Low Incidence Disabilities is what I really assumed most disabilities were when I was younger. I thought most of the students who received special education services were the ones that we are reading about as having Low Incidence Disabilities. I can understand now after reading the chapter how it is difficult to initially determine how to help students with Low Incidence Disabilities because they are fairly rare. Having someone local (especially in a small/rural school district) who has experience in supporting a student with a Low Incidence Disability is probably not going to be available. 

            I do think that the listing of all the different specifics of Low Incidence Disabilities and if it makes them eligible for special education services, and the assessments that need to be done was overwhelming. I am hoping that even smaller school districts have access to the immense amounts of Assistive Technology that is available if it is needed.

 

            I had never considered the transition process for high school students with disabilities prior to working on a transition plan in EDSP 426. I really enjoyed looking at the different surveys/assessments available for students for special educators to use in forming a student’s transition plan. I agree with the importance of students being involved in their transition plan. I think the Collaboration Planning Assessment Tools for students with sensory and/or severe disabilities is interesting. Forming a “circle” and working together to decide what goals are and where in when to meet (Kritikos, 2010) is critical in formulating a positive plan for the student. Including caregivers, friends, family, community members, agency provider, and school representatives in an informal setting are part of the process for constructing steps to a plan for the individual (Kritikos, 2010).

            The idea of a transition plan is intriguing, but I would be interested to see if transition plans are implemented in the way they are designed to help prepare students for life after school. I had a discussion with a retired school counselor who said that he had not seen a transition plan that included the processes that we are reading about in our texts. I think for transition plans to be successful, it is imperative to have a community that is supportive and to have full involvement and support from the individual’s family.

 

            “A structured plan aiming at appropriate goals can provide a clearer path in terms of where to focus energies and experience success” (Kritikos, 2010). After all the assessments and evaluations, it is sometimes overwhelming to determine what we need to focus on. As teachers or special educators we need to look at results and come up with a plan on how to best help the student. Where should we focus? I remember looking at my son’s first IEP and the one of his annual goals wanted him to recognize the letters A, E, D, T, and S 80% of the time. At the time, I was shocked because my goal was for him to read. I had not internalized that these individual goals were steps that he “hopefully” could meet in a year. The simplicity of the goal was attainable and where my son was (whether or not I wanted to accept it). There were many other areas on his assessments/evaluations that showed he was below where he should be, but it is unrealistic for us to create goals for every area. Educators need to focus and meet goals to progress.

            I thoroughly enjoyed chapter 10 because it brought me back to my undergrad and when I was doing a practicum at the Early Head Start. When children are under the age of three, they are not able to fend for themselves so they need their parents and other advocates to help them if they are at risk of a disability or during an assessment. The one thing that really caught my eye was doing interventions or assessments in a natural environment (pg. 219). I think it is key to conduct an assessment in an environment where the child is comfortable or familiar. This goes for any age of child but especially for children under three, if they are not familiar with their surroundings then you may not get the results you are looking for. Another thing that I thought was very important within this chapter is building trust between the parents and the team that is helping the child. Mutual trust is established between parents and educators when they find a common ground when understanding the child’s needs (pg. 222). Above everything else I find trust the most important because if you are not able to have trust between the two parties them you are not able to fully help the child to the fullest. The goal is to figure out what is best for the child and how to further their education but if you do not trust the person you are communicating with them the light at the end of the tunnel is not getting any closer. 

Motor assistive technology was very interesting because after reading about it, it made me realize that we use assistive technology everyday for a child that has CP (pg. 254). In order to get this child to do daily things she needs certain assistive technology to get through the day. She has a very light and delicate voice and in order to full hear her, she needs a amplifier for everyone to hear her when she talks. This child has her standard wheelchair that her pair pushes and she is in that one 85% of the time, however sometimes she is put in her motorized wheelchair to get more independence in her life when she wants to go certain places. This chapter has deepened my knowledge of assessing visual, motor and hearing disability children and gives me the information I need in order to better assess and accommodate their lives when at school. 

            In order for the transitions to be successful the child needs to be involved and apart of the process. They need to be the one taking control of their future and have a voice when discussing the IEP and what their goals should be. “6% of students with disabilities did not attend the IEP meeting,” (pg. 270). Once the child hits 14 years old they should be involved in the progress because it is their future that they are talking about.