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Barriers to Post-Secondary Transition for Disabled Students:

Severe barriers to secondary to post secondary education are faced by students with disabilities.

Some of the common challenges involved are stigma, lack of faculty understanding, financial limitations, and lack of institutional support.

Transition Planning:

This is especially true for students with disabilities and transitioning into higher education because this is where the accommodations must be instituted.

Lacking, however, is an effective way to remove barriers in the current individualized model of transition planning.

Government of Ontario Recommendations:

Post-secondary education had 19 recommendations proposed by the government to make the education more accessible.

Key recommendations include:

Creating a centralized transition hub to facilitate communication between secondary and post-secondary institutions.

The role of creating transition facilitators for students with disabilities in postsecondary institutions as a transition service.

Increasing funding for updated disability assessments and accommodations.

The Role of Self-Advocacy:

All of the current models of transition depend heavily on self advocacy on the part of students, forcing them to advocate for their own accommodations.

Self advocacy can be helpful, but can be pressures on students and does not address systemic barriers (faculty resistance, financial constraints).

Ecological Systems Theory Approach:

The ecological systems approach is proposed as offering a more useful tool in planning for transition.

The model taken was of interactions between students, families, skilled institutions, and the government policy.

It points to the need for the collaboration instead of emphasizing on the student alone.

Findings from the Study:

Disabled students were surveyed (n=16) and followed up with (n=4) using a mixed methods approach of this nature.

Many issues, including inconsistencies in transition planning, communication gaps, and funding barriers were reported by students as major problems.

They (students) did not get adequate institutional support and many of them did not feel fully prepared for the transition.

Call for Systemic Change:

The paper makes the case for moving from an individualized to an interdependent model of support.

There should be a greater emphasis on systemic solutions — automatic accommodations and a stronger institutional responsibility.

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Challenges in Post-Secondary Transition for Students with Learning Disabilities (LD):

Students with LD are less likely to enroll in and complete postsecondary education than are their peers.

A great deal of people do not get involved in their transition planning, what they lack is the self advocacy and self determination skills.

While LD students only report disclosing their disability to 24 percent of students in post-secondary institutions, these students have limited access to accommodations for which they might be eligible.

The Role of the Summary of Performance (SOP) in Transition Planning:

According to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), it is necessary to have an SOP document for students who will be exiting high school.

SOPs are used as a way of bridging high school and post secondary educational settings by defining student's academic and functional strengths and weaknesses and the requirements for accommodations.

A well developed SOP portfolio will easily provide the information that students need to navigate post secondary education and the services available to them.

What the Component of an Effective SOP Portfolio?

Student Introductory Letter: This letter assists students with self-advocacy and assisting students in communication of their needs to post-secondary institutions.

Background Information: Includes disability diagnosis, functional limitations, and most recent evaluations.

Academic, employment and independent living goals: It encourages students to establish specific academic, employment, and independent living goals.

The Present Level of Performance: This documents any strengths, challenges, and accommodations necessary for a student.

Post-Secondary Provider Recommendations: Identifies particularly necessary accommodations and services for success in college.

Support: Encourages students to reflect on the ways their disability affects learning and which support are most effective.

Engaging Students in the SOP Process:

The assumption of responsibility to develop SOPs encourages self-awareness, self determination, and self advocacy abilities in the students.

Teachers are essential in making sure students write their letters, set goals, and ask for accommodations during the SOP process.

Preparations to later post-secondary settings can be encouraged by encouraging students to practice self advocacy (e.g. role play conversations with disability service providers).

Bridging High School and Post Secondary Education

Being in the SOP portfolio will help to streamline access to accommodations and thereby decrease transition barriers.

Clear support needs from post-secondary institutions can give them resources to grant the right kinds of help to students.

SOPs need to include psycho-educational evaluations and necessary documentation of accommodations.

The Importance of Transition Planning Beyond College:

The SOP portfolio can also be utilized for moves into employment and independent living.

Same can be applied to students with disabilities going into workforce by recording the need for workplace accommodations.

Conclusion & Implications:

The SOP portfolio is an essential transition tool to advance student with LD in post-secondary education.

Better self-advocacy outcomes can make the difference, and even better self-advocacy outcomes may reduce the likelihood of students becoming loafers upon graduation.

The responsibility of encouraging students with the thus required tools for a smooth transition lies with educators.

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Summary of Performance Portfolio_ Supporting Post-secondary Trans