Suchergebnisse

Age of majority refers to when a state legally considers a person to be an "adult." For young adults with extensive support needs, this is often a time when individualized education program (IEP) teams discuss issues related to student decision-making, guardianship, and alternatives to guardianship. The purpose of this article is to provide IEP teams with considerations to prepare families (i.e., parents and their young adults with extensive support needs) to prepare for age of majority. The five considerations discussed are (a) providing information about guardianship and alternatives, (b) assessing and teaching decision-making skills, (c) practicing supported decision-making, (d) designing opportunities for failure and feedback, and (e) considering the need for emotional support.

Background: In Asian culture, knowledge obtained at institutions of higher education contributes to heightened social status, greater respect in the community, and family prestige. As a result, Taiwan's central government sought to maximize opportunities for students to attend institutions of higher education, including students with disabilities. However, professional development and systems-capacity are needed to keep pace with the rapid expansion of higher education opportunities for students with disabilities. The purpose of this exploratory study was to expand the limited body of information on college students with disabilities in Taiwan. Method: In total, we conducted nine in-depth interviews with key stakeholders: (a) individuals with disabilities, (b) high school educators, and (c) university faculty and staff. Results: Five primary findings emerged from our analysis: (a) accessibility in college, (b) College Resource Rooms, (c) faculty involvement, (d) parent involvement, and (e) recommendations to enhance student outcomes. Conclusion: Findings reflect Taiwanese efforts to enact laws and implement regulations to secure rights for students with disabilities to participate in post-secondary education. However, as participants highlighted, there remains a need to determine how to best support students with disabilities in institutions of higher education, including effectively preparing students with disabilities for college, making environments accessible, supporting faculty to effectively teach diverse students, providing college staff support, and supporting parents to facilitate students' self-determination.

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted inequities in technology literacy and access for students with extensive support needs (ESN) in k-12 settings. Technology is critical for students with ESN to continue lifelong learning after graduation. The unprecedented level of funds from the American Relief Plan provides schools opportunities to invest in sustainable and accessible technology which benefits all students. The Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework is used to increase access to learning for all students, and should be applied to decision making surrounding technology investment and purchasing. This essay provides three considerations for schools to reflect on when spending ARP Act funds: (a) use UD to purchase technology, (b) provide UDL professional development to teach technology literacy skills, and (c) provide learning opportunities aimed at technology use among students with ESN.

AbstractThere is a critical need to create a reliable, relevant, and culturally appropriate measure of Family Quality of Life (FQOL) in order to evaluate family outcomes and related national family support mechanisms in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). This study explores Congolese conceptions of FQOL and examines the appropriateness of adapting a common FQOL measurement tool for use in a Congolese context. Data are derived from four focus groups, conducted with 21 family members of persons with disabilities and 2 family advocates in Kinshasa, DRC. Participant conceptions of FQOL were highly similar to common understandings of FQOL globally. Participant discourse identified poverty and resiliency as potentially crucial underlying factors in FQOL in the DRC. FQOL is an important concept to measure in the DRC. Measurement must take poverty and resiliency into consideration.

A team from Schoolwide Integrated Framework for Transformation (SWIFT), a federally funded technical assistance project focused on creating cascading, aligned systems for inclusive education, conducted a series of focus groups and interviews with school administrators, general and special educators, and related service providers in six schools across the United States. Six themes merged from the study that highlighted the importance of defining inclusive education as well as building the capacity of people to understand and implement the components of a system of inclusive education. These themes suggest that leadership for inclusive education requires attention to the structures and processes used to signal that inclusive education is an undergirding principle of practice. Equally important is the development of relationships among students, teachers, and families that cement the structures. Networking, planning and organizing, using time and space strategically, and connecting schools with their communities were all aspects of capacity building. In addition, data revealed the importance of paying attention to the context of inclusive education within schools and in their surrounding communities. Further, enthusiastic support from and communication with families emerged as an important theme.

Partnerships between school staff, families, and community members are vital for ensuring the success of all students in inclusive schools. This article reports the results of a synthesis of two original studies: one study that examined the perspectives of family members and another study that examined the perspectives of community partners in developing partnerships with school staff at six inclusive knowledge development sites located in five geographic regions within the United States. The current synthesis study analyzes the original studies' overlapping themes to inform concentrated efforts aimed at strengthening family and community partnerships in inclusive schools. Themes of this synthesis study include positive, inviting, and inclusive school culture; strong administrative leadership driven by a clear vision of inclusion; attributes of trusting partnerships; and opportunities for reciprocal partnerships and involvement. Implications for practice and research are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to examine the experiences of students with and without disabilities being educated in inclusive schools, documenting their perceptions of the culture of their school, inclusion, and the practices that were implemented to support all students. Focus groups were conducted with 86 students with and without disabilities from six schools that were recognized as exemplars of inclusive schoolwide practices. Three major themes emerged: (a) students' sense of belonging in their school culture, (b) inclusion and its impact on students, and (c) school and classroom practices, such as positive behavior support systems, co-teaching, and instructional practices related to student self-determination and direction, feedback and re-teaching, multiple means of representation and expression, and technology utilization. Implications of these findings for implementing inclusive practices in other schools are discussed.