TSBVI EXIT and Post Secondary: Overview and Comparison This video is posted online with the following chapter markers: Chapter 1. Introduction Chapter 2. Similarities & Differences Chapter 3. Eligibility Criteria Chapter 4. Costs Chapter 5. Living Arrangement Chapter 6. Student Examples Chapter 7. Transition Planning Chapter 8. Program Duration Chapter 9. Resources Description of graphical content is included between Description Start and Description End. Transcript Start Chapter 1. Introduction [Silence] [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: TSBVI EXIT and Post Secondary Programs: Overview and Comparison Content: November 12th, 2015 3pm-4pm Tad Doezema, Assistant Principal, TSBVI taddoezema@tsbvi.edu Linda Locke, Post Secondary Coordinator lindalocke@tsbvi.edu Description End: Tad Doezema: Hello, my name is Tad Doezema and I am an assistant principal here at the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired. [ Slide end: ] I have the privilege of Supervising the EXIT program and the Career Education Program and the Post Secondary Program here on our campus. And to my left is Linda Locke, who is our fantastic Post Secondary coordinator who is extremely qualified for her job, because she did the job that I'm currently doing before I did it. So she used to supervise the EXIT program and the Post‑Secondary Program and the Career Education Department. So, today we're going to be talking about our two -- our two programs. And the main -- our goal and our focus is pretty simple. We... we often get questions and there's often confusion about the two programs and who... who -- which program is a good fit for which student, and it's very understandable that there is, because it can be tricky to know. And so our goal today is to help clarify what are the similarities and what are the differences between these two programs at our school. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: left-side text: Poll: What is your relationship to the student? • Parent • Teacher of the Visually Impaired • Orientation and Mobility Instructor right-side text: Poll: How familiar are you with the Expanded Core Curriculum (ECC)? • Very familiar • Somewhat familiar • Not familiar Description End: So, there were a couple of things that we were curious about, that I think would help us to be able to know how much information to share. One -- one question was: What is your relationship to the student? Are you a parent, are a Teacher of the Visually Impaired or are you an Orientation & Mobility Instructor. And I think it's very possible that you are something other than those three, I should have had an "Other" bullet. The other question is: How familiar are you with the Expanded Core Curriculum? Very familiar, somewhat familiar, or not familiar. That will help us to know how much detail we should go into about the Expanded Core Curriculum. [ Slide end: ] Chapter 2. Similarities & Differences So, this next slide is just simply kind of side‑by‑side the two programs that we're going to be talking about today. The EXIT Program, EXIT is an acronym, it stands for Experiences in Transition and the Post Secondary Program, that we'll often probably for today be referring to as PSP for the Post Secondary Program. So we wanted to start with the similarities between the two programs. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Similarities Content: • 18-22 • Legally Blind • Expanded Core Curriculum focus • Preparation for Adult Life • Community Experiences/ Exploration • Live on TSBVI campus • 24 hour Security • Programming based on needs and future goals Description End: Both programs are for young adults between the ages 18 and 22. In order to qualify for both, students need to be legally blind. There is a large focus on the Expanded Core Curriculum in both programs. Both programs have a focus on preparation for adult life. Both programs also include a focus on community experiences and community exploration. Students in both programs live on the TSBVI campus, here in Austin. And both programs have 24 hour security, or the school security... encompasses both programs. And for both programs, the programming that we provide is based on student needs and future goals. [ Slide end: ] And I -- hopefully people feel comfortable asking questions as we explain this information. What we're going to try to explain it as clearly as we can. But if it's not clear, please feel free to ask questions, and... and we definitely want to make it as clear as we can possibly make it. So this next slide addresses what we think is the primary difference between the two programs. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Primary Difference Content: center text: Education vs Rehabilitation center graphic: Yellow line with arrows on both left & right left-side text: TSBVI EXIT; Experiences in Transition; (Entitlement) right-side text: Post Secondary Program; Criss Cole Rehabilitation Center; (Eligibility) Description End: So, on this -- in the PowerPoint right now is a slide with... an arrow pointing in both left and right directions and on ‑‑ on our left side it says TSBVI EXIT. And so the EXIT Program is -- falls under the umbrella of education. So students who are in EXIT are still in the education system, and so therefore they still have all of the entitlements under IDEA that... that students within the education system have. [ Slide end: ] Whereas the Post Secondary Program is no longer education. PSP falls under the umbrella of rehabilitation. And so, therefore, the students in PSP are not under IDEA. They have -- they are eligible for accommodations and modification through the Americans with Disabilities Act, but they are no longer under the -- they are no longer in the education system. So that -- that is a very -- that's -- we think, probably the biggest difference between the two and basically from this point forward, in our presentation, we're going to be talking about, you know, the differences in our programs, largely as a result of that primary difference. Linda: May I talk a little bit about entitlement and eligibility. This is one of the critical factors that I face daily, with our post secondary participants, because they've come out of the special ed system; where if you go to an ARD, and it is said in that ARD that you need JAWS or Magic or whatever accommodation, those things happen, under the rule of law for special education. However, in the Post‑Secondary Program, you've graduated and you're done, and you are, as the other word said, eligible. That eligibility means that you may have to do some assessment to be... to determine that you need certain technology before you get it. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Primary Difference Content: • Exit o Education o Entitlement through IDEA • PSP o Rehabilitation o Eligibility through ADA Description End: So my students at the beginning have a hard time understanding that you may get that, but you may have to go through a few hoops. And you have to go through those hoops. Someone else doesn't go through those with you. So, it is a big difference and I think that -- [ Slide end: ] that parents and our participants sometimes don't understand those differences in entitlement and eligibility. Tad: I think, if I could just add a little bit more to that, I think one of the things that we really try to do in the EXIT Program is to help students, even though they are still in the education system, understand that it's going to be over soon and, you know, trying to -- to help them to be prepared and anticipate some of the big differences that are coming their way. And so -- but still it's not quite the same, because they are still within the education system, and so whereas for us it's more of a -- sort of a giving them warnings and simulating things in the Post‑Secondary Program, it really is no longer education. Linda: Uh‑huh. Chapter 3. Eligibility Criteria Tad: So the next thing we wanted to talk about is the eligibility criteria for the two programs. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Eligibility Criteria Content: • EXIT o Enrolled in home school district o Credit requirements met for graduation o State testing complete o Continuum of students/ support needs • PSP o High School Diploma or GED attained o Able to manage personal and health needs independently o Planning to attend college and/or work o Planning to live independently or with minimal support Description End: As I said, the EXIT Program, since it's still part -- still education, the students who come to us are referred to us by their school district. And so, when they come to us they are still enrolled in their home school district. They are still a student of their home school district. In order to participate in the EXIT Program, students need to have met the credit requirements for graduation and also completed the state testing requirements for graduation. But instead of receiving their diploma at the end of their 12th grade year, when they decide to come to our program, or any 18 plus program, they are choosing to -- to wait to get their diploma until after they are finished with their -- with their programming, their educational programming. And so students -- that's often confusing for people, particularly because in some cases students will have participated in a graduation ceremony at the completion of their 12th grade year, and so that can be confusing both for students and for parents. Particularly some of our -- some of our -- some of our students who are, you know, cognitively a little bit lower functioning, that's a hard thing sometimes for them to understand. "But I already walked the stage, I already graduated!" And so we have to say, well, you didn't actually graduate. You participated in a ceremony. So it can get real confusing when it comes to graduation. But they are -- they are totally entitled and are able to walk the stage, at that point. There's a new law that says that students are only able and allowed to walk the stage one time, which is -- that's new. We used to give students the option of walking the stage a second time, but that no longer is an option. [ Slide end: ] So... So, and then the other thing that I wanted to say about eligibility criteria is that, for our program, we serve a wide range of students who have a wide range of support needs. And so, there isn't any criteria for us as far as their skill level, or their ability level, in order to qualify for our program. The whole purpose of our program is to meet them where they are, when they come to us, and identify their most critical needs, and address them in planning for whatever their adult life might look like. Linda: And if I may just comment, the credit requirements and the state testing requirements are exactly why students need transition programs, once they're out of high school, many times at least. Not all of them do, by any means, but some do. Tad: If we can go back to the previous slide. Linda: So, to discuss the eligibility requirements for post secondary, they need to have finished high school and graduated. They're done with IDEA guidelines and... and they have their diploma. Some of them have had just a G-E-D, which is also okay. The critical factor probably for post secondary eligibility is that they need to be able to manage some of their and most of their personal and health needs independently. They're still going to probably have things they need to learn in daily living skills and in maybe even medication for themselves. But they need to be able to manage that. Because they're in an apartment by themselves. And they're not getting the constant supervision to help manage those things. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Eligibility Criteria Content: • EXIT o Enrolled in home school district o Credit requirements met for graduation o State testing complete o Continuum of students/ support needs • PSP o High School Diploma or GED attained o Able to manage personal and health needs independently o Planning to attend college and/or work o Planning to live independently or with minimal support Description End: They need to be planning to attend college or, and or work. We look the a the transition plans from high school and try to go from there, as well as their assessments at Criss Cole. And Planning to live independently or with minimal supports. So while I would say we do have a continuum of students that continuum is probably more narrow. [ Slide end: ] Basically, the students that we serve well, are students who are -- might need supported employment and a little bit of support in living, but are looking sort of at competitive employment and living at least with a roommate, but not, hopefully, not needing continuous living support. Tad: And I maybe should just add a little bit more about the continuum that we serve. We serve a continuum of students all the way from students who have multiple disabilities and deafblindness, and who are always going to need significant support, all the way to students who have goals to -- to attend college or work competitively. So ‑‑ Linda: Yeah. We've had a deafblind participant who has done very well, but not as severe, and doesn't need the support that the level of our EXIT students need. So -- hapter 4. Referral Process [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Referral Process Content: • EXIT o Referred by school district o Application requires referring district to identify reasons for referral o Eventual return to district for transition services is considered • PSP o Transition Counselor refers consumer to Criss Cole Rehabilitation Center (CCRC) o CCRC staff refer to the Post Secondary Program (PSP) those that are a good fit and meet the criteria Description End: Tad: So, the referral process is the next... is the next slide. I think I mentioned that -- students that come to EXIT are referred to us by their school district. We did -- that's the only way that that can happen. Parents cannot make referrals to our school for our program. In the application for TSBVI -- and it's the same application for EXIT that it is for any other... situation where a student is being referred to TSBVI. That's also often something that I think people are unclear about. It's not -- the process of applying and referring is the same for the EXIT Program as it is for the rest of the school. The application that the district completes and submits to our school requires them to identify the reasons for referral. And that's important information for us to have, and to know, as we prepare for students and to think about whether or not the reasons they are being referred are reasons that we can address. Obviously we want to individualize the education that students are getting with us as much as we can; and so -- so it's important for us to know what skills the district and the family identify as the highest need skills for us to address. And, also, one thing that is important for us, even when students are being referred for EXIT, is the discussion with the district about a possible eventual return to the school district for transition services. [ Slide end: ] That quite often is... Well, we deal with districts all over the state and so some districts are, I think, are a little bit surprised when we bring that up; when we're talking -- since we're talking about 18 plus programming. A lot of times districts will refer students to us thinking, well this is the last step, and when they finish with that, then they're going to be done with their education, and we want them to be there as long as they can be there, until they're no longer eligible, because that's the best use of the time. In many cases, you know, we like to talk with districts about the value of eventually returning to the school district. And The main reason for that, is that, we're in Austin and the students are coming to us from all over the state. And so by nature, transition planning for many, many of our students, requires ideally having the students plug into their communities while they're still able to get the support through the education system. Many of our students come to us and have a really hard time generalizing skills and concepts from our setting back to their home setting, and so, it's really great when we can work with districts, particularly in the cases of those students who have a hard time generalizing, to help them think about, okay, what -- what are the things that we should address while they're here with us, and when should we start thinking about them returning to you, so that -- so that, they can hopefully get plugged into an environment, ideally in the community, where they're doing what they're going to be doing as adults, when they're no longer -- when they're no longer in school. So that, they can get that support and ideally they can plug into that, that adult schedule can be created while they're still in the education system. And that's a... that's a collaborative process that we, you know, we're always very interested in working with districts to collaborate and to say, okay, well, what's that going to look like for your student, and how should we -- how should that look for you? Should we talk about having a little bit of time, you know, a few days a month where they get back there, you know, kind of doing it incrementally, where they can get plugged back in. And it's really -- there's no formula for it. We really just want to be creative and think with the district and the family about what -- what that student's adult schedule could look like, and how we can partner with the district to help move in that direction. Because, if a student stays with us until they're no longer eligible, and we haven't been able to do that process of planning specifically for the return to that community, then it's really hard for the student and for their family to all of a sudden then be back home and, you know, it really falls more on them then to figure out all of those details. Linda: Okay. Eligibility for Post Secondary is different. I very often have tours of high school students, still in high school, coming to look at what the Post Secondary Program might be. So they begin to learn about it, I think, early in high school. And when it really comes down to a referral, the -- the Teacher of the Visually Impaired typically will collaborate with the local Transition Counselor, because the Transition Counselor in the local area is the one who actually refers the consumer to Criss Cole Rehab Center. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Referral Process Content: • EXIT o Referred by school district o Application requires referring district to identify reasons for referral o Eventual return to district for transition services is considered • PSP o Transition Counselor refers consumer to Criss Cole Rehabilitation Center (CCRC) o CCRC staff refer to the Post Secondary Program (PSP) those that are a good fit and meet the criteria Description End: They get the application for Criss Cole, initially, and then they do some assessment and they help determine which of those young people are eligible, or can benefit from coming over to the Post Secondary Program and living on their own for a while. So the CCRC staff then refer to Post Secondary. We work with them all along the way -- we meet regularly with the counselors to talk about students who might be able to benefit from Post Secondary -- that are a good fit and really need that practical, daily practice of living life on your own. So -- but it goes through your -- originally goes through your local Transition Counselor -- goes first to Criss Cole. Tad: And I'm sorry, I keep adding on. [ Slide end: ] One thing that I meant to say when I was talking about the referral process for EXIT is -- in a little bit we're going to be talking about some things to consider when it's hard to know, you know, there are cases where we have students where it's really hard to know which is the right call, EXIT versus PSP. One thing to consider is that -- and we're going to give an example of a case where -- where if a student graduates, and actually receives their diploma, and then... then there's a desire to -- to -- to come -- to enroll in the EXIT Program after receiving that diploma, that -- that requires re-enrollment into the local school district. That's not to say that can't happen, but it's -- it's certainly a factor to consider. Some districts are more open to that than others. But that is -- we've had, like I said, we've had situations where that's been the case, and so when determining whether or not to have a student finish with high school, we just wanted to point out that's an important consideration. Linda: Uh-huh. And I think some of that also looks at the type of graduation that they've had. Because what -- unfortunately parents and young people, too, realize after they've gone through that hard process of passing all of the high school core curriculum and so forth, and the STAAR, is that, "Oh, my I don't how to live on my own. I don't know how to get a job. I don't even know how to be organized enough for college. Now what do I do?" And that's when they begin to think, "Well, you know, how much structure do I need to learn those things?" And so the difference in Post Secondary and EXIT we'll discuss a little bit more, but it very often happens that there's an awakening of, "I did all of this hard working, but now what?" So ... Chapter 5. Costs [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Cost Content: • EXIT o Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) o Student trust funds • PSP o Students are required to pay for their daily living needs (i.e. food and household products) typically through SSI or SSDI Description End: Tad: So, we just wanted to talk a little bit about costs. Because EXIT is still within the education system, there is no -- there is no cost. It's, you know, under FAPE, Free Appropriate Public Education, it's -- there isn't a cost to students and their families. There is, however, within our program, a large focus for us as part of the Expanded Core Curriculum is a focus on personal management, and money management is a big piece of that. Obviously in order to be as independent as possible as an adult, students need to know how to manage their money. And so, as a way of doing that, we ask -- we often ask parents to contribute some money every month to -- that goes into their students, their child's trust fund, so that there's money for them to budget with. And I believe we have a question. [ Slide end: ] Linda: Thank you, we have a question about what is the difference between PSP and Criss Cole? Criss Cole is the rehabilitation center for all adults, 18 through whatever age they may need it. They -- we'll talk a little bit more about how some of our post-secondary students do some classes at Criss Cole. The difference is they live at Post Secondary. They can also live at Criss Cole, but at Criss Cole they still have supervision, they have a room -- more like a dormitory room. Whereas at Post Secondary, they have an apartment. And so they're more responsible for preparing their own food, they are more responsible for shopping and laundry and the whole gamut of independent living. They get those in classes at Criss Cole, but there's a big difference in living it and having a class where they learn the basics. Tad: And the types of consumers that... that -- from Criss Cole that would be recommended for PSP, I mean, the first thing would be the age range, they have to fall within that age range. Linda: We still are within the educational age range, that's correct. And... and as we spoke of earlier, it's a matter of being able to manage yourself a little bit, at least, maybe with some instruction, in your own apartment. Are they able to go to bed at night, get their supper and everything like that? And get up the next morning and do what they need to do. Whereas at Criss Cole they're going to be having residential people kind of making sure they are getting up and out. Tad: Okay. So, as far as costs for -- I believe that I've covered pretty much the extent of the information about costs for the EXIT Program. Linda: So for costs -- there is a cost for Post Secondary. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Cost Content: • EXIT o Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) o Student trust funds • PSP o Students are required to pay for their daily living needs (i.e. food and household products) typically through SSI or SSDI Description End: Again, because it's an eligible program, students are required for pay for their daily living needs, like food, household products, hygiene, all of those things. Typically they pay for them through their S-S-I or S-S-D-I. Plus, the transition counselors from Criss Cole give them what's called a maintenance fee, which is about $100. [ Slide end: ] And we also -- after some experience, we help them find jobs and/or internships. So, part of that is because we're also based in terms of functional skills for math. So we do that through consumerism, through budgeting, through all of those real-life experiences. Their reading and writing get done through applications and resumes, and things they need to -- filling out college materials, whatever. And some assistance for college, by the way, and organization skills. So there's some costs, but it's usually pretty much covered well by their S-S-I. But the budgeting is a factor. That's really their money. It makes a difference when it's really their money, and they're having to make the rest of them up -- the month for food and they've spent way too much that first week. It's a real-life experience. Tad: I'm realizing that we haven't really spoken in detail about the Expanded Core Curriculum. I know that we had a poll question to determine whether or not folks in the audience are familiar with it. So I'm wondering -- Control Room: We had about half our participants indicate -- some were very familiar, and then, some that were not. Tad: Okay. Well, for those that are not, I can quickly go through those, so we're all clear about what the Expanded Core Curriculum covers and there are nine areas, so just to make sure that I didn't, I don't miss any of them, compensatory, functional academic skills is the first one, that includes communication modes. Orientation and mobility. Social interaction skills. Independent living skills, which include things like personal hygiene, food preparation, money management, household chores. Recreation and leisure skills. Many of our students need instruction in recreation and leisure skills, to know how to pursue them, and how to engage in them; how to make choices about them. Career education is included in the Expanded Core Curriculum. Assistive technology. Sensory efficiency skills, which has to do with helping the students use their senses as effectively as possible. And self-determination. Linda: And so to follow-up on that, the Expanded Core Curriculum is what we do as well. In kind of an enrichment and practicing that curriculum in a functional way. They often take classes -- well, they always take classes at Criss Cole and they range -- they get to choose. For those of you who might have worked with Criss Cole in the past, the program has changed. Now the consumers get choices of what they need. And those choices come in eight-week blocks of time. Sometimes they need more, so they get another eight weeks or, you know, it varies on the students assessment and on their needs. But again, it's all technology, daily living skills, career guidance, life skills, which is also soft skills, social skills that we know most of our students need, Braille, O&M, and they do seminars in terms of discussing what goes on in their community. Self-determination is infused. And it's self-determination enough, that even when they want us to help them with, at Post Secondary, comes from goal setting, and they ask us to help with certain things. So that's how the self-determination -- and they have to make calls that we -- say, "Okay, why don't you check on Capital Metro and see when your route is going to be available, when your bus is going to be here," and so forth. So the self-determination curriculum gets infused throughout the actual -- real life that they're living. So it's the same. It's delivered in a little bit different way. But it's much the same curriculum. Tad: Okay. Chapter 6. Living Arrangement [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Living Arrangements/Supervision Content: • EXIT o Dorms o 24 hour supervision o Supervision levels determined by instructional team o FUSA o Health Center • PSP o Four student apartments on TSBVI campus (No roommates) o Supervision (no overnight supervision) o No Health Center Description End: Living arrangements and supervision. Students in the EXIT Program for the most part live in dorms, on our campus. Those students have 24 hour supervision. So they follow a school day schedule, much like they would in their home school -- well, I shouldn't say that. The schedule itself is very different, we're going to be looking -- in your handouts you have sample schedules for somebody who is in the EXIT Program. But as far as the time is concerned, they have a school day, where that ends typically at 3:00, and then they go to their dorm where they have supervision and instruction that continues into the evening with what we call residential instructors. And then we also have overnight staff that supervises, and is on the dorm with the students as they're sleeping. So... the exception to that within the EXIT Program is what we call FUSA, which students for Four Unit Single Apartments, I think it's single. I can't remember if it's single or studio, but one of those. So we have four apartments on campus for the EXIT Program. And so, those four apartments are for four EXIT students who are -- who have proven themselves to be ready for a higher level of independence, less supervision. And so those students do not have overnight supervision. They have -- they do have residential staff that supports them and instructs them in the evening, but that staff leaves and goes home, usually around 10:00 or 10:30, then they're on their own until the next morning. And so again, those apartments are definitely for the students that we feel comfortable and confident in being there with that limited -- with that reduced supervision. Those are the students who have goals to live independently, and work, or go to college, and so there is a dorm very nearby, to FUSA, and so in the situations where there are emergencies, they know where to go and where to turn for help, but there isn't the staff there for those students. And then in the EXIT Program, also, we have a health center on our campus that serves our entire, you know, all of the students at our school, including the students in the EXIT Program. [ Slide end: ] We have -- when we have students who are pursuing goals to be as independent as possible, they often will have goals to become independent with their meds -- with their meds. And so, our health center is great in working with students and helping them to learn about their medications, and in many cases they will have them go through a course, at our health center, so that they can be -- if they prove themselves capable, they can have -- they are given permission to take their meds on their own, and store their meds on their own in the dorm, depending on, you know, the -- what the medications are. So the health center kind of serves as an instructional role there, for us, in helping students to learn to become more independent with their medications. Linda: Okay. In post-secondary there is one student per apartment. There are no roommates. They each live -- so that they have full responsibility for breakfast, lunch, dinner, whatever else they need to do in life. The supervision is very much -- more limited than in EXIT. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Living Arrangements/Supervision Content: • EXIT o Dorms o 24 hour supervision o Supervision levels determined by instructional team o FUSA o Health Center • PSP o Four student apartments on TSBVI campus (No roommates) o Supervision (no overnight supervision) o No Health Center Description End: There's no overnight -- at all. And there's only some weekend. We do recreational things. Sometimes we do community outings that involve looking at apartments and different types of housing, co-op housing for students who are going to go to the university. But that's not always... there, not every weekend. Also there is -- the students can, in an emergency, access the health center, but mostly they are expected to call 911 and access urgent care centers, and that's what they all do, because real life is that's what they'll have to do when they leave. Let me explain the supervision a little bit. When I leave, our my assistant leaves, in the evenings, it's usually after dinner and after anything else that's been requested of us. So it's up to the students to tell us what they need for the evening. Some of them may need a little help with homework or with technology, or whatever, and we're there to do that. [ Slide end: ] But then we leave. So they are on their own after that. However, that doesn't mean that if there's an emergency there's not help. The TSBVI security makes their rounds and they keep a watch on our house. And the students also have my cell phone and my assistant's cell phone, and the residential desk at Criss Cole, which is just a short walk down the street. So they have access to help if they need it and they know that, but again, they are there by themselves. They need to know what they need and when it needs to happen. hapter 7. Service Delivery Tad: Service delivery. We -- again, since we in EXIT are still within the education system, the IEP drives the programming for our students. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Service Delivery Content: • EXIT o IEP driven (IEP created collaboratively with LEA) o Parent Involvement o Self Contained groups (Teacher & TA) o Residential instruction supports IEP o Career Education Programming o Related Services • PSP o Individual student goal driven o Minimal parent involvement o Classes at CCRC (how classes are determined) o Individualized instruction in student apartments provided by PSP director and assistant o 100 hour of volunteer work required o Counseling available through DBS Transition Counselor Description End: And we create those IEPs in collaboration with the school district. And that collaboration begins before the student gets; where we're working with the school district to identify the student's most critical needs, so we can put a good and appropriate IEP in place for them when they arrive, and that collaboration continues. So, students continue to have annual ARD meetings, and those ARD meetings are continued to be facilitated by the school district that refers the student. They are still their student and it's still their ARD meeting. So our role is to provide input into the IEP. Obviously, the student is with us while they're here, and so that's a significant amount of input. And so, in advance of the ARD meeting, we and he a draft with all of our input to the district, but it's up to the district to -- to, you know, approve what we've drafted and what we're proposing, and for the ARD committee to agree on, in that annual ARD meeting. Since -- again, since it is education, the parents are... are involved. Our students are, again, between 18 and 22. Many of them are their own legal guardians. Some are not. Some have parents who have obtained legal guardianship or power of attorney for them. So, that... that's a difference, in some cases students will sign things for themselves, and others, obviously, when they're not their own guardians, then that's different. But regardless, we always want parent involvement, we always want -- we always communicate with parents when making decisions, even though they may not be their legal guardians, we know that within the education system they want to have that input, and we want that input. The EXIT Program consists of self-contained groups. Right now our program has 56 students in it. Twelve -- that contains 12 self-contained groups, each of which has a teacher and a teaching assistant. And... in addition to the instruction that happens during the school day, as I mentioned, when they're in the dorm in the evening, that instruction continues. So the residential instructors support the IEP, they continue to provide that instruction that addresses the student's needs. And, as I'm sure many of you all know, many of the skills that are so important in preparing for adult life, are skills that are really naturally addressed in that setting, in the dorm setting, you know, cooking and cleaning, and organization, and recreation and leisure. [ Slide end: ] And so much of what their adult life is going to consist of is, you know -- really well addressed in that setting. And so it's great that we're able to address it. That's... that's a little bit of an adjustment for a lot of students who come to us from high school, the idea that, okay, school is over, but you still are asking me to do things. Linda: Mm-hmm. Tad: There's quite a bit of structure, you know, in our dorms, and again, there's a sample schedule there for you to look at in your handouts, that gives you an idea about what the evening looks like for students who are in EXIT. But it's pretty structured. And... and so, there's free time, but there's a lot of expectations about participating in chores, and completing chores, and going on outings with the group and that kind of thing. So ... we also, career education programming is a big focus of our EXIT Program. And... and... so students who are in EXIT, depending on where their experience is, as far as career education and work experiences, we have some classes they can take through our career education program. We have a class called General Employability, which has been designed and created to address a lot of those soft skills that Linda was speaking to. The skills that so many of our students are needing, social interaction skills in the workplace, grooming, hygiene, those kinds of things. We have a class that addresses those things for students who need it. Students are able to participate in on-campus work training, in a number of different settings, such as -- We have a coffee shop on campus. We have a greenhouse and horticulture programming. We have animal care. We have assembly and manufacturing, hospitality, culinary arts, and so those are on-campus work experiences that students can get. And we often will rotate them through it, so that, especially those students who don't have work experience, are able to get exposure to a variety, so they can learn more about their own interests, their own skills when it comes to work. So that we can guide them, and then when they get to the point where they have a clearer idea and a more specific idea about what their vocational path might look like, and then we work on giving them more in-depth work training, experiences, both on our campus and in the community. And then -- we -- students are still -- still receive related services when they are in the EXIT Program. Whatever their ARD committee agrees is a need for them, they receive when they are in EXIT, whether it be O-T or P-T or speech services, whatever services the ARD committee feels like they need, they get when they're in the EXIT Program. Linda: And in post-secondary they are still, of course, driven by their individual goals. We sit down every week and we look at some big categories of areas such as daily living skills, such as... their volunteer or work experience, their transition goals, and that's where we often will compare the cost of housing in Ennis, Texas, as compared to Austin, Texas, cause they all want to live here. Tad: Mm-Hmm. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Service Delivery Content: • EXIT o IEP driven (IEP created collaboratively with LEA) o Parent Involvement o Self Contained groups (Teacher & TA) o Residential instruction supports IEP o Career Education Programming o Related Services • PSP o Individual student goal driven o Minimal parent involvement o Classes at CCRC (how classes are determined) o Individualized instruction in student apartments provided by PSP director and assistant o 100 hour of volunteer work required o Counseling available through DBS Transition Counselor Description End: Linda: But when they start looking at the housing it's pretty clear that's going to be hard to do. I also added the service delivery involves minimal parent involvement and that pretty much comes from Criss Cole. Because all of our young people are their own legal guardian, and we stay in touch -- we don't make regular calls nor -- of course if they call us we always are glad to talk. But our goal is that the student takes charge and then the student relays to his or her family what information that -- sometimes we ask them to share information. But that it's up to them to share it. It doesn't mean we don't welcome them. We always do. But we don't have an ARD process and the meetings that we have with the student, are always with the student, over at Criss Cole. Once again just to explain the classes, all of those Expanded Core Curriculum that we discussed, are there, and they change every eight weeks. Which is why you look at one of our schedules, next week it could change completely. It's very fluid. Because once they're done, they graduate from certain things and they're done with it. The... the critical factor here that some of our young people have a little bit of a hard time, is that we require at least through the period of time that they are there, 100 hours of volunteer work. Now that often turns into an internship, or some other kind of paid experience, but we want them to have the actual work experience. They also get career guidance, and that starts at Criss Cole in their career guidance department. We support and reinforce that. We look at their resumes with them, but they've probably started them at Criss Cole in their career guidance. So it's a lot of collaboration at Criss Cole departments, as well... as well as... the young person that we're dealing with. [ Slide end: ] But they get out in the community and they work in various places. We try really hard to put them in their area of interest. But the truth of it is, when you're 18 to 22, it's important to just have an entry level job, and learn how to work. Learn how to be on time. Learn how to respond to your supervisor and your co-workers and all of those good employability skills. So we do our best to put them in an area where they hope to be some day. But sometimes that's just not possible, or what often happens is we do that, like, for instance, I think they are going to be a teacher or teacher's aide, we get them into a situation where they can experience that, and all of a sudden they are going, "Ugh, maybe I want to serve coffee and pastry." You know, that's real life. That happened to me when I was a young person, too. So, we allow them a choice to kind of change their mind, if that's what needs to happen during this exploration for their adult life. They get O&M from Criss Cole, but it doesn't last very long. Depending again on the student's needs. But they do get bus travel and public transportation and things like that. They also get counseling. It's available. Again, they're eligible for it if that's needed. But it comes through their transition counselor. Tad: If I could add one... one thing to -- or just maybe agree with one thing that Linda just said. Which is, you know, often we'll have students come to our program, and we talk with them continuously about their transition plan and their goals for the future, and we're always wanting to help them figure those things out and give them experiences. They'll often have goals, post-secondary goals for employment that, you know, that are quite lofty, and so what we tell them that our primary jobs is, our primary role in our program is to help them figure out what is their schedule going to look like, what is their life going to look like, immediately, after they're done with school? That's not to say they won't ever achieve those long-term goals, but we tell them, our primary focus is what's next? And what's that going to look like? And so what -- like Linda was saying, what is that way that you're going to get a paycheck? You know, what's that entry level job that you're qualified -- that you're potentially qualified to do; if we can help get you the skills and focus your attention on things that you could really potentially get hired to do for those students who are able to do that. So ... Linda: Getting a paycheck for doing anything is very motivational. They like to get their paychecks. Tad: Definitely. Chapter 8. Student Examples [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Student Examples Content: • Michael • Abby • Melinda • Sarai (video) Description End: Okay. So we wanted to just highlight a few examples. And this is mostly to kind of help with those situations because -- with the situations where there's a student where it's a tough call. It's hard to know when program is a better fit. Which program, you know, those students who were thinking are probably competitively employable, who are realistically college-bound, who could -- who are going to be living independently most likely, you know, it can be difficult to know which of the two programs is the best to choose. [ Slide end: ] And so we've got some examples here. Just to say, also, that we've already talked about a few things that we think are pretty big things to take into consideration when making that decision. One is the parent involvement piece. You know, that's a big factor. And so that's an important thing to consider that when a student goes to the Post-Secondary Program, their parents are going to be less involved. So that's a big thing to take into consideration. The supervision levels that we spoke about, that's another big factor to consider, both for the students and for their family and their parents. And the structure. As Linda has mentioned, the EXIT Program, their time is more structured and so some students are really still needing that structure and others not as much. And so those... those are things to take into consideration when -- when making the decision. Linda: So, I will share with you three of the students that we've had in Post Secondary that -- it was probably very difficult to decide which place they should be. Very often they, along with their parents, come and tour, both EXIT and Post Secondary, and we show them where everyone lives, and we talk about the expanded core, et cetera. But just to reinforce what Tad said, you really need to think hard about the structure and the level of supervision that your student needs. But... but again, talking about the continuous students, our first student was Michael, and he had been in EXIT. But his folks did not like the group. They didn't think he was in the right group. They had lots of -- [Multiple voices] he was in it for just a very short period of time. They had lofty goals for this young man, as we all do, and we want them to have those. But they just were not happy. And that's fairly rare, I think most parents love the EXIT Program. I do want to say. But so, they applied for Criss Cole and they realized that Michael needed more than Criss Cole, he needed more than just a few classes. In fact, Michael, truly -- finally with a lot -- with a lot of testing, a lot of assessment, a lot of counseling with the family, convinced them that Michael is a supported employment young man. And he's also going to need some support for living. But he learned a great deal on his own, and I remember his mom being in absolutely shock that Michael was taking the bus by himself to his job -- probably about five miles down the road. She couldn't believe that he was doing it all by himself. He did, but it took a lot of support, from me and from my assistant, to make sure that he could do that. A lot of repetitious training, a lot of -- and he will always need some job coach support, and some support for his home life. Maybe just with his budget. Very delightful young man, good social skills, everyone just loved him. But he just needed that support. It took a while for the parents to understand how much support he needed for those things. But they did. The second one is Abby. And when Abby graduated, I think that her teachers and others felt she could go either way. She could be in EXIT, because she could probably be in FUSA, and have a lot of independence, have the same curriculum and all of those things, but Abby insisted on graduating. She was going to graduate, period, no matter what. And then when she got to Criss Cole, we realized that she needed a little independent living skills training. What she needed mostly was a functional and practical transition plan, because she had some goals that needed some short-term steps along the way. She had never really worked in the community, which she's doing now. She's beginning to find what she really wants to do with her life. And even in classes sometimes, I mean, all of the kids love the coffee shop. No doubt. That's what they want to do with the rest of their life. And it is a great, a great training medium. But you get out in the real world and you realize not all of the coffee shops are available, and sometimes there's some big machines there and, you know, that they learn by real-life experience. The problematic -- I don't want to say problematic, the one that was a little difficult was Melinda. And that's because she started at Post Secondary. She was another young woman who was determined to graduate, period, no matter what, and she could, and so she did. And -- but when she got to Post Secondary, because she didn't have a lot of family support, we needed to have her ready for the real world. We realized there was not enough structure, and not enough support in Post Secondary for her to get that. We were able -- through a lot of -- we had to put on our knee pads to beg -- but she got back in her district and finished at EXIT, and I think was then transitioned. It was her plan that was so critical for her. And EXIT supported that. Tad: And so I'm looking at the clock and I see that we've got about nine minutes left. And so I'm going to quickly introduce Sarai -- we've got a short video. Sarai is a students who was in the EXIT Program. She is probably a student that, again, could have gone either way. Probably would have been fine also in the Post-Secondary Program, but, also, I think really benefited from the structure of the EXIT Program. She came in with... with the need to focus on a lot on those personal management skills, the time management, the money management and the structure of the EXIT Program really did serve her well. And we've got a short video that we made a few years back with Sarai. [ Video start: ] Description Start Tad Doezema in the studio introduces video while we see video of Sarai walking to bus stop, riding the bus, walking on ACC campus and through classroom hallways, in the student lounge, and working at the NFB office, soriting books, doing data entry on the computer and answering the phone. Description End Tad: My name is Tad Doezema, I'm one of the EXIT teachers here. I teach one of eight EXIT classes. The EXIT program serves a continuum of students, a variety of student needs. [bus doors beeping] The Expanded Core Curriculum addresses skills such as daily living skills, orientation and mobility, time management, money management, organization, recreation and leisure, sometimes post-secondary education if that's what that student's goals involve. Career education and actual work training. That is what we do. The program that I teach is very much set up to simulate what their life will be like. The goal is to create as much as possible a very realistic, real-life type of program for them, [cane tapping] where there are real experiences, real-life community based experiences with natural consequences, so that they can really learn from experience. [multiple voices in background] Cashier: Here you go... Anything else? Two dollars. Sarai: After a while, going to the same place [Indiscernible] you start to notice things. You can't depend completely on others to know where you are. You have to problem solve and figure out what you're going to do. [door squeaking] Man: Here is a box of books. Sarai: Yes. Man: Let's pick out -- we need at least nine. Sarai: If you give a pig a pancake? What is this? Beautiful brown eyes. I think that -- one of lessons that I took in, is that, sometimes when you are in a job, don't expect the same thing every day, because you're not going to get that. I like -- I take information from Excel documents and put them in, like, filling out either, online applications, for people, or like, a Word document with -- with information. [phone ringing] [Indiscernible]. Hi, this is Sarai I'm the intern. [ Video end: ] Tad: Okay. So -- so as I said, Saria was an EXIT student, she's a good example of a student who is, you know, on that continuum -- on that end of the continuum that EXIT serves, that lives in those FUSA apartments, and much of the footage of that video was her at Austin Community College, because that was a big part of her EXIT Program, based on her post-secondary goals of attending college. She now attends Stephen F Austin University, and is doing very well. Other footage on there was from other off-campus job at the National Federation of the Blind, where she worked. So... so hopefully that helps to kind of illustrate what EXIT can look like, again, for those students on the -- on that end of the continuum. Chapter 9. Transition Planning We want to talk a little bit about transition planning. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Transition Planning Content: • EXIT o Challenges in planning for Adult Transition from a distance o Benefit of returning to home community while still eligible for SPED services o Transition/ Collaboration Meetings • PSP o Participants, PSP staff, and CCRC staff develop transition plans through goal setting o Program Review Trainings Description End: I've already mentioned the fact that planning for adult transition and adult life from a distance is a very challenging thing. So we do our best, you know, we get creative, we make home visits, we communicate with people from the district and with the families. But it's not -- we're not in the community that they're going to be living in. And so, as I spoke earlier to the benefit of students returning back to that community, potentially while they're still in the education system, so that they can get that support in the process. And I've also spoken already to the benefits of returning to the home community while still eligible. One thing that we're doing this year, for the first time, is that every week our teachers in EXIT focus on one student, and we have what we call a transition or collaboration meeting. So for 45 minutes every Wednesday afternoon, that teacher is focused on one student, and the transition plan, or the plan to return to the district. And the idea there is that we're getting -- we're pulling in folks on the phone from the family, or from the district or from DARS, DBS, so that we're not alone in the process of transition planning, you know. We need input from all of those stakeholders and so that's something that we've put in place this year to help make it more collaborative. [ Slide end: ] Linda: And on the Post Secondary side, similarly, we've... just this week, for instance, one of our students -- two of our students actually are interested in Texas State Technical College, so we took a trip to Waco to explore programs and so forth, much like they do in EXIT. We also will take a trip, soon, to Fort Worth to look at some possible work experience opportunities for one of our students going back to Fort Worth. So we do some actual community experiences outside of Austin, of course. And the program review trainings are with the students, and they are very regular about every eight weeks at Criss Cole. So the counselors that -- we talk with their local counselor and CCRC counselor and the student and all of their instructors. Chapter 10. Program Duration [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Program Duration Content: • EXIT o Follow Austin ISD school calendar year o ARD Committee makes decisions at annual ARD (return to TSBVI, return to district for Transition Services, graduation) • PSP o Length of stay varies according to needs and goals o Average length of stay: 6-10 months Description End: Tad: The program duration for the two programs. In the EXIT Program we follow the school calendar. So our school follows, for the most part, the Austin Independent School District's school calendar, and the length of time that a student stays with our school, at the our school, the number of years, really depends on a variety of -- of factors, and so the ARD committee makes decisions annually, at the ARD meeting; about whether the student will return to our school the following year, whether they will return to their district for transition services the following year or whether they've met their goals and they're ready to move on and graduate. Linda: At post-secondary very similar, but it's a shorter stay, many times now, than it used to be, because once again the Criss Cole delivery system has changed, and now they do almost all of their classes, before they actually send them over to Post Secondary. So now they're staying more like five, six months as opposed to 10, unless they get a job and need support in that job. [ Slide end: ] Chapter 11. Resources Tad: And that's all of our content. So we wanted to point out to you there's a link for the Post Secondary Program handbook, for your reference. And... [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Resources Content: Post Secondary Program Handbook (http://www.tsbvi.edu/post-secondary-items/1399-rules-and-guidelines) Description End: [ Slide end: ] Linda: While we're waiting for that. I would like to say, if you have any questions please feel free to call. I'm sure either one of us will be glad to talk to you. Tad: The question is I have a senior, when is a deadline for PSP? Linda: That's a very good question. Again, it's kind of on the Criss Cole system. Which means -- they have changed again -- they are taking students every month now. And so the -- there is no real deadline. You just refer to CCRC and it comes up when you are -- when your young person is ready to come to Austin, and then they talk to us, and then we work together to see when it's appropriate for that young person to be in an apartment. Keep in mind, there are only four apartments for Post secondary. So we're hoping there's one available. But now that they're not staying so long, there's more often one available, than there has been. Tad: The email information and contact information for both of us is in your handout and as Linda said, feel free to contact either of us and thank you very much. Linda: Thank you. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Content: Reference: Description End: [ Slide end: ] [Silence]