The Pipeline for Students with IDD

Source: The Atlantic

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act is a law that ensures education for students with disabilities, and requires schools to develop transition programs and job training for them, as The Atlantic explained.

Yet many students with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) are often not given excellent educational opportunities to match their potential; in fact, most students are pipelined into special isolated schools, where they are exposed only to other students with IDD, which can detract from their sense of inclusion.

Furthermore, the chance that a students with a disability will land a job after graduation is slim, as data from the 2012 Bureau of Labor Statistics on disabled adults showed that the majority of them were unemployed. Experts noted that is in large due to lack of training and educational programs that actually pose a huge barrier to their employment. In many cases, persons with disabilities that are employed will often be underpaid and marginalized in secluded environments or segregated ‘sheltered jobs.’

New efforts in legislation followed by federal grants are fighting to develop better programs and academies that truly prepare students with IDD for life after graduation. The programs are tailored to specific trades in jobs that are in high demand and that offer decent wages, to make employment a realistic goal for them. The programs furthermore are designed to give students real skills that make them competitive, and that ultimately expand a sense of inclusion beyond school and into workplaces.

See how the River Terrace Special Education Center is making a difference for students with IDD

Read full story at: The Atlantic

Children & Families, Education, News
Children & Families, Education, News