Get Your Students Hired
It is important to know that we all have a role and we must stay knowledgable regarding students with disabilities.
Julius,
It's never easy to be the wet blanket who has to point out the possible problems, but you are right -- it needs to be done. So long as it is presented as a dialogue, and the student's right to make their own, informed decision is respected, everyone wins.
Dr. Jane Jarrow
When placed in these ty pe of situations.... I try to be forth right without putting my back to the wall. I will invite another instructor or administrator into the situation and openly have dialogue with the student/students. i follow the guidelines and adhere too them until other provisions have been made. I never throw anyone under the bus but try to come to some type of resolution with discounting the student(s) opinion or feelings.
James,
It is always appropriate to be honest with students about the barriers they may be facing -- even if those barriers at created within the institution. The challenge is finding a way to change the institutional culture to remove those barriers.
Dr. Jane Jarrow
I can approach the academic units on my campus to discuss to what I now understand to be inappropriate standards is communication is important. What happens when I know those requirements are open to challenge is to tell the students what are the requirements are going to be for the program of study or their major that they are going to be in to see if they are ready to make a change in their lives.
Jeffery,
There is nothing wrong with being an optimist, Jeffery. Or in being a crusader for that matter. GRIN. Let me know if you need help.
Dr. Jane Jarrow
Brent,
That's a reasonable concern and a good question -- will there be jobs available for people with disabilities who need a little longer to accomplish the same thing, or accomplish the same goal through alternative means? There are several possible answers that come to mind -- first, the laws that protect equal opportunity in education also require equal opportunity in the workplace (and the fact that a worker is not disabled doesn't mean they are good at the work to be done! GRIN). Then, too, the person with a disability may find new and unanticipated ways to use the education they are gaining. They do not necessarily have to use it in only one setting or instance. Perhaps the bottom line is that we cannot guarantee employment for any student, disabled or not. We provide them the tools, and they decide what to make of them (and find their own opportunities).
Dr. Jane Jarrow
I guess I am ever the optimist. I'm having trouble answering this question. The reason why, is that I believe fully in the resolve of someone that is 100% committed to following a dream.
I am one to happily buck the system when change is blatently necessary. I of couse do so with respect and through proper protocol. I will absolutely be honest with my students, and I am. If requirements are open to challenge....you challenge them. Change never came without challenging what people thought they knew already.
I like the idea of focusing on what needs to be done versus how it gets done. We live in a day of innovation and new procedures are developed for a variety of tasks whether they be for the disabled or the able bodied. I agree with the honesty principle, we have discussed before how ahead of the game education is and behind the game industry is. Industry wants efficient, cost effective production. Education wants the same end product but is willing to take longer to get there. A student may earn the training and education needed for a job, but will jobs be made available espcially in cases when the economy is tough and there are plenty of able bodied workers to hire.
Lisa ,
I think I would agree with you here, so long as you are telling me that such a committee meets and assesses the potential for ALL students, and not just students with disabilities or other students whom they think cannot meet the challenge for some reason. So long as all students undergo the same scrutiny, I'm all for it. But if the committee is only called together to discuss how to defend a decision to exclude someone, I'm not so enthusiastic.
Dr. Jane Jarrow
The key in my experience has always been to educate the educators on these topics, once you have there buy in and understanding, they will do fine .
With the every changing and more regulations especially when it comes to actually placing the students in the field, the school is sometimes definately put between that rock and a hard place. By having a committe that has someone with expierence and looks at things from all angles of ensuring both the sucess of the student and the outcomes that are demanded to meet the technical standards helps the academic department make decsions and stick behind them even if they are challenged. Knowing and sharing the specifics of the requirements and any limitations that are discovered with this team at the moment of discovery is critical so there is foundation and documentation when there is a challenge.
Nicholas,
Sounds like you have a very savvy Regulatory Affairs person, Nicholas. Developing technical standards that focus on WHAT must be done, rather than HOW it must be done, is what it is all about. Give her my congratulations!
Dr. Jane Jarrow
At my school we are in the process of completing a full curriculum re-vamp. I am fortunate to have a Regulatory Affairs person who starts with the requirements (both technical and physical), and evaluates the curriculum from that perspective. That way, when we need to determine if a proposed accommodation will "fundamentally alter" the program, we will have a set of very specific tasks and skills, for each individual course. I like that she focuses on the task/skill, rather than the method of teaching/implementation. After reading some of the materials in this course, I see where her ADA training and experience have come into play. I can now better appreciate where she is "coming from" when she pushes back......
Chrissy,
Agreed. The problem is that technical skills are not always clearly thought out or stated. Part of our job may be to help the student understand what must be done, how it is TRADITIONALLY accomplished, and then help them discern how they might accomplish the same thing through different means.
Dr. Jane Jarrow
John,
The trick is to get comfortable with seeing students with disabilities as CAPABLE, rather than DISABLED. Emphasis on abilities helps to remind us of the options available, rather than just the limitations.
Dr. Jane Jarrow
I think that it is really important to let students know what the techinical skills will be in order to get a job. They need to know what they will be faced with and then it is up to them to make the decsion.
This is difficult for many of uas to do, as we look at a situation through our own eyes and our own perception of a disability, which does not allow us to see the possibility's, but only the difficulty's ahead.