Jane Thierfeld Brown, Ed.D College Autism Spectrum

Jane Thierfeld Brown, Ed.D College Autism Spectrum
PA State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) and PA Dept. of Education Autism Collaboration Project Jane Thierfeld Brown, Ed.D College Autism Spectrum Yale Child Study PDE/PaTTAN

PaTTAN’s Mission The mission of the Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network (PaTTAN) is to support the efforts and initiatives of the Bureau of Special Education, and to build the capacity of local educational agencies to serve students who receive special education services. PaTTAN’s mission is to support the initiatives of the Bureau of Special Education and the build capacity of LEAs to serve to students who receive special education services. 2

PDE’s Commitment to Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)
Our goal for each child is to ensure Individualized Education Program (IEP) teams begin with the general education setting with the use of Supplementary Aids and Services before considering a more restrictive environment. PDE is committed to making certain that students are educated in the least restrictive environment by ensuring that IEP teams consider the general education setting with the use of supplementary aids and services prior to a more restrictive environmentl. 3

CollegeAutismSpectrum 2017 DO NOT REPRODUCE
National Statistics 1 in 68 births 2 to 3 million Americans Fastest-growing developmental disability % annual growth Growth comparison during the 1990s: U.S. population increase: 13% Disabilities increase: 16% Autism increase: 172% $90 billion annual cost 90% of costs are in adult services Cost of lifelong care can be reduced by 2/3 with early diagnosis and intervention In 10 years, the annual cost will be $ billion CollegeAutismSpectrum DO NOT REPRODUCE

Regional Autism Rates Point to Impact of Awareness, Training
The prevalence of autism has risen from 1 in 150 children in to as high 1 in 45 in Studies that explore geographic patterns of autism may clarify how much of the increase is due to awareness and better diagnostic practices versus biological and environmental causes. BY BAHAR GHOLIPOUR / 10 JULY 2017 Spectrum News College Autism Spectrum 2017 Do Not Reproduce

BY BAHAR GHOLIPOUR / 10 JULY 2017 Spectrum News CollegeAutismSpectrum DO NOT REPRODUCE

Where Have Families Been?
Getting a diagnosis Coming to grips with the diagnosis Securing Services (IEP/IDEA/Ch. 766) Parent as Advocate & CEO Elementary and Secondary School The Decision The Search (choosing and getting a college) CollegeAutismSpectrum DO NOT REPRODUCE

At Graduation It All Changes!
The laws Who is in charge Expectations Temptations Consequences Accommodations CollegeAutismSpectrum DO NOT REPRODUCE

CBS News Money Watch 4/13 According to a study by ACT, 89% of high school teachers believe that their students are “well” or “very well” prepared for freshman-level work. By contrast, only 26% of college faculty members think students are ready. CollegeAutismSpectrum DO NOT REPRODUCE

college readiness is fundamentally different than high school competence current measures of college readiness do not necessarily do a good job of capturing these multifaceted dimensions of readiness Differences in pace, emphasis on different aspects of the content, goals of courses – expectations are fundamentally different than HS. Generally expected to think more deeply about what they are being taught. Different learning strategies and coping skills needed in college vs. HS EPIC Educational Policy and Improvement Center CollegeAutismSpectrum DO NOT REPRODUCE

AACHIEVE: Why is this important?
High School Competence College Readiness Please raise your hand if you attended Jane Thierfeld-Brown’s session yesterday regarding transition to college for students who have autism. If so the concepts that this slide represents may be familiar to you. Kristin According to a study by ACT, 89% of high school teachers believe that their students are “well” or “very well” prepared for freshman-level work. By contrast, only 26% of college faculty members think students are ready. CBS News Money Watch 4/13 Ask the group to identify key differences between High School and College. We can highlight: Law Changes (no longer IDEA but ADA) Allowable accommodations Student leads (not parent) Use of study guides College environement requires skills to be independent, self-advocate, problem solve EPIC Educational Policy and Improvement Center College Autism Spectrum 2016 Do not use without permission

A ACHIEVE An Autism College High School Innovation Educational
Vocational Excellence

Who is the Driver? High School Parents/Guardians Teachers Counselors College The Student CollegeAutismSpectrum DO NOT REPRODUCE S

Challenges for Parents Who is going to wake him up? Limited access (FERPA) What about vulnerability? But that course was waived in H.S. Can’t you make her….. He CAN’T do a foreign language Maybe we shouldn't’t have taken the diploma CollegeAutismSpectrum DO NOT REPRODUCE

IDEA vs. ADA IDEA ADA Type of Law Education, Entitlement Civil rights statute, Eligibility Responsibility Parent and school Student Ensures Success Equal Access Services Evaluation, remediation, special accommodations Reasonable accommodations Focus Diagnostic label Level of functional impairment Disability One of 13 categories Impairment in major life activity A child who attends public schools has a legal entitlement to an education only one qualification for entry into public school: the appropriate age has an IEP that outlines goals The school is responsible for making it happen. CollegeAutismSpectrum DO NOT REPRODUCE

Accommodations in college
How do students receive accommodations in higher education? CollegeAutismSpectrum DO NOT REPRODUCE

Collaborated with PDE We need to start sooner! CollegeAutismSpectrum DO NOT REPRODUCE

Who Does AACHIEVE Serve?
When the Little Things Aren’t So Little Dear Jane, I just started college this week. So far, I’ve had a breakdown in the bookstore because the line was too long and I had to get to class. Then I had to be rescued by campus police because I got confused crossing the street. Plus, I haven’t been to the dining hall because they don’t have the kind of food I eat. I feel like I’m ready to give up, but I won’t leave my room. Please help! Sincerely, Ready to Give Up Dear Never Give Up, Kristin and Natalie Read the Dear Jane columns Select one that resonates with you Share with your table group which article resonates with you and why Discuss as a group what your LEA is doing to address these issues. Large group share out. Why might an article resonate with you? You have a student, parent, or teacher who has that problem, you know a friend or family member who has that difficulty, you see this skill as an area of deficit that needs to be addressed in a different way, you have found an interesting approach to addressing the issue in you building or program, etc…. Large group shareout if time allows. Research has shown that these types of issues happen and can result in poor outcomes for students with autism.

OVR AACHIEVE PASSHEE PCCC Pre-Employment Transition Services
PDE → BSE → PaTTAN (Transition & Autism) PASSHEE PCCC OVR Pre-Employment Transition Services Early Reach Collaboration with HS Summer Bridge Programs Kristin Pre-Employment Transition Services

Kristin

What Does AACHIEVE Do? Consultation with Jane Thierfeld Brown Training
Resources University summer programs Consultation with University staff, mentoring by college students Review of surveys and IEP’s Use of action plan format Student ownership of action plan Student (starting 9th grade) Parents Teachers PaTTAN Multiple Perspectives Development of independence and self- advocacy skills Building Capacity Connection to the next step So how do we support the school teams? A requirement of the project is to engage multiple stakeholders. Each school team includes the student, parents, relevant teachers and school staff, and an assigned PaTTAN consultant. Our goal is to build capacity of schools teams as well as families and students. PDE and PASSHE have contracted with an external consultant who works directly with PaTTAN and the school team, Jane Thierfeld-Brown. Jane has been engaged in this work at the university level for over 30 years. She is the Assistant Clinical Professor at Yale Child Study in the Yale Medical School and the director of College Autism Spectrum. We building capacity by providing training and resources to teams, students, and families. Teams begin this process by completing a survey about the student. We obtain the student’s, teacher’s, and parent’s perspective on separate surveys. From this information the team creates an action plan. The goal is for the student to gradually take over devising and implementing the action plan. The purpose is two-fold: 1) the action plan is essential for moving the student forward and 2) in the way that we engage the student in this process…we are facilitating the development of independence and self-advocacy skills. While we are working with the teams, we are always considering the next step, college. We share information about the university’s summer programs and resources that they can provide. Jane works directly with the state universities and community colleges to develop their programs for students with autism.

Student Self-Identified Areas of Need
Breaking down large assignments into meaningful parts (55%) Carrying on conversations with peers Study Skills (50%) Identifying clubs/social groups of interest (46%) Finding strategies for initiating work/ Motivating myself to do work (41%) Action plans differ from student to student. As you know….when you know one person with autism you ONLY know one person with autism. We have analyzed the student surveys from across the 4 pilot schools and here is some the information that was reported. Please note that students do not necessarily know what they might need in college so their action plans are not solely based on the surveys. The action plans are also based on the skills that are required to be successful in college. Heavy emphasis is placed on what you see in the yellow boxes. How can we teach study skills? Do teachers provide study guides? Are study guides in the IEP? If so, we need to begin to teach the student how to take multiple sources of information (i.e., lecture notes, text book readings, secondary sources) and create their own study guides How are SDIs assessed and continued/discontinued? Does the student use and/or need the SDIs? What skill can we teach the student so that SDI is not needed? Which of the SDIs are allowable in college? How can students participate in (direct) their IEP meetings? Students need to learn about disclosing their disability and be able to describe the needs to professors. The student coordinates the implementation of all accommodations in college with some assistance of the disability services office. Parents are not involved. One way to prepare the student for this requirement is to have them facilitate their own IEP meetings. This should start in 9th grade and over time the student should take on more and more responsibility. How can schools teach problem solving? Rather than problem solving for students. For example, if the student misses a test because they were absent, require the student to go to teachers and determine when and where it can be rescheduled. Many times we solve these problems for students because it is easier…we need to put these issues in the hands of the student. High school is a safe time and place to practice these skills, where support is available if needed. How can schools support self-discovery? Some students struggle with restrictive interests or have difficulties initiating. We model strategies for engaging students in this “self-discovery” process which result in individual action steps that challenge students to explore and initiate in an environment where support and problem solving is scaffolded. How can schools teach study skills? How are SDIs assessed and continued/ discontinued? How can students participate in (direct) their IEP meetings? How can schools teach problem solving? How can schools support self-discovery?

What Have We Learned?

Interests (academic, social, vocational)
The Student Now IEP Goals SDI Interests (academic, social, vocational) Self Advocacy Natural Supports College Employment AACHIEVE: How can we help the student? We have this narrow section of time to work with … Look at IEP’s … what kind of goals … evaluate the need of SDI’s … tie SDI’s to skill development … Schools and families have to look to each other and to college programs (bridge programs) What can we do? (Grigal et al., 2011) Increase access to academics, support self-advocacy skills, include goals related to post-secondary education in IEP’s Increase collaboration between LEA’s, VR, DD, IHE Eliminate goals for segregated work settings Improve professional development of transition personnel, school counselors, higher education personnel, rehabilitation counselors Our goal is to build capacity of schools so that they can support students. However, we also need to work with schools to examine and evaluate their current system including their policies and practices with regard to supports provided to students with autism who are planning to attend college. AACHIEVE: How can we help the system? AACHIEVE: How can we ensure that we are working towards a career, and not just a college degree? Collaboration …. Professional Development Grigal, Hart, & Migliore, 2011

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Contact Information Kristin Starosta Natalie Sokol Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Tom Wolf, Governor

School Roles Goal = Student taking the lead on developing and maintaining the action plan Lead Teacher Complete survey for each participating student (seek out other teacher/staff input if needed) Communication with other school team members, family members, and students Scheduling meetings and arranging coverage Work with student and PaTTAN to develop agenda for AACHIEVE meetings Participate in monthly meetings and support student as requested Facilitate the development, monitoring, and implementation of action plan (i.e., support student to identify priorities, take notes, provide instruction and support for skill development, coordinate activities) School Team Participate in meetings, as requested/indicated Support the implementation of student’s action plan (where indicated) Discuss what can be done at the school to support current and future students (i.e., scheduling changes? Changes to how support is delivered? Resources?) Provide feedback to AACHIEVE CollegeAutismSpectrum DO NOT REPRODUCE

Student/Family Roles Goal = Student taking the lead on developing and maintaining the action plan Student Complete survey Obtain permission to attend meetings from classes and arrange to make up any work Participate in meetings Think about and share goals for high school, college, work Work with teacher to develop, maintain, implement action plan Provide feedback to AACHIEVE Family Support student to implement action plan CollegeAutismSpectrum DO NOT REPRODUCE

AACHIEVE Roles Goal = Student taking the lead on developing and maintaining the action plan Jane Thierfeld Brown Guide student, family, and supporting team members (i.e., lead teacher, PaTTAN) Work with school teams and PaTTAN to increase students’ readiness for college and work opportunities Work with school team and PaTTAN to connect students to resources (i.e., college experiences, OVR) Work with agencies (PASSHEE, OVR) to develop programs and resources to support students in high school, college, and work opportunities Develop resources (in collaboration with PaTTAN and schools) to support students and teams Deliver trainings for participating schools as requested PaTTAN Work with lead teacher and student to develop agenda’s for AACHIEVE meetings Meet every other month with teacher and student to monitor action plan and provide support Develop resources based on needs of students Coordinate surveys, data collection, feedback Coordinate kick-off training Support Jane! CollegeAutismSpectrum DO NOT REPRODUCE

Meeting Schedule Kick-Off Leadership Conf April: September/October:
All Team Members Action Planning November: School Teams and then Students December: Families and then Students January: (Face to Face with PaTTAN) February: Face to Face Meeting for School Teams at PDE Conference March: April: May: All Team Members Confirm Summer Activities and Plan for Next School Year PaTTAN Leadership Conf CollegeAutismSpectrum DO NOT REPRODUCE

Who Are Our Partners? https://wcupa.edu/viceProvost/dcap/
Kristin

Prepare Student to Discuss All of the Following Impact of diagnosis on academics Housing issues Hygiene or self care Med management Dietary issues Stress tolerance in general Transportation Behavior and conduct issues CollegeAutismSpectrum DO NOT REPRODUCE

Executive Functioning
Planning & Organization Monitoring Self Regulation Time management CollegeAutismSpectrum DO NOT REPRODUCE

Self Advocacy Know yourself-strengths, weaknesses, interests Understand what works for you—try some things out Learn to speak up for yourself about your ASD and your interests Push your envelope CollegeAutismSpectrum DO NOT REPRODUCE

Self Regulation Planning and organization Time management Delay of gratification Material disarray Emotional control Motivation CollegeAutismSpectrum DO NOT REPRODUCE

Specials Interests Preoccupation with these prevents from doing HW Special interests can become majors and jobs! CollegeAutismSpectrum DO NOT REPRODUCE

Motivation Has to come from within to work Find the hook and draw it out Break it down into manageable pieces CollegeAutismSpectrum DO NOT REPRODUCE

A ACHIEVE Start Sooner Prepare better
Look toward adulthood, not just the college degree

Questions and Comments
Thank you for coming. CollegeAutismSpectrum DO NOT REPRODUCE

Jane Thierfeld Brown, Ed.D College Autism Spectrum

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Jane Thierfeld Brown, Ed.D College Autism Spectrum

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