#42Workforce Training for Students with Disabilities

Parents, teachers, and homeschoolers will appreciate the free online resources with extensive jobs training curriculum  that aligns with IEP goals for the K-12 students with disabilities, and the IPE goals for Vocational Rehabilitation clients.  The podcast also shares  a quick SCANS jobs skills online assessment specifically for students with disabilities.

The Complete T-Folio Online Jobs Curriculum
The Original Scans Report
ERIC Research article
Scans Skills and Competencies
Free Scans Skills Assessment
Becoming a Master Student by Dave Ellis
Free Ebook, “Insights from a Disability Specialist: 9 Critical College Concerns

Transcript

Mickie Hayes  0:00  
Do you ever worry about how well prepared your child with a disability is to successfully enter the job market and to plan a future career? Do you wonder what kind of resources are out there that you might be able to use to help your child with a disability on that path to a good career. Regardless of the type of disability that your child has, the end game for college is always the world of work and how your child can be prepared for competitive integrated employment. And so today we're going to take a closer look at that. I have some excellent, excellent resources that I'm going to share with you today. Whether your child is part of the public school system, the private school system, or is being home-schooled, this resource today can make a world of difference for your child's future. So welcome to college disabilities and success, Episode 42: Workforce Training for Students with Disabilities, by Mickie Hayes. The opinions in this podcast are my own, please reach out to your college physician or legal services for additional information.

Mickie Hayes  1:13  
When I was a high school SLD teacher, I quickly realized that there was a huge gap in the information that I was sharing with my students, and the curriculum that I was using at that time, because there was nothing in my curriculum to support those students who were transitioning to college or to work. And so I kind of gathered all my wits together and eventually developed a nine week curriculum on finding a job, entering the job market. So my interest in exploring curriculum and curriculum opportunities with regards to careers, has been going on for a very, very long time. After I worked at the high school, I went to work at the college and I found that a lot of my college students who came in for extra support really didn't have the tools they needed for employment either. So I started pulling together the resources that I could share with them that make a difference in preparing for work. And one of the resources that I came across back in the day was something called the SCANS Report. The SCANS report came out in 1991, and it was updated in 2000. SCANS is the Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills. That commission was appointed by the Secretary of Labor to determine the skills that our teens need to succeed in the world of work. The scans report really had a lot of good insights into the kinds of skills, the literacy skills, the computational skills, the soft skills, that children need in order to be successful in competitive employment. There will be a link to all of my resources, including the original SCANS report in today's show notes. When I worked at the college, I was an adjunct instructor there for about 11 years, and many of those semesters I was what they call an SLS instructor, which is a course for Student Life Skills. One of the resources that we used for that program was something called Becoming a Master Student, and it's a book by Dave Ellis. And that includes everything you ever wanted to know about being successful in college. But one of the pieces of that book talked about the SCANS report, and it addressed the SCANS report that I had originally learned about back in 1991. The SCANS report talks about foundation skills that your child needs to be successful, including basic skills, thinking skills, and personal qualities, such as self-esteem and self-management. It also talks about workplace competencies, the resources that you need, the interpersonal skills that you need, the information, the systems, the technology, all of the knowledge that you need to be competent in the workplace. And I have for you today also a link to a SCANS skills assessment that you can access in the show notes, the SCANS skills assessment that I'm sharing with you comes from a resource called the T-Folio, and that is the incredible resource for students with disabilities that I'm going to share with you today. The T-Folio was created by the Center for Change in Transition Services, CCTS at Seattle University, with funding from Washington State Division of Social and Health Services Division of Vocational Rehab. T-Folio is a free online transition portfolio tool for high school aged youth with disabilities. The curriculum provides lesson plans and tips to help teens build job-related skills. One of the great features of the T-Folio is that their curriculum aligns with IEP guidelines the K-12 systems need to use when they're doing their transition planning. But it also aligns with vocational rehabs IP-Ease, the educational plans that vocational rehab uses for their clients with disabilities. And many of the activities also align with high school and beyond plans for all students for graduation. T-Folio is a free online resource, and it's designed specifically for high school students with disabilities to help them prepare for the kinds of skills that they need to be successful at work. The T-Folio contains all kinds of tips and resources that any parent or teacher or homeschooler would love to have available to them. It's really a complete picture of what the teens need as they head into work. The T-Folio has been updated in 2020. And so the curriculum that I'm going to share with you now is very, very current and updated. T-Folio starts with a student-centered introduction, and it contains five units.

Mickie Hayes  6:33  
Unit one is Job Exploration Groundwork; unit two, Post-Secondary Employment and Educational Options; Unit three, Work-Based Learning Experiences; Unit four, Workplace Readiness Training; and Unit five, Self-Advocacy. And then each one of those units is a complete curriculum within itself. Each unit has multiple lessons, and they contain a lesson guide, an occasional rating scale in some of the lessons and a PowerPoint explanation of the lesson. So T-Folio is a complete resource, free for anybody to use. And I really, really believe it's worth taking a look at. One of the things that I really liked about the T-Folio was the section that it did hat was in conjunction with the SCANS skills, and that is in Unit three, lesson two. And there you will get access to a SCANS skills assessment tool that will evaluate your child's ability to reach certain levels of expectation. Now the tool uses a four step rating scale. One, does the child need development in that skill? Two, is the child competent in the skill? Three, is the child proficient in the skill? And four, does the child have advanced skills. So in each of these points, on the SCANS skills assessment, you can evaluate which areas your child needs extra attention in. I'm going to take just a moment now to tell you what the areas are that are assessed on that SCANS skills assessment tool. The first thing that's evaluated are basic skills, speaking, listening, reading, writing, and mathematics. Then the thinking skills, combining ideas in new ways, making decisions, exercising leadership, solving problems. And then there's the foundation skills, personal qualities, things like attendance and appearance, self-management, accepting direction and criticism. So very important. And integrity, honesty, confidentiality. There's a section that you can evaluate your child on how competent they are in resource management, managing time, managing money, how competent their interpersonal skills are, interacting with coworkers, interacting with customers, respecting diversity, how good they are at organizing information and communicating that information. They take a look at the dynamics. Do they understand how the organization works? The health and safety issues of the organization? Personnel policies, leave policies, things like that. And then there's a section where you can ask assess your child's level of ability on selecting tools and procedures, and applying technology to a task. Then once you evaluate your child based on the skills assessment, you'll then know which areas of the curriculum, you really need to focus in on to help your child out. So this skills assessment will give you some really good insights about the strengths and the needs of your children with disabilities. When I talked to Kate, Weir in Episode 40. About Think College and college programs for students with intellectual disabilities, she mentioned there, how greatly improved students who are in that program become in gaining competitive employment. And I think part of that reason is because the programs, wherever they are across this country, always have a section that deals with competitive employment. And they stress so very much on how a child can become an independent adult, and become competitively employed. And that's why I think today's podcast episode is so critical. If you are a program or a teacher, or even a parent, and you don't know where to start helping your child with gaining the knowledge they need to be successful in the workplace, this T-Folio is a perfect starting point, and can make a big difference for students with disabilities. Whether they're dealing with an intellectual disability, a learning disability, autism, whatever the issue is that they are facing, it gives you a chance to address those needs, and it gives you some resources that you can use. So I definitely think it's worth your time. In the meantime, if you are the parent of a child who is transitioning from high school into college, and you're not sure of what direction and what support, and what changes are going to be coming down the pike, take a look at mickieteaches.com. That's MICKIEteaches.com, and check out my course that I have on there for parents, and my free resources that I have on there for parents, because you may find some value that will help your child become a success in college, and as a result of success in the area of work. Thank you for joining me today. I hope you found value in today's episode. I know I really, really have been driven in my whole career to learn what I can about improving young adults' transitions to employment, and heading to college is that step many, many, many students need to get into the job market.

Mickie Hayes  13:14  
If you have any suggestions on future podcast episodes on Mickie teaches.com. I also have a forum there that you can submit to me with your suggestions, and I'll be glad to follow up with you. Have a great rest of the day, and take care. Bye.

Mickie Hayes  13:32  
Information contained throughout this podcast has been gleaned from my own personal experiences, but to ensure accuracy please contact the Disability Services at the college of your choice to have firsthand information and the most up to date policies and procedures followed by your particular institution of higher education. The content in any of these podcasts is not intended as a substitute for information from legal, educational or medical professionals. Always seek the advice of your attorney or qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have with regards to legal educational or medical concerns.