Self-Advocacy for Young Adults

1. National Secondary Transition Technical Assistance Center Self-Advocacy for Young Adults David W. Test 2011 RehabACTion and Transition Fall Conference, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, October 26, 2011

2. A combination of skills, knowledge, and beliefs that enable a person to engage in goal-directed, self-regulated, autonomous behavior. An understanding of one’s strengths and limitations together with a belief in oneself as capable and effective are essential to self-determination. When acting on the basis of these skills and attitudes, individuals have greater ability to take control of their lives and assume the role of successful adults in our society. (Field, Martin, Miller, Ward, & Wehmeyer, 1998). Self-Determination Defined

3. Choice Making: appropriately choosing between a number of choices. • Problem-Solving: weigh pros and cons of potential actions to identify barriers to success. • Decision Making: Involves choosing between unlimited options • Goal Setting and attainment: ability to set appropriate goals for self and achieve the goals with actions Components of SD

4. Self-regulation: self-monitoring, self-evaluation, self-management (controlling own behavior by being aware of one’s actions and providing feedback) • Self-awareness: awareness of own individuality, strengths, and areas of improvement • Self-efficacy: understanding that your own actions have an impact- you are a causal agency in your life. * Self-advocacy: have knowledge of self, knowledge of rights, communication skills, and leadership ability Components of SD

5. Self-awareness • Sample sub-components include • Strengths • Preferences • Goals • Dreams • Interests • Learning style • Support needs • Accommodation needs • Characteristics of one’s disability • Responsibilities • Knowledge of Rights • Sample sub-components include • Personal rights • Community rights • Human service rights • Consumer rights • Educational rights • Steps to redress violations • Steps to advocate for change • Knowledge of resources S E L F A D V O C A C Y Communication Sample sub-components include • Assertiveness • Use of assistive technology • Negotiation • Listening • Articulation • Persuasion • Body Language • Compromise Leadership Sample sub-components include • Knowledge of group’s rights • Knowledge of resources • Advocating for others or for causes • Organizational participation • Political action • Team dynamics and roles

6. Individuals who score higher on measures of SD have more positive adult outcomes (e.g., better employment, better living situations) • Research is emerging regarding the relationship between SD and positive school • experiences (e.g., higher grades, • attendance, fewer behavior • problems). Why the emphasis on SD?

7. Two General Approaches to Promoting SD • 1. Using the student-driven IEP and/or transition planning process • 2. Integrating SD concepts and skills into the general curriculum

8. Describing one’s disability, strengths, needs, present level of performance • Communicating one’s interests and preferences • Engaging in goal setting and goal attainment activities • Participating in discussions regarding school & post-school plans and needs • Choosing & negotiating one’s accommodation needs • Accepting responsibility for where improvement is needed • Evaluating one’s progress Skills Taught through Involvement in IEP Process

9. 1. Student-driven IEP and transition planning • Four Stages: • (a) Planning • (b) Drafting • (c) Meeting • (d) Implementing Career Leisure Residential

10. Preparing parents • Self-awareness • Identification of strengths, needs, interests, goals • Disability awareness (it’s very empowering for individuals to know what “it” is) • Provide community-based experiences (vocational, residential, leisure/recreation, educational) – give students context for choices and decisions A. Planning

11. Educational rights • Student understands the IEP process and format • Meeting preparation – who, what, and etc. • Teaching students to plan • Reflecting on themselves • Gathering input from other teachers • Learning about goals (the concept) • Relating goals (future) to school (now) Career Leisure Residential A. Planning

12. Teach students to develop Power Point slides (Allowing them to write in first person makes it their plan) • Self-advocacy, self-efficacy, self regulation, & self-awareness • Students read and understand a variety of materials • Students write and speak for a variety of purposes and audiences B. Drafting the Plan (Meeting Preparation)

13. Use a workable IEP template • Research skills, writing for a variety of purposes, sentence writing • Write in first-person B. Drafting the Plan (Meeting Preparation)

14. 7th grade students with learning disabilities or mild mental retardation showed improvement in their abilities to complete the IEP Template • IEP awareness instruction (What is an IEP and why do I have one?) • Career exploration using on-line career interest inventories and the on-line Occupational Outlook Handbook The IEP Template in Practice (Konrad & Test, 2004)

15. Students interview parents and teachers • Direct instruction and modeling of how to complete the Template • Template includes a vision statement; present level of performance; goals and objectives; measurement criteria and procedures; and services and accommodations The IEP Template in Practice (Konrad & Test, 2004)

16. Possible student roles: student makes introductions, student presents some content, student leads the meeting • Consider using assistive technology or Web-based 2.0 tools to enhance meeting and participation C. IEP Meeting to Revise the Draft

17. PowerPoint Presentations • Flip Camera Presentations • www.toondoo.com • www.wordle.net • www.voki.com • www.goanimate.com • www.wobook.com • www.animoto.com • http://picfont.com/ Examples of E-Sharing

18. Using a “toondoo” to express accommodations needed for a student

19. Using a “wordle” to express a student’s strengths

20. Using “goanimate” to express student’s needs by having a talking cartoon.

21. Teaching meeting preparation: • Invite participants • Set and share goals, monitor achievement • Discuss preferences and interests • Discuss accommodations • Introduce meeting and participants • Lead or participate in meeting • Use published curricula (role play, direct instruction) C. IEP Meeting to Revise the Draft

22. Published curricula for IEP process participation are available • ChoiceMaker: Self-Directed IEP • NEXT Steps • Whose Future is it Anyway? • The Self-Advocacy Strategy C. IEP Meeting to Revise the Draft

23. Population: • Students with mild to moderate disabilities • Grades six through adult • Purpose: • Designed to teach students self-determination skills to be successful in adult life • Content: • Includes 3 Strands: • Choosing Goals • Expressing Goals • Taking Action • Addresses 4 transition areas: • Education/training • Employment • Independent Living • Recreation and Leisure ChoiceMaker: Self-Directed IEP

24. For more information: • Publisher: Sopris West www.sopriswest.com • $396.49 – can purchase in components $124.95 Choicemaker, continued

25. ChoiceMaker Curriculum & Lessons

26. Population: • All levels of disability • Ages 14 through 21 • Purpose: • Helps students learn how to take charge of their own transition planning process • Helps students assume responsibility for important life decisions with support from teachers and parents • Materials: • 16 lessons with fully developed lesson plans Next S.T.E.P.(Student Transition & Educational Planning)

27. Next S.T.E.P. , continued(Student Transition & Educational Planning) • Content: • Unit 1: Getting to Know Myself • Unit 2: Self-Evaluation • Unit 3: Setting and Achieving Goals • Unit 4: Sharing Your Goals and Accomplishments • For further information: • Available through ProEd • $203.00

28. Purpose:Prepare students for their IEP meetings and gain self-determination skills • Population: students with mild to moderate cognitive disabilities • Materials: • Coach's Guide • outlines lessons • how to teach lessons • the roles of the students and teachers • expected outcomes Whose Future Is It Anyway? A Student-Directed Transition Planning Process

29. Content: • Section 1: Getting to know you • Section 2: Making Decisions • Section 3: How to Get What You Need • Section 4: Goals, Objectives and the Future • Section 5: Communicating • Section 6: Thank You, Honorable Chairperson • For Further Information: • www.education.ou.edu/zarrow • Free…did you hear that??? FREE!!!! Whose Future Is It Anyway?, continued

30. Purpose: to enable students to systematically gain a sense of control and influence over their own learning and development. Motivation strategy designed to increase the student’s involvement in key decision-making and planning processes • Population: all disabilities, age 14-21 • Materials: scripted lessons and CD-Rom The Self-Advocacy Strategy

31. S.H.A.R.E. Sit up Straight Have a pleasant Voice Activate Thinking Relax Eye Communication • I PLAN Inventory Provide Inventory Listen and Respond Activate Thinking Name your Goals The Self-Advocacy Strategy Mnemonics

32. Facilitating students’ participation • Directing questions to student • Addressing student in second person, - avoid using 3rd person • Avoiding jargon • Using language and vocabulary familiar to/understandable by the student • Allow student to bring a peer/sibling C. IEP Meeting to Revise the Draft

33. Measure student progress • Direct observation of student involvement (e.g., # of utterances) • Checklist of behaviors (e.g., Stated purpose of meeting, Introduced self, Introduced others, Contributed PLAAFP, Contributed Goal(s), Responded to questions, …) • Listen to what people had to say about it (e.g., Surveys of student and other participants) C. IEP Meeting to Revise the Draft

34. Just Do It! But don’t stop with the meeting. Continue to involve students in goal attainment, problem-solving, self-regulation, and self-efficacy D. Implementing the Plan

35. Teaching plan implementation Let the IEP be a working document in your classroom (consider confidentiality) Teach students to self-evaluate performance on meeting lesson objectives Teach students to self-evaluate completion of assignments Teach students to be responsible for checking off assignments to complete as steps toward meeting an IEP objective Teach students to graph their performance on assignments These skills can be taught/ used with all students D. Implementing the Plan

36. Career • Integrate SD into English/Language Arts classes • Literature Circles • GO 4 IT…NOW! • Self-Realization Writing Portfolios • Use cross-curricular strategies • Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction (SDLMI) • Self-regulation and/or contracting Leisure Residential 2. Integrating SD concepts/skills into the general curriculum

37. A logical subject area to align with self-determination • Reading and writing are appropriate skills to develop across all subject areas • Focus on communication skills, many of which overlap with self-determination skills • Broad curriculum standards that accommodate flexibility in what and how to teach • Emerging evidence base to support aligning self-determination in English/language arts (ELA) English/Language Arts (ELA)

38. 8th and 9th grade students with disabilities showed improvement in their perceptions of their reading skills and were able to contribute to discussions in their literature circles • Self-determination components addressed: problem-solving and decision-making • ELA skills addressed: reading comprehension, oral communication Literature Circles Blum, Lipsett, & Yocom (2002)

39. High-school students with cognitive and physical disabilities showed improvement in their abilities write IEP goal paragraphs and other types of expository paragraphs • Self-determination components addressed: goal-setting, self-awareness, and self-regulation • ELA skills addressed: writing for a variety of purposes, paragraph writing GO 4 IT…NOW!Konrad, Trela, & Test (2004)

40. Uses a mnemonic device to help students write 6-sentence goal paragraphs • Can be applied to other types of paragraph writing GO 4 IT…NOW! in Practice

41. Goals Objectives 4(4 objectives) Identify Timeline Name your topic. Order your steps. Wrap it up and restate topic. GO 4 IT…NOW!A Strategy to Teach Students to Write Paragraphs about Their IEP Goals

42. Date 2/13/2004 (pre-intervention) Maltply and divide fractions. I will try not to make many mistakes. I try do them correotly.

43. 5/7/04 (post-intervention) I will plan a trip in the commutiyi by myself. First, I will pick a place to go out. Second, I will get directions on a map. Third, I will call up for a bus. Fourth, I wil count money to take the bus. This is how I will plan a trip in the commuty by myself by the end of the school year.

44. High-school juniors and seniors with learning disabilities or hearing impairments showed improvements in self-awareness • Self-determination components addressed: self-awareness, self-regulation, self-advocacy • ELA skills addressed: writing for a variety of purposes, essay writing, reading comprehension, and research skills Self-Realization Writing PorfoliosEisenman & Tascione (2002)

45. Each student maintains a writing portfolio • Writing topics related to disability or special education • Argument essay about whether students with disabilities should have to pass the state exam • Brochure persuading students with disabilities to become self-advocates • Self-assessment describing new learning related to special education needs and how new skills will be applied in the future • Personal essay about experiences of living with a disability • Proposal outlining steps for transitioning from one grade to another Self-Realization Writing Portfolios in Practice

46. Phase 1: Set a Goal Phase 2: Take Action Phase 3: Adjust Goal or Plan Mithaug, D. E., Wehmeyer, M. L., Agran, M., Martin, J. E., & Palmer, S. (1998). The self-determined learning model of instruction: Engaging students to solve their learning problems. In M. L. Wehmeyer and D. J. Sands (Eds.), Making it Happen: Student Involvement in Education Planning, Decision Making, and Instruction (pp. 299-328). Baltimore: Brookes. The Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction

47. Problem for Student to Solve: What is My Goal? • Student Question 1: What do I want to learn? • Student Question 2: What do I know about it now? • Student Question 3: What must change for me to learn what I don’t know? • Student Question 4: What can I do to make this happen? • Educational Supports: Student self-assessment of interests, abilities, and instructional needs; awareness training; choice-making instruction; problem-solving instruction; decision-making instruction; goal-setting instruction Phase 1: Set a Goal

48. Problem for Student to Solve: What is My Plan? • Student Question 5: What can I do to learn what I don’t know? • Student Question 6: What could keep me from taking action? • Student Question 7: What can I do to remove these barriers? • Student Question 8: When will I take action? • Educational Supports: Self-scheduling, self-instruction, antecedent cue regulation, choice-making instruction, goal-attainment strategies, problem-solving instruction, decision-making instruction, self-advocacy instruction, assertiveness training, communication skills training, self-monitoring Phase 2: Take Action

49. Problem for Student to Solve: What Have I Learned? • Student Question 9: What actions have I taken? • Student Question 10: What barriers have been removed? • Student Question 11: What has changed about what I don’t know? • Student Question 12: Do I know what I want to know? • Educational Supports: Self-evaluation strategies, choice-making instruction, problem-solving instruction, decision-making instruction, goal-setting instruction, self-reinforcement strategies, self-monitoring strategies, self-recording strategies Phase 3: Adjust Goal or Plan

50. Student and teacher select goal(s) • Design and teach student self-regulation strategy • Self-monitoring • Antecedent cues • Self-evaluation • Self-reinforcement Goal Setting/Self-Regulation: Student Support Skills (Wehmeyer, Yeager, Bolding, Agran, & Hughes, 2003)