# data[].attributes.body
When looking at an issue such as education and learning for adults with disabilities past public school, it is important to include multiple disciplines in the study. In order to break this down, we must look at education, disabilities as a whole, adult living, and community accommodation. These phenomena can be broken into a variety of disciplines. Education looks at learning, cognitive neuroscience, biology, andragogy, philosophy, and so much more. Disabilities are categorized by learning disabilities, behavior disabilities, and problems with brain and body disconnect, while also looking at psychology and biology as well. Adult living disciplines can go on forever but for this issue I looked into literature, counseling, political science, skill building, and vocational studies. Lastly, when looking at community accommodations, the generalized public needs to be accepting of adults with disabilities and willing to help them and their search for continued education. This can be done by looking at anthropology, problem solving, psychology, and sociology, just to name a few. Upon research, it seems learning styles, biology, special needs, and andragogy are really the main disciplines needed to focus on the problem we are facing. When I visited Annandale, I had the opportunity to have lunch with the villagers. Many took medications to help their special needs, showing the needs for biology and the medical field in this study and in their lives. We can’t conduct this study or come to any solutions without looking at the study of disabilities and how special needs change the way these individuals learn. While at Annandale, Crystal and I spoke specially about how she adjusts and changes her technics for each class, each skill set, and each disability. It is important to take into account all of these disciplines and approach this problem with an interdisciplinary standpoint.

# data[].attributes.body
My feedback from Step Two was very helpful and continues to push me to make my project better. I thought I had done a good job explaining the disciplines that have been used to tackle the problem of continuing education for adults but upon reading my feedback, I see where I can improve. It seems that much more research is needed to make my project stronger. I know that a lot more research on scholarly articles and other forms of publications will come in the next few steps for the project. Interdisciplinarity is such a complex concept that I am continuing to know more and more about. Bringing in concepts from different disciplines and pairing them with other disciplines in a way that not only works but is somewhat revolutionary requires a lot of research, time, and creativity. I am excited to continue learning more about interdisciplinary and how this process can work towards finding solutions to big world problems.

# data[].attributes.headline
STEP 1: Define Problem or State Research Question 

# data[].attributes.subject
STEP 1: Define Problem or State Research Question 

# data[].attributes.body
The public schools allow students to stay in the system until the day before their twenty-second birthday (PROVIDE CITATION). For many individuals with disabilities, this date marks their last day of any sort of education or quite frankly, any new learned information. Most adults with disabilities have the option to choose between living in a group home or attempting to find vocational employment. Group homes are a good option for some but they only cater towards the needs of a percentage of these adults. Not only do these homes take the individuals away from their families, they are also very limited to only accepting those who are more independent. They typically do not accept individuals with aggression, those who are non-speaking, or those who are not self-regulated enough to follow their designed schedule independently. Another big problem with these homes is the excessive price tag that comes along with them. Families have to pay a pretty penny for their loved one to live in these homes, especially if the facility is a nice, well-rounded home that offers recreational activities, field trips, community support, etc. The cheaper, somewhat more affordable homes can be described as nothing more than glorified babysitting. This brings us to the second option available for these adults, vocational employment. Again, this option is only feasible to those who are self-regulated enough to independently work, and even this, employment is hard to find. Most businesses are not willing to higher (HIRE?) those with disabilities even when they are independently capable. Another issue they run into is transportation. Many of these individuals are not capable of driving themselves to their job. This could be the result because they are unable to obtain a drivers’ license or because they do not have the means to find a purchase a car. This leaves them with the option to take public transportation which may not be available except through expense services such as Uber or Lyft. Once an individual has exhausted their few possible options, they are left with the choice to stay at their parents’ house, either independently or with a babysitter, to sit and watch television all day or take walks around the neighborhood (ARE THERE ANY SOURCES YOU CAN DRAW FROM WHEN MAKING THIS CLAIM? THERE SHOULD BE A REPORT OF SOME KIND THAT SHARES PERCENTAGES/NUMBERS OF INDIVIDUALS WITH LD THAT MIGHT BE EXPERIENCING THIS. CAN YOU DO SOME RESEARCH ON THIS? ADDING CITATIONS AND SPECIFIC DISCUSSIONS OF THEIR FINDINGS AS RELATES TO YOUR STATEMENTS/CLAIMS WILL MAKE YOUR RESPONSE STRONGER.) . There must be a better option. There must be more for them. There must BE the possibility for a fully fulfilled life for every individual, no matter their disability, no matter their age.

# data[].attributes.body
I accidently added my write up as a comment under the wrong post. I meant to add it underneath the step 4 table I had created but somehow managed to add it under step 1. I have now moved deleted it and moved it to the correct spot. Since you were unable to read my write up for step 4, not much feedback was able to be given this week. I reread the paragraph I wrote last week and tried to make some edits on my own by rereading the rubric and the directions you gave me on your feedback. I enjoyed reading and listening to multiples articles and videos about my topic and seeing the interdisciplinarity in them. Many of the authors included multiple disciplines in the study but did not address interdisciplinarity specifically. I like being able to see how interdisciplinarity is being used all around us without people even noticing it or acknowledging it.

# data[].attributes.body
Last week during step 3, I narrowed my disciplines down to looking at andragogy, skill building, public schools, and adult disabilities. This week I found many articles, studies, and videos to go along with these disciplines and tie them together with my research question and topic. Kathleen Kimball spoke in the Play Posit on the discipline Behavior and Learning Disabilities. Although she did not specifically speak a lot on adults with disabilities, she did mention them having to leave public school the day before their 22nd birthday and the difficulties they face afterwards. Daphne Greenberg spoke in the Play Posit on Family and Community Literacy. Greenberg touches on the literacy problems our country faces, especially adult literacy, and disabled individuals make up a portion of those illiterate adults. Parisa Khosravi does a TED talk on alternate forms of communicate for individuals with autism and advocated for their rights and for their intelligence. Judith Heumann participates in a TED talk after living in a government funded building for a month and the problems that she faced while living here, proving that the available options for these adults are hard to find but also not always the best conditions. Paul Anomah speaks during a TED talk to tell of how individuals with disabilities struggle to find employment upon completing high school and find it hard to make a living for themselves and become independent. I think a few of the best articles I found were by Malcom Knowles, Lynda Price, Stan Shaw, and Kerrie Bundock. Malcom speaks on andragogy and the need for adult education and adult learning. Lynda Price and Stan Shaw work together to discuss adult learning alongside of learning disabilities. Kerrie Bundock looks at interventions used to develop social skills in autistics and how this could help them during their adult life. I think ideas from by Malcom Knowles, Lynda Price, Stan Shaw, and Kerrie Bundock alone cannot solely help or fix this problem in any way, but if all of their ideas came together in an interdisciplinary way, some change could occur. Malcom Knowles brings in some great insight on how adults continue to learn and how education and skill building advances the adult life, but these ideas need to be paired with Kerrie Bundock and her interventions for adults with autism to develop social skills as an avenue to help them obtain jobs and make connections. Furthermore, we need to include Lynda Price and Stan Shaw who looked at not just social skills, but other vocational skills and educational understandings. The goal is to have more opportunities for adults with disabilities and allow them to continue to grow into independent adults, making their mark on the community. Going back to what Kathleen Kimball mentioned in the Behavior and Learning Disabilities Play Posit, these individuals with disabilities have to leave public school before by age 22 and society need to be ready to continuously give them a well rounded life even after formal education provided by the state.

# data[].attributes.headline
STEP 2: Justify the Interdisciplinary Approach

# data[].attributes.subject
STEP 2: Justify the Interdisciplinary Approach

# data[].attributes.body
According to Bureau of Labor Statistics, "the unemployment rate for persons with a disability was 10.5 percent in 2016, about twice that of those with no disability (4.6 percent)." This number is extremely high. Furthermore, only 63% of a student with disabilities graduated high school with a diploma, which is 20% lower than the national average. This deems itself a big problem because we are not taking care of the academic needs of adults with disabilities. When students graduate high school without a diploma, it seems that public school has failed to teach them. From there, they are unable to get jobs and learn any type of vocation and they are unable to get accepted into any college courses. So what learning options are available for adults with disabilities past public school and how can these opportunities expand to reach all people? We must look at the problem with an interdisciplinary approach. Multiple disciplines are necessary because no single discipline to able to provide a comprehensive understanding of the complex role this plays in the quality of life for the individuals with disabilities. In the past single disciplines have used in an effort to solve this problem. Learning technologies has offered communication technology and educational software, community literacy has offered treatments such as speech therapy, the medical field has presented numerous solutions to try and solve disabilities. No single discipline has achieved a solution. All of these disciplines must work together, including those with the disabilities to offer better options. Invite the elephant to be a part and bring in the experts from all disciplines.

Persons with a Disability: Labor Force Characteristics Summary. (2017, June 21). Retrieved June 17, 2018, from https://www.bls.gov/news.release/disabl.nr0.htm

State Board of Education. (2013, May 29). Retrieved June 17, 2018, from http://www.gadoe.org/External-Affairs-and-Policy/State-Board-of-Education/

# data[].attributes.body
This project definitely opened my eyes to my bias that all adults with disabilities are in need of additional education and skill building that is not being met by the current opportunities available to them. I recognized that some adults are thriving in group homes, day programs, and vocational work. Although I also realized how all of these disciplines need to work together to create more of a solution to this overwhelming problem. Andragogy needs to bring in the expertise of adult learning while disabilities needs to bring in their knowledge of the unique ways that adults with disabilities learn best. Education can offer their input through skill building knowledge and past public school curriculum. My eyes were opened to the entire problem as a whole and the need to bring in social skills, vocational skills, learning technics, and so much more as we attempt to solve this problem. Interdisciplinarity offers a much broader perspective on not only this project but on life outside the classroom by recognizing the need to bring in more viewpoints into every situation.

# data[].attributes.body
Interdisciplinary continues to prove itself as a more and more complex idea. I learn more about it every week as we continue through this project. Researching each discipline is just as important as researching the way that these disciplines intertwine together to make the study fully interdisciplinary. This week my feedback stretched me to look more into each individual discipline and research how each discipline plays a part in the necessary overall research of my project.  I appreciate the criticism I received this week as I narrowed down my disciplines from looking at a broad term such as education and bringing it down to look more at learning skills or development needed for these individuals. I also looked at the way my site put these disciplines to work and was stretched to look more at where interdisciplinary was used and giving visible examples of my study in action at Annandale Village.

# data[].attributes.body
Lia A Melkaya reported on a study that looks at Adult Life. She argues that special needs children are not taught or trained on how to function correctly into adulthood. She offers the perspective that this problem could be solved by implementing the technology of social work as a social project planning. Although some good points are made by Melkaya, she is constrained by her bias of students with disabilities in non-profit organizations and the recommendations they have developed. Richard W Fox and Donna Wandiy look at the discipline of accommodation as they address the perspectives of counselors and the need for the school systems to implement a program to consolidate counseling in an effort to focus on the transitional needs of students with disabilities, concentrating on the limits placed on school counselors. They writing this article under the biased assumption that counselors in Special Education are doing all they can. Keith Stonier offers his perspectives on Education by consulting the Further Education model but is blocked by his own bias of how much still remains to be done to accommodate adults with special needs fully into their educational system. To continue looking into the discipline of accommodation, Jane Sharp, Elizabeth Rivera, and Alan R report on a survey of the OST administrators and staff that shows professional development can influence providers’ willingness to include students with special needs. This survey is conducted with the bias that having an OST program is helping to students with disabilities. This brings us to our last accommodation article, written by Richard A DeMichle and Brenda Eustler. No biases are found in this article but it is centered around New Jersey and recent decisions made in this state on expenses for an SNT.

# data[].attributes.body
Feedback for step five was very helpful. I realized that I missed including two additional play posit videos and was able to include insights from these videos to my revised step five submission. I like how Dr. Ari asked me a few questions within the feedback provided that allowed me to expand and explain why I chose to included certain criteria in my table while not look at other suggested criteria. I have included all of these reasonings in my revised step five.  This step in particular took a lot of time and a lot of effort to research, read, and analyze all fifteen articles. Interdisciplinary research adds many extra steps because you must thoroughly research multiple disciplines individually, but also look at them together. We must see how they complement each other and how they may oppose each other. A lot of work must go into this detailed process.

# data[].attributes.body
My reflection for step six reminded me to expand more on the criteria given and develop my answers and ideas a little more. Throughout my step six draft, I touched on a few of the criteria needed but failed to broaden those concepts to fully answer the question being asked. I feel as though step six offers a lot more room to reflect and review not only our entire project but more so to reflect on interdisciplinarity as a whole. Throughout the course of the summer we have been diving into the concept of interdisciplinarity and although I do have a better understanding of its meaning and how it fits into the world, I found it difficult to put into words a complete reflection on this broad concept. Again, I do feel well versed in the area but with such a complex idea, there are still so many questions and so much more to explore. It will be interesting to continue looking for interdisciplinary work around me throughout my educational and professional life.

# data[].attributes.body
There are a few key elements that prove themselves the most important disciplines in the problem of education and skill building for adults with disabilities. These elements prove to offer the most insight into this problem and that is why I chose to focus my research in these areas. First off, the element of andragogy looks at the study of adult learning and offers insight into how adults learn as well as the best technics and structures needed to assist continuous learning throughout life. Education is a huge element that I looked at for this project but with this being a huge discipline with a lot of different parts, I broke this into skill development, literacy, communication, and social skills. Some post public school learning for adults with disabilities takes place through skills building and continued social skill development. Literacy and communication also plays a big role in education, especially when some adults with disabilities struggle finding a form of communication that works for them and needing to continue their reading skills. I chose not to include the methods in my research table due to the inconsistency in the methods. All methods used for these articles seemed inconsistent in their approach and therefor did not add any stamina to my project.

The biggest conflicts found between these articles was the lack on interdisciplinarity found in the articles. Each article seemed to focus on what they deemed the best way to look at this problem and did not dip into other disciplines to strengthen their argument.

The child growth and development play posit offered a few insights into the development of children but does not add to this specific research problem due to the developmental differences and learning styles between children and adults. I do believe that this play posit does bring some insight into how children and start developing correctly as kids and therefore gain some skills and social understandings at a young age that will then help them in their adulthood. The deaf studies play posit offers a look into a specific disability and speaks on how they struggle throughout education and I think my project could definitely be expanded to add on the deaf community and their specific educational needs.

Lia A Melkaya reported on a study that looks at Adult Life. She argues that special needs children are not taught or trained on how to function correctly into adulthood. She offers the perspective that this problem could be solved by implementing the technology of social work as a social project planning. Although some good points are made by Melkaya, she is constrained by her bias of students with disabilities in non-profit organizations and the recommendations they have developed. Richard W Fox and Donna Wandiy look at the discipline of accommodation as they address the perspectives of counselors and the need for the school systems to implement a program to consolidate counseling in an effort to focus on the transitional needs of students with disabilities, concentrating on the limits placed on school counselors. They writing this article under the biased assumption that counselors in Special Education are doing all they can. Keith Stonier offers his perspectives on Education by consulting the Further Education model but is blocked by his own bias of how much still remains to be done to accommodate adults with special needs fully into their educational system. To continue looking into the discipline of accommodation, Jane Sharp, Elizabeth Rivera, and Alan R report on a survey of the OST administrators and staff that shows professional development can influence providers’ willingness to include students with special needs. This survey is conducted with the bias that having an OST program is helping to students with disabilities. This brings us to our last accommodation article, written by Richard A DeMichle and Brenda Eustler. No biases are found in this article but it is centered around New Jersey and recent decisions made in this state on expenses for an SNT.

# data[].attributes.body
This project definitely opened my eyes to my bias that all adults with disabilities are in need of additional education and skill building that is not being met by the current opportunities available to them. I recognized that some adults are thriving in group homes, day programs, and vocational work. Although I also realized how all of these disciplines need to work together to create more of a solution to this overwhelming problem. Andragogy needs to bring in the expertise of adult learning while disabilities needs to bring in their knowledge of the unique ways that adults with disabilities learn best. Education can offer their input through skill building knowledge and past public-school curriculum. When it comes to disciplinary expertise, my perception has changed through the influence of seeing the benefits of the interdisciplinary approach. When someone if focused on only one discipline, they become blind to the benefits that others can offer to them. I see some benefit in becoming an expert in one specific field to learn all that it has to offer but it cannot stop there. In order to actually solve some of the worlds’ problems, we have to become experts in multiple fields and then allow other experts to come alongside us and offer other disciplines so everything can come together and offer an interdisciplinary approach.

My eyes were opened to the entire problem as a whole and the need to bring in social skills, vocational skills, learning technics, and so much more as we attempt to solve this problem. When I began my research, I did not see all the research and all the disciplines that would need to go into solving this problem. My project continues to expand the more I research. I thought by simply looking at disabilities as a whole and comparing that to education, it would help, but I found that would not even make a dent in the problem.

Interdisciplinarity offers a much broader perspective on not only this project but on life outside the classroom by recognizing the need to bring in more viewpoints into every situation. Every problem or situation has more than one side and more opinions. Every issue can be seen through multiple disciplines and quite honestly, every solution should include multiple disciplines if it is going to offer any real answers. When I visited Annandale Village, I was able to see interdisciplinarity come to life. From the way they taught the villagers, to the way they developed, everything includes the merging of multiple disciplines. They brought play together to build social skills, team managements, and fitness. They taught the villagers independence through their schedules, giving them a voice of what they wanted to be a part of and what they wanted to learn about. Taking the villagers out of Annandale and into the community was a huge part of their vision. This allowed for more social interactions but also focused on skill building, independence, and vocational skills. Interdisciplinarity is a way of life and is incorporated all around us. We just have to be willing to notice it and ask.