Special Needs Post-Secondary Education and Training?

Answer 1

College is an option for anyone willing to give it a go. If the option is not feasible due to personal circumstances, including special needs, your dreams can live on with alternative college paths. Vocational rehabilitation training will give you the same college benefits in many respects as traditional post-secondary education. For the thousands of special needs students who attend these schools annually, on and off-campus housing, socialization, career preparation, and desired course study are all attainable through vocational rehabilitation schools.

Specific Educational Goals

A student navigating through the special education services provided in their school district will have be at least informed on vocational rehabilitation training services by the time they reach the end of high school. Schools start early on providing parents with bits of information on what is out there for their child once they leave high school. Federal law mandates when the student is 16 years old implementation of a transition plan into the world after graduation begins. Based on what the student’s goals are, college planning will take place or testing and acceptance into vocational rehabilitation program is given if other choices are unsuitable. In either direction the student may be going the educational team works together to make their particular goal a reality.

Testing for College or Alternative Paths

A counselor through the state rehabilitation department will perform a battery of tests to ascertain knowledge of the student’s achievements, abilities, and outlook. Her sole responsibility is to help disabled persons make a better life for themselves through education and employment, as rehabilitation involves learning in the classroom and by doing in the field. The best way for a vocational counselor to go about collecting all of the artifacts and data need is to find out how employable a student with interviews, past work examples, and diagnostic information. At the end of this series of events over a course of several weeks to months, the team will converge to work on a new plan of goals and objectives for the student to accomplish. Students have a large amount of input in this process and get the final say so on what kind of action they will take once the plan is shared with them. If they decided to proceed with the vocational rehabilitation, they can enroll in courses at the earliest term of their convenience.

Study at Home or Abroad: Pros and Cons

A positive point about vocational training is when students start attendance there, parents usually do not have to be concerned much about paying for it all. States allocate money for special populations and in most states a wheelchair bound student or a deaf student would qualify for assistance. Room and board, books, and transportation are all provided to students in these well-developed programs that have been in existence for several decades now. These schools hire some of the best educators and healthcare professionals to accommodate students that the state can acquire. However, there are less than positive aspects to consider with vocational rehabilitation training such as living away from home, which can be a major issue for a family not used to living apart. In lesser-populated states, services are commonly spread out across the state so that more citizens can take advantage of what is available. Sometimes this works out as planned but in many cases it does not. Families find themselves detached from each other due to lack of transportation or money to visit. Because of this issue, families must strongly debate the pros and cons on every level for the student.

For most students, this and other alternatives to orthodox college learning could not be a better fit for their special needs. To counteract any fears about what could go wrong or what the student may miss at vocational school versus a junior college or university, a 5-year plan is suggested. Skeptics will say that this is unnecessary, as the student will only attend for several months to a couple of years. Personal needs should always outweigh the status quo for any student and this approach must be compounded for students with unique abilities. Long range planning is best when done in a broad scope as well as with a microscopic lens view. Both methods support the original plan, which is the student’s high school educational plan, drawn up and initiated in hopes to give the student a viable chance at success in spite of their lack of desire or ability to earn a college degree.