Barriers to Provide Transitional Programs for Students With Learning Disabilities: A Comparative Study
Introduction
Special education has greatly been part of my life. Teaching to student who wanted to learn how to support students with special needs and learning disabilities has been rewarding. There are still several areas of special education that need to be given attention, as a way to ensure that individuals with special needs are properly supported and provided. One of these areas that has not yet been explored as shown by the lack of empirical and scientific studies is the transitional programs for students with learning disabilities.
The lack of comprehensive transition and postsecondary programs with students with learning disabilities leads to the restrictive and oppressive nature of special education. There is always a need to provide a ladder for students with ID, rather than discriminating them in the academic environment. They should be provided access to academic enrichment for them to socialize and to acquire independent living skills with work experiences and career opportunities.
Issues with Transitions for Students with Learning Disabilities
The goal-setting of students with intellectual disabilities for college education shows the progress of the society's concern. By allowing students with ID to pursue education which will prepare them for work in the future, they are provided the possible means to live normally and regularly in this world. In recent years, the plight with students with ID has been given much attention with the increased popularity from media coverage. This speaks of the awareness within the educational setting of the needs and demands of students with ID.
Transition refers to the process of changing from one condition or environment to another. Transition from preschool to the grade-school setting or from the school setting to any post grade- school setting presents problems to students with Intellectual Disabilities (ID), as much as to other children and adolescents, which hinder them to grow integrally and to be succeed in assimilating with the regular environment, and eventually succeed in life (Reynolds & Fletcher-Janzen, 2007). Rather than exposing them unprepared to a new environment which has its own demands and challenges, students with ID are provided with a transitional setting to bridge two distinct environments.
Transition services help students with ID to cope with the need of working within an environment that fosters their growth as individuals and as members of the academic community. In the United States, the federal government provides free education where students with ID can learn in a less restrictive environment or mainstream schools as part of the transition phase in accordance with the amended Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (Martinez, et.al., 2012). In the United Kingdom, the code of Practice of the Department of Education and Employment provides a guideline on how to implement demands of the transition services for students with ID (Barron, et.al., 2007). The intention of this program is to support and help improve life for students with ID. Conversely, in the context of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), transition services and special education regulations provide a definitive command on supporting students with ID as they move up in the academic ladder (Al-Ahmadi, 2009).
The importance of transition is anchored on the idea of maximizing the capability of students to adopt to new environments, especially when it comes to work setting. Transition services are coordinated set of activities that are designed to meet goals and objectives. By utilizing this important aspect of special education, students with ID become more aware of their independence and the reality. In essence, the ultimate focus of transition services is to prepare students with ID for the possible decision-making process, self-actualization, and responsibilities that they will be facing after completing the education process. The lack of transition services would present students with ID difficulty in addressing the demands of the new environment. This means that rather than adopting to the new environment with new skills, capabilities, and actual responsibilities, students with ID become entangled with the past environment and condition, which limits them to progress or improve their life.
There are several barriers that hinder the provision of transition services to students with ID and these barriers also stop the support for the improvement of the lives of students with ID. Mainly, the issue is a political one as without the backing and support of the government, the effort to help students with ID to integrate with the mainstream society does not produce the best result. As such both KSA and UK have been working to draft rules and regulations that will answer this inadequacy. Second, the lack of support from parents and the community is another factor to this transition phase as without the support of the community, the person with ID cannot find employment in the mainstream society. Third, the lack of internal knowledge is another problem and in the case of KSA the problem is the lack of trained special education teachers who can deal with students with ID. Without teachers who can support students with ID, the difficulties for these students to have a smooth entrance to mainstream society will remain.
Comparing KSA and the UK Transition Services for Students with ID
The United Kingdom and KSA have a different perspective with regards to special education and the demand for transition services. Over the years, the United Kingdom has perfected its SEN programs to provide equal access to education for students with ID. The government focuses on preparing students with ID for the future integration with the mainstream society. Even in KSA, which had just begun to unravel new efforts for the support of students with ID, it is recognized that a suitable environment is very important to persons with ID so that with the aid of proper care and support, they will be prepared for any future endeavors (ALQuraini, 2011). However, both countries have a different outlook on this issue; while United Kingdom has been vocal and strict in the implementation of the initiative, KSA has been lax resulting in a dismal awareness of the public concerning the issue.
The wide disparity of transition services for special education between KSA and the United Kingdom can be traced back to the underlying way the education systems are structured. Although KSA has transformed its education system, traces of education being a "privilege" are still extant. Students with learning disabilities still suffer from lack of support and resources, which would have fostered there intellectual growth and development. The changes being made by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on its educational system is still biased on the benefits of mainstream school, rather than giving equal provisions for students with learning disabilities. KSA's special education outline is largely expressed in the Regulations of Special Education Programs and Institutes (RSEPI), however, even after adoption of the RSEPI its practice is still rare in the region (ALQuraini, 2011). The RSEPI categorizes students with disabilities clearly to ensure that students with disabilities get the necessary support, free and appropriate education. Nevertheless, for the last decade, KSA has worked diligently to comply with international standards and to be on a par with the UK and USA to ensure that students with ID learn in a less restrictive environment.
The goal of the UK's Department of Education is to ensure that students with ID are properly supported to enable an easier and smoother transition into adulthood, whether or not the student pursues higher education or seeks employment. With this intent, the Special Educational Needs (SEN) Code of Practice provides the necessary guidelines on how to keep students with ID on the right track for the transition (Barron, et.al., 2007). According to AlQuraini (2011), several general education and special education teachers believe that their professional training was inadequate to serve or meet the learning needs of Saudi students with ID.
Generally, KSA opened more than "38 audio programs in 18 centres around the KSA for deaf students for past four years, more than 362 programs for mentally disabled and blind students at intermediate and high schools level (Rana, et.al., 2011)." This means that the education system for students with ID in KSA adheres to advanced and state-of-the art tools and resources to ensure global competitiveness. Rather than placing students with ID in a special and traditional setting, they are provided the necessary tools and programs that will keep the education system updated and competitive. For the United Kingdom, the Department for Education's Special Educational Needs (SEN) provides the succinct guide on how these students should learn. However, even in a more relaxed environment, children with ID still don't have higher educational attainment. With this fact, the government devices the transition service to ensure that they can adopt or assimilate in the employment sector. Simply, the education system of UK for students with ID is more focused on preparing them for any possible work in the future, rather than on the advancement of higher education (although, this is a priority of the educational system).
Another important concern is the environment that students learn how to deal with the transitions they will face in the future. Both the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are working on provisions and laws to ensure that students learn in the best and most conducive learning environment. With the aid of proper learning environment, the learning process becomes more effective and the impact lasting. Alquraini (2011) raises concerns on how KSA adopts or implements the RSEPI in developing least restrictive learning environment; the practice of RSEPI is still minimal that the learning environment of most students with ID are still isolated from the rest of the world. Restricting students with ID from integration and assimilation with others just raises the problem of transition. On the other hand, for UK the SEN Code of Practice provides a detailed analysis on how each category and needs of students should be met with proper environment. This ensures that students with ID can excel and adopt to environments in a gradual manner. This is part of the goal of UK to improve students with ID so that they will be able to find work or advance their learning.
Aims of the Study
Although, there have been several empirical studies on the different resources and approaches to provide support for students with ID, the lack of any studies on the failure to provide appropriate support for transition hinders the growth of successful transitional programs. As yet there is no clear focus on pin-pointing the barriers that are blocking transitional programs for students with ID. Unless this area is addressed, it will be difficult to discover feasible and effective approaches to support students with ID.
Although attempts have been made to explain the needs of students with ID in relation to transition, there are no clear explanations why this support fails to reach or change the value of life for students with ID. This is a very important aspect of the study of support for students with intellectual disabilities as until these barriers are known, transition programs for students with intellectual disabilities will be hard to accomplish. However, if barriers to the provision of transitional programs for students with ID are known, it will be easier to identify what needs to be done for individual students, rather continually targeting the wrong aspect of the person's life.
This research aims to answer the following issues:
- What are the different barriers that hinder transitional programs being an effective means to support students with ID?
- How do these barriers to the provision of transitional programs affect the development and growth of students within the educational setting?
- What are the possible approaches and settings that will reduce the impact of these barriers to ensure that provisions of transitional programs are successfully delivered?
Methodology
This study seeks to identify the different barriers that disable transition services for students with special education in providing supportive programs to students with intellectual disabilities. To accomplish the said objective, the researcher will address following: Population/Sample of the Study. The research centers on the different special education teachers and parents of students with ID. A sample of the population will be chosen to serve the purpose of the study. The study will focus on 50 students with ID, 50 parents of ID students, and 50 teachers of special education.
Research Approach/Analysis. A combination of qualitative and quantitative research approaches will be used to achieve the specific goals and objectives of the study. Social life and context is an important part of this study, such as how students with ID interact with each other, with their teachers, parents, and other members of their immediate environment; and the research has to deal with this requirement through a qualitative research approach. To adopt a more objective and detached approach to measure students with ID's responses and other behavior, quantitative research approaches such as survey scales will be used.
Data Collection. In order to collect necessary information from the sample, the researcher will use survey and interview questionnaires that will be completed by members of the sample.
As much as the study needs to deal with the social context of people and with people directly, ethical considerations are taken into account. Instruments used for data collection will be subject to ethical review.
References
Alquraini, T. (2012).The Provision of transition services in educational institutes for students with multiple disabilities, and their significance from the perspective of employees. Journal of King Saud University, Volume 26.
Barron, D., et.al. (2007). Transition for Children with Intellectual Disabilities. Books Beyond Words.
Barron, D., et.al. (2007). Transition for Children with Intellectual Disabilities. Books Beyond Words.
Emerson, E., et.al. (2011).People with Learning Disabilities in England 2010: Services and Supports. Improving Health and Lives: Learning Disabilities Observatory.
Martinez, D., et.al. (2012). “Parents Involvement in the Transition Process of Children With Intellectual Disabilities: The Influence of Inclusion on Parent Desires and Expectations for PostSecondary Education.” Journal of Policy and Practice in Intellectual Disabilities Volume 9.
Rana, M., et.al. (2011). “Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and Special Education System in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: A Case Study.” Communications in Computer and Information Science Volume 174.
Reynolds, C. & Fletcher-Janzen, E. (2007). Encyclopedia of Special Education, Volume 3. John Wiley & Sons.
