linkages
to adult servicesPlanning (cont.)
• Determining funding for post-secondary educational or vocational programs
• Assisting families with ongoing transition needs beyond high school
• Providing information on how to access Social Security Insurance and Social Security
Disability Insurance (www.ssa.gov) can allow students with disabilities to:
•
•
•
•
Obtain adult vocational training programs
Access job coaching and other adult services
Pay for college
Defer income to pay for disability related expenses
• The School-to-Work
Opportunities
Act (1994) focuses on
Vocational
Training
coordinated efforts between schools and community to
design and provide education to all students and provides for
a smooth transition from school to work.
• Students are provided with specific job training and
experiences through vocational work placements, job
coaching, and other related activities.
Self-Determination
for Exceptional Children, self-determination is a combination of skills, knowledge,
• According to the Division of Career Development and Transition of the Council
and beliefs that enable a person to engage in goal directed, self-regulated,
autonomous behavior.
• Research has found that helping students acquire and exercise self-determination
skills leads to more positive educational outcomes, including higher rates of
employment, postsecondary education, and independent living.
• Excellent resources
available online to
Self-Determination
(cont.)
include:
promote self-determination in students
• Elements of self-determination
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Self-awareness
Self-evaluation
Choice and decision making
Goal setting and attainment
Problem solving
Self-advocacy
IEP planning
with disabilities:
• The Person-Centered Planning
Education Site
• The Self-Advocacy Synthesis
Project
• Student-Led IEPs: A Guide for Student
Involvement
Self-Determination (cont.)
• Strategies professional school counselors can use to help students develop selfdetermination:
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Use a structured curriculum to directly teach skills and attitudes.
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Provide the student with information on his disability.
Use assessments to determine student needs.
Prepare students for the IEP planning and implementation process.
Meet with students weekly to discuss student goal attainment and help students implement
strategies.
Help the student access available resources.
Help students adjust strategies, schedules, or supports to help attain their goals.
Encourage families to promote choice and decision making.
Allow for student selection of course electives and program of study.
• Many families seek information about special education services for students with disabilities.
Information about the Special Education Process and Right of Appeal
• The following organizations provide assistance to families, educators, agency workers, and
professional school counselors:
• The National Association of State Directors of Special Education
• www.nasdse.org
• The Council for Exceptional Children
• www.cec.sped.org
• The National Dissemination Center for Children and Youth with Disabilities
• www.nichcy.org
• The ERIC Clearinghouse on Disabilities and Gifted Education
• www.eric.ed.gov
• Professional school counselors can find local advocacy groups and public law
organizations to assist parents at: www.taaliance.org/centers
Information about the Special Education Process and Right of Appeal (cont.)
• IDEA and Section 504 require that families be given a statement of their rights and means
of appeal for use if the parent has a disagreement with the identification, classification,
program or services developed for or provided to the student.
• Parents may resolve their concerns without using the dispute resolution processes by
appealing directly to the school principal or district supervisory personnel. However, more
formal processes exist under IDEA and Section 504.
• Forms of appeal under IDEA:
Information about the Special Education Process and Right of Appeal (cont.)
• Resolution session
• Mediation
• Due process
• Hearing process where the disagreement is presented to an impartial
hearing officer.
• Appeals can go to state or federal court.
• Investigation processes
• State or federal offices assign investigators who determine whether
appropriate laws and regulations have been followed.
• Similar processes exist under Section 504.
• Cultural Considerations
General Issues for Professional School Counselors Serving Students with Disabilities
• Professional school counselors need to be sensitive to cultural considerations
because families from different cultures may perceive identification of a child with a
disability differently.
• Counselors must consider language differences and seek help to interpret both
language and culture.
• It is important for counselors to understand how family needs are shaped by the
context of their subculture.
• Counselors can help the families of diverse students cope with the maze of
bureaucracy that public education may present to someone from another culture.
• The Council for Exceptional Children (www.cec.sped.org) has a Division for
Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Exceptional Learners that can be a great
resource.