by Nirvi Shah

Although a number of federal government programs and services are intended to help students with disabilities after they leave high school, those programs aren’t coordinated well, making them difficult for students and their families to navigate, a new report from the Government Accountability Office says.

Services students can apply for include tutoring, vocational training, and assistive technology. These come from the federal departments of Education, Labor, Health and Human Services, and the Social Security Administration. But the different agencies only coordinate their activities to an extent and don’t ever reflect on how effectively they work together, the GAO said in the report, released today.

While ideally, students with disabilities get help planning for life after high school—planning for a path that leads to work or additional schooling—once they leave school they are on their own in applying for services and support from various federal government agencies.

via GAO: Transition for Students With Disabilities Can, Must Improve.

by Nirvi Shah

Too often, when students with disabilities are moving from school to the workplace—a phase typically called transition—some of the basic tenets of the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act are ignored, said Jeff Spitzer-Resnick, managing attorney for Disability Rights Wisconsin.

That includes being placed in the least restrictive environment—in other words, with nondisabled peers to the extent possible.

“We have long been concerned that children with disabilities in general were not getting what they needed in transition,” he said. For too long, “transition” meant a pipeline to work in a segregated environment, often at so-called sheltered workshops, which typically pay less than minimum wage, he said, “without any real conversation about whether this was appropriate. What about a job coach? What about assistive technology? [These are] all the things they consider for the classroom environment?

via ‘Least-Restrictive Environment’ Must Be Considered at Workplace, Too.

by Nirvi Shah

In a recent piece for The Atlantic, lawyer Miriam Kurtzig Freedman shares some ideas for dramatically changing IDEA, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

An attorney might propose ways to reform the law—due for reauthorization for several years now—that are beneficial to that profession. But that’s anything but the gist of these suggestions.

via Proposals for Reforming Special Education Law.