POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION

High school students with disabilities and their stakeholders will enjoy watching this video http://video.google.com/videosearch?sourceid=navclient&rlz=1T4GGLL_enUS302US303&q=vocational%20education%20and%20training&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wv#q=vocational+schools+for+disabled&hl=en&emb=0&start=20 of other high students participating in the Postsecondary Education Rehabilitation Transition (PERT) Program at Woodrow Wilson Rehabilitation Center in Virginia. With vocational assistance, high school students learn about jobs that peak their interest. The center provides one evaluator for every four students during instruction of 25 different job families. Students participate in career exploration, independent living skills testing, residential and social skills training and independent and group leisure activities.

Stakeholders of students with disabilities will find this book, Transition to Postsecondary Education for Students with Disabilities, to be an excellent source of information to help ease the transition to Postsecondary Education. The book discusses the transitional requirements of various postsecondary options, including colleges, universities, career and technical training programs, and employment. The cost of the paper back is 33.95 and the hard back is 72.95.

The information in this pamphlet, Students with Disabilities Preparing for Postsecondary Education: Know Your Rights and Responsibilities http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/transition.html, provided by the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) in the U. S. Department of Education, explains the rights and responsibilities of students with disabilities who are preparing to attend postsecondary schools. This pamphlet also explains the obligations of a postsecondary school to provide academic adjustments, including auxiliary aids and services, to ensure the school does not discriminate on the basis of disability.

Speaking of the law, http://www.daytonastate.edu/sds/statute.html this Floridian college provides the following Florida Statutes for persons with disabilities on its web page.

• F.S. 1999 Post-Secondary Education Chp. 240 [240.114(5) and 240.4041]
• F.S. 1989 Post Secondary Education Chp. 240 [240.152 and 240.153]

################################################### Florida High School/High Tech (HS/HT) http://www.abletrust.org/hsht/ is a community-based partnership designed to provide high school students with all types of disabilities the opportunity to explore jobs or postsecondary education leading to technology- related careers. HS/HT links youth to a broad range of academic, career development and experiential resources and experiences that will enable them to meet the demands of our workforce.

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION/TRAINING

Aside from the actual title, Role of Vocational Education in Transition Services For Handicapped Youth, I got excited for students with disabilities and their stakeholders when I found this article http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_pric/is_198500/ai_1561189206/. It provides helpful information for students with disabilities who plan to transition to VOCATIONAL EDUCATION:

• What is Transition?
• How can Transition be facilitated?
• What is the role of VOCATIONAL EDUCATION in Transition Services?
• What are some of the benefits of coordination services?
• What are some current problems in coordinating services?
• What are some exemplary Transition Services projects?

**Select the #2 tab to proceed to the second page to read the article in its entirety. It’s a quick read but full of information.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% The title, VOCATION REHABILITATION: Helping People With Disabilities in Jobs and Careers preempted my thoughts toward getting a job right away. That is the ultimate goal but this website http://www.amputee-coalition.org/easyread/first_step_2005/voc_rehab-ez.html also provides information that may interest individual with disabilities who are seeking VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING. In order to use VR services, you must:

• Be legally eligible to work in the United States. This means that you must prove that you are a citizen of the United States, usually by showing your driver’s license, Social Security card and at least one other form of ID, such as a birth certificate or passport.
• Have a physical, mental or emotional disability that keeps you from finding or keeping a job.
• Be willing and able to work.

After acceptance, VR offers the following Training & Education:

• On-the-job training. This means paid training under supervision in a normal work environment, learning to use the equipment, documents or materials that you will use when you are ready to work without supervision.
• Self-employment. This means having your own business, rather than working for others. Self-employment is often a good choice for people with disabilities. VR can help research different types of businesses, provide advice from consultants, and help pay the costs of starting a business or buying equipment.
• Supported employment. This is on-the-job help for workers or their employers.
• Short-term vocational training. This includes training programs to help people enter the job market quickly. Training can be just a few hours or take up to two years.
• College education. VR can help pay college costs beyond financial aid from the school.

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Individuals with disabilities and their providers may find this website http://www.inspiritec.org/InspiritecOrg/PWD/vocational_training.asp InspiriTec: Inspiring Work Through Technology useful if the individual with disabilities is interested in receiving VOCATIONAL TRAINING in the IT field. They provide training for computer data entry and customer service. Since 2000, they have generated 267 new jobs, 882 IT training sessions to 743 trainees with disabilities, and maintained a 90+% retention rate.

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Resources for Vocational Education & Other Post-Secondary Resources

http://www.fsdb.k12.fl.us/rmc/content/voc.html Resource Materials and Technology Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing

TRANSPORTATION & MOBILITY FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES

Technology allows individuals with physical disabilities to have individual mobility with motorized equipment. Unfortunately, keeping the equipment safe may pose a challenge. This is a video http://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play?p=disabled+living&n=21&b=1&ei=utf-8&js=1&fr=slv7-msgr&fr2=tab-web&tnr=20&vid=000166437246tnr=20&vid=000166437246 of a motorized scooter stolen from Wayne, who was diagnosed with MS 15 years ago. Four boys stole the scooter from Wayne’s home. The boys unplugged the scooter and took it; they were found in the neighborhood riding the scooter three days later.

In Jacksonville, FL, JTA Connexion http://www.jtaonthemove.com/Schedules/showPage.aspx?Sel=9 provides paratransit service for individuals with disabilities and transportation for disadvantaged riders unable to use fixed route buses. Individuals with disabilities and their families, who are without immediate transportation, may find the tab links to “schedules,” and “riding JTA” valuable. Many UNF students with disabilities resolve their transportation dilemma by using JTA Connexion services.

This paper http://www.abledata.com/abledata_docs/Intensive_Mobility_Training.htm provides Intensive Mobility Training for Disabled Drivers for the Safe Use of Power Wheelchairs, Scooters & Automobiles. The paper was written to assist doctors, therapist, and mobility equipment dispensers to better understand the needs for and limitations of "Intensive User Mobility Training" necessary to ensure user- and public- safety. This paper especially addresses the conflicting requirements that many AT (Assistive Technology) users have. EXAMPLES: a person with severe disabilities, such as a spinal-injury quadriplegic or a person with advanced ALS or MS, is acquiring a power wheelchair for both indoor- and outdoor- use. Or, perhaps, such a person desires to drive an automobile or wheelchair van using special controls or assistive technology. The basic conflict this person faces is to receive sufficient training and practice to ensure SAFETY (his own and the public's) despite his own physical endurance limitations (that may limit the time for each training or practice session.)

I found this New York website http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/fea/20030421/202/355 interesting due to the controversial issues with transportation for individuals with disabilities. I found the archive full of interesting fact that show how slow society moves when making accommodations for individuals with disabilities. Check out the link to “A Decade of Disability Rights.”

Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, & South Carolina Mobility Equipment Specialists & Dealers website http://digiads.com.au/MobilityAids/MobilityEquipmentSpecialists-Florida-Georgia-NorthCarolina-SouthCarolina.htmlia-NorthCarolina-SouthCarolina.html allows families of persons with disabilities to find adaptive used vehicles for sale in the southeastern area. The site is beneficial for families who cannot afford to pay to customize a brand new vehicle. The left tab provides a search for particular vehicle accommodations and vehicle type. Additionally, Mobility Van Sales allows individuals with disabilities to search for vehicles according to their state location. http://www.mobilityvansales.com/used-handicap-vans/florida_vansales.html