Dwyre D'Agati, Amy

Having the right team in place to support college students with ID to access and succeed in employment is critical—and complicated. Students may be eligible for employment services from various state and federal entities (e.g., ED, DD, VR, HCBS waiver) and coordinating these with existing program services is critical. So where do you start when trying to optimize the resources available and support the best outcomes? Our presenters will tackle this topic, highlighting the need for individualized planning of employment services and supports for college students with ID.

This Grab and Go Practice #12 is part of a series helping students, parents, teachers, and job developers create customized employment opportunities for students with disabilities. This issue focuses on how a job developer or teacher can conduct an informational interview and/or observational tour with employers. These interviews and tours are crucial to gather the information necessary to complete a customized job proposal that meets the needs of both the employer and the job seeker.

Amy Dwyre discusses how job developers can take advantage of the college setting in their job development efforts.

This chapter from Think College!: Postsecondary Options for Students with Intellectual Disabilities, includes guidance for families as they consider college options. There is information about opportunities and challenges, what to expect, what motivates a student to go to college, how best to navigate the process, and more. Throughout this chapter there are vignettes from students and families to illustrate the points made.

Think College Insight Brief #18 describes a project that sought to find effective and low-cost ways to improve secondary and postsecondary professionals’ job development skills.

This checklist and worksheet assists job developers to think through the variety of ways to collect information about a job seeker. It describes seven strategies for information gathering, and then asks the job developer to reflect on which strategies they used and how they used them. 

This flow chart illustrates the process of job development based on the philosophy that there is a job for anyone who wants one.

This brief provides an overview of some successful models of transition services being implemented in postsecondary settings, describes one such model implemented by the Baltimore City Public School System in three local colleges, and presents some of the implications and strategies for success of this model. Resource can be found at: http://www.ncset.org/publications/viewdesc.asp?id=3395

Think College Insight Brief #3 reports findings of a 5 year research and technical assistance grant related to the paid employment outcomes of students who attended dual enrollment postsecondary programs for students with intellectual disabilities on college campuses in Maryland and Connecticut.

The article discusses program evaluation tools for dual enrollment transition programs for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) in the U.S. Through the U.S. Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) and the TransCen, Inc. nonprofit organization, the Postsecondary Education Research Center (PERC) project developed the PERC Postsecondary Program Evaluation Tool: A Self-Assessment for College and Community-Based Services online self-assessment tool.