Academic / Peer-Reviewed Article

The Point of Transition Service Integration Project was initiated in 1997 in California as a three-year model demonstration grant funded by the Department of Education. The goal of the project was to improve the level of cooperation and collaboration among public schools, the State Department of Rehabilitation, and the State Department of Developmental Services related to efforts assisting students with severe disabilities who are transitioning from school to adult life. This paper presents an overview of that project with a focus on the research questions to which it gave rise.

This paper encourages the reader to envision a future of opportunity and potential for youth with intellectual disabilities. The authors suggest a set of goals to help young adults and their families keep the bar of expectations high. Suggested goals are discussed in depth and include: self determination and self advocacy for successful planning, transition into lifelong learning, self-directed employment success and satisfaction, overcoming the disincentives to work, moving into the neighborhood, financial security, and emerging into adulthood.

The transition challenges discussed are to ensure that (1) students have access to the full range of curriculum options and learning experiences; (2) high school graduation decisions are based on meaningful indicators of learning; (3) students have access to postsecondary education, employment, and independent living options; (4) student and family participation are supported; and (5) interagency collaboration is improved.

This paper addresses the question of how interagency service coordination for youth with disabilities can be more flexible, youth centered, and culturally responsive. Poor interagency service coordination creates barriers to postsecondary educational access. These barriers are even more prominent for students with significant disabilities. The authors identify four models of service coordination represented in the literature and four major barriers to effective service coordination and management of supports. Recommendations for resolving major barriers are presented.

This academic paper examines the goals of inclusive postsecondary education for students with intellectual disabilities, within the context of a broader political movement, that of inclusive community living, and explores the limitations of a rights discourse as the foundation for advocacy and social change. The author deconstructs the "othering" of persons with disabilities, exposes the separate special education system as a form of institutional exclusion and oppression, and asserts that full inclusion is possible through modifications and adaptations to curriculum and instruction.

Participation in postsecondary education is a known predictor of a successful employment outcome for youth without disabilities. There is research documenting that this is true for youth with disabilities as well. Most literature on postsecondary education for youth with disabilities focuses on individuals with learning disabilities, attention deficit disorders, and physical or sensory disorders. There is limited research that addresses youth with intellectual disabilities regarding successful outcomes of participation in postsecondary education.

Recent studies of innovative supports and services in postsecondary education reveal more effective and cooperative mechanisms with which to provide supports to individuals with disabilities (Stodden, Jones, & Chang, 2003; Whelley, Hart, & Zafft, 2003). Colleges and universities can design supports that permit consumer choice while avoiding establishment of isolating parallel "service systems." Providing individual supports for students with significant disabilities will establish new and creative alliances driven by wishes and dreams of the students.

This article presents an overview of options that improve access to age appropriate educational and transition experiences for youth with significant disabilities ages 18-21. The article describes two models for providing access to post secondary education: (a) programs that serve public school students in college and community settings, and (b) individual support approaches for serving public school students in college and community settings.

Teachers in 11 public school systems serving students with significant disabilities ages 18-21 in 13 postsecondary settings were surveyed to collect information on students' access to college courses, employment training, activities in the community and on college campuses, and interagency linkages with adult services. In addition, teachers provided input on inclusion and follow-up activities. Results indicated that while students with significant disabilities were successfully engaged in employment training, access to college courses and extracurricular activities was limited.

Traditionally, youth with intellectual and developmental disabiliites (IDD) have not been given the option of participating in and thus benefiting from a postsecondary education. There are school districts and community colleges across the country, however, that are creating opportunities for these youth to have the option of meaningful participation in a postsecondary education while still in secondary school (i.e., Dual Enrollment).