I just came back from our summer family road trip to Colorado during which, due to relaxed vacation rules, our sons ate way more food from a golden-arched establishment than they usually would. Having grown up with the standard menu, I was amused and frustrated by the ordering kiosks that allowed customers to scroll through every ingredient of every menu item and not only permitted but encouraged endless customization down to the amount of salt on the fries. But, I quickly realized that the kiosk steps are really useful for folks like the European family at the next table who might not know by heart the components of a Big Mac®.
Just prior to the road trip, I had wrapped up a two-year stint working with a Comprehensive Transition and Postsecondary (CTP) program for students with intellectual disabilities in the Chicago area. Campus-based postsecondary options for students with disabilities have proliferated in the last decade, and more and more students with ID and their parents are looking at these programs as a practical, transitioning step between high school and adult life. During my work with this particular program, I learned three important things. First, not every postsecondary program meets the US Department of Education’s definition of a CTP. It is important to know whether a program does it and what are the implications if it does not. Second, while every program designated as a CTP must have the DoE-required components, each program includes the various components in different ways and to different degrees. Third, many prospective students and their families do not know what questions to ask to determine if the configuration of a particular program is what that particular student needs to be successful. There is no kiosk to walk them through the program “ingredients” and tell them which are customizable. The following series of blogs will provide a discussion of the key components of postsecondary options for students with disabilities.
Colleges and Universities began to develop programs for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities as early as the mid-1980s. The campus location separated such programs from the more standard post-high-school vocational and independent-living training for people with disabilities. The idea was that students with disabilities would build both employment and adulting skills alongside their neurotypical peers. Early programs provided that inclusion to varying degrees. Since the programs were non-degree-seeking, students could not use federal or state financial aid to pay for them, putting them out of economic reach of many of these students.
That changed with the Higher Education Opportunities Act of 2008. The HEOA was responsible for two major developments. First, the act explained CTP programs in the following way:
A CTP program for students with intellectual disabilities means a degree, certificate, or nondegree program that is offered by a college or career school and approved by the U.S. Department of Education. CTP Programs are designed to support students with intellectual disabilities who want to continue academic, career, and independent living instruction to prepare for gainful employment. CTP Programs offer academic advising and a structured curriculum.
Most importantly, though:
CTP Programs require students with intellectual disabilities to participate, for at least half of the program, in:
regular enrollment in credit-bearing courses with nondisabled students,
auditing or participating (with nondisabled students) in courses for which the student does not receive regular academic credit.
enrollment in noncredit-bearing, nondegree courses with nondisabled students, or
internships or work-based training with nondisabled individuals.
The above bullet points are an “or” list, but the best CTP programs make them an “and” list. A CTP program should not be a “special” program for “special” students that comprises “special, program-only” classes and “special, program-only” clubs and activities that just happen to occur somewhere on a typical campus. A program that works that way meets the letter of the CTP requirements while failing to meet the spirit.
You and your family can best discover how inclusive a CTP program is by asking questions such as:
How will our student be supported to audit or take for credit courses with neurotypical classmates?
In what types of credit-bearing and non-credit-bearing courses in which departments will our student be supported to enroll?
How will our student be supported to participate in campus clubs, sports, and social activities alongside neurotypical peers?
If the program offers housing, how will our student be supported to live in a dorm alongside neurotypical peers?
How will our student be supported to intern or work alongside neurotypical student workers?
There is no ordering kiosk for a CTP program, but the answers to these types of questions will make clear of the component ingredients of each program. Knowing the components will help your family to understand whether the program meets the definition of a CTP or not. We will discuss the implications of that distinction in a later blog. It will also help your family to explore whether and to what extent the program components can be customized to best suit your student. We will also discuss that in a later blog. Meanwhile, https://thinkcollege.net/ is a great place to begin to explore postsecondary educational options for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
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