Post Standard (Syracuse, New York), November 23, 2004, Tuesday

The Post-Standard (Syracuse, New York)

November 23, 2004 Tuesday
FINAL EDITION

SECTION: LOCAL; Pg. B6

HEADLINE: TRANSITION OPTIONS;
STUDENTS PREPARE TO DEAL WITH LIFE AFTER HIGH SCHOOL

BYLINE: By Sapna Kollali Staff writer

BODY:
There was a time when people with developmental disabilities would leave high school and spend the rest of their lives sitting around their parents' homes, with no volunteer opportunities, work or skills programs available to them.
Ray and Kathy Kopp, of Lysander, were determined not to let that happen to their daughter, Shawna, 21.
Shawna is autistic, and as she approached the end of her final year at C.W. Baker High School in Baldwinsville, the Kopps wanted to ensure a smooth transition into a day habilitation program - a comfortable setting where she could meet people and work on social and life skills.
"We moved from Syracuse to Baldwinsville about five years ago, and that was hard for her. She doesn't always do well with big changes, and this was going to be another big change for her," Ray Kopp said.
When she graduated in June, Shawna began spending five days a week at the Onondaga ARC's day habilitation center doing exactly what her parents hoped she would - finding a routine. Through ARC, Shawna now volunteers once a week at the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Ray Kopp said it would have been much more difficult to learn about ARC and other available programs without the help of transition workers at Baker.
With special-education students becoming increasingly more integrated into the general school population, it is important to provide them with as many post-graduation options as possible, said Katherine Teasdale-Edwards, special-education transitional coordinator for the Syracuse school district.
"We offer some additional support services because this is a special-education population, but these students are doing exactly what all students at this stage are doing - looking at all their options," she said.
Some special-education students, particularly those with minor learning disabilities, go on to college, she said. Others might make a transition into supported employment, volunteer work or a day habilitation program, depending on their needs and abilities.
The government formally recognized the need for transition services in the early 1990s, said Marianne Murphy, transition coordinator for Cornell University's Program on Employment and Disability at the School of Industrial and Labor Relations.
"They found special-needs students were sitting at home for quite a long time after they had finished receiving services from their school," she said.
Public schools are responsible for students - both general and special-education - until they complete a state-approved diploma program or "age out" of school at 21. New laws now have students, parents and school officials creating a transition plan as early as age 14, rather than waiting until a student is ready to leave school.
"We want to find out where are they going, what do they want to do, so we can find the right services to provide them," Murphy said.
Transition coordinators are increasingly pushing students and their families to begin seeking out and using services as early as possible, said Gary McIlvain, director of the supported work program at Oswego Industries, which runs career employment services for Oswego ARC.
"Even though there is a transition plan in place, they usually don't start receiving (state) services until January of their last semester. The problem is that a lot of other things need to happen up front for them to succeed after graduation," he said.
This includes taking any necessary courses, finding employment related to their career goals or even improving workplace skills, such as interviewing, etiquette and working with people, he said.
Seneca-Cayuga ARC has not received money for transitional services for about 10 years, said Pam Wilson, director of planning and resource development.
Students in Cayuga and Seneca counties receive transitional services from their local BOCES and other public and private organizations, she said.
Sherri Wolff, of Sherrill, said she is just starting the transition process with her son, Zachary Bosworth, 15, a freshman at Vernon-Verona-Sherrill High School. Zachary attends recreation programs at Madison-Cortland ARC and works on life skills at Madison-Oneida BOCES, she said.
Wolff said her son has a developmental disability that severely limits his ability to speak. He will most likely remain in school until age 21, she said.
"We're still figuring out our options. There is dayhab, and there are residential services. I think we're going to wait and see where he is at that point in time, but we wanted to start looking now," she said.
She said there are still families who are unaware that local, state and federal services are available to their children. They can start getting those services in high school, Teasdale-Edwards said.
"You don't want to wait until afterward to start looking," she said.