Another aspect of Terrance's experience in school has been his bi-racial identity. While Terrance has a difficult time understanding why kids sometimes call him all sorts of names, he really doesn't understand why some children call him certain names. Terrance thinks of himself as black; after all, his dad was black. Terrance has support from many of the teachers at his school, and, most of the time, nasty episodes between he and peers are dealt with quickly. Indeed, a stated purpose of the school Terrance attends is the purposeful integration of cross-cultural tolerance into the curriculum.
At home, Terrance and his mother still struggle. The social worker who had been visiting weekly stopped doing so, and there have been few services provided since Terrance went to his new school. Terrance is physically much larger than his mother, and she thinks she has little influence on him in the home. In fact, he more or less does what he pleases without much consideration for what his mother says or thinks.
* If a specialized day school is indicated in the IEP, who pays for the placement? What if it is not? What has likely taken place in this scenario?
* What is a point/level system? Is this common in the type of school that Terrance now attends?
* From the standpoint of the school and the IEP, what is transition? Describe at least 3 transition goals for Terrance. When would the IEP team have started to consider and include these?
* How is Terrance likely to understand his racial identity given his low level of cognitive functioning?
* What is a manifestation determination meeting? Why does it occur? What are the possible ramifications of the meeting?
* If a specialized day school is indicated in the IEP, who pays for the placement? What if it is not? What has likely taken place in this scenario?
ReplyDeleteIf a specialized day school is indicated in the IEP the school system will have to pay for the placement. However, some of the financial burden on the public school system may be lifted due to the Comprehensive Services Act. “The Comprehensive Services Act for At-Risk Youth and Families (CSA) is a law enacted in 1993 that establishes a single state pool of funds to purchase services for at- risk youth and their families. The state funds, combined with local community funds, are managed by local interagency teams who plan and oversee services to youth” (The Commonwealth of Virginia, 2012). This act aims to improve the needs of families with children and youth who have, or who are at risk of having, serious emotional or behavioral difficulties. Terrance would receive services under the mandated category which is for “youth who are special education eligible and the youth’s Individualized Education Program (IEP) requires that the youth receive education in a private day or residential school setting” (Fairfax-Falls Church CSA Program, 2005). If a specialized day school is not indicated in the IEP then the school system is under no obligation to pay for the placement. In most cases where the student is placed in a specialized day school that was not indicate in their child’s IEP it was due to parental choice, where the parents would be obligated to pay for the services.
In the case of Terrance, the scenario that probably took place to land him in a specialized day school was that his “particularly bad tantrum” was one that either inflicted serious bodily injury to a faculty/staff member or a peer or had gotten to the point that the threat of him causing serious bodily injury was imminent. Regarding placement after a manifestation determination review; “unless the behavior involved one of the special circumstances—weapons, drugs, or serious bodily injury—the child would be returned to the placement from which he or she was removed as part of the disciplinary action. However, the parent and LEA can agree to a change of placement as part of the modification of the behavioral intervention plan. [§300.530(f)(2)]” (NICHCY, 2010).
* What is a point/level system? Is this common in the type of school that Terrance now attends?
ReplyDeleteA point or level system is a behavior management approach used for students exhibiting challenging behavior. Point values are assigned to desired behaviors. As the student exhibits the target behavior they earn points. The earned points are traded for something desirable to the student. As the student meets their objectives they can go up in levels. Each level holds the student to more responsibilities but in exchange “students access greater independences and more privileges as they demonstrate increased behavioral control” (Heward, 2003, p. 306). This type of behavior management concept is widely used in special education classrooms and would commonly be used in the type of school that Terrance now attends.
* From the standpoint of the school and the IEP, what is transition? Describe at least 3 transition goals for Terrance. When would the IEP team have started to consider and include these?
ReplyDeleteTransition is the period of time when the school and IEP team plan to prepare students to move from the world of school to the world of adulthood. This is really important for a student with disabilities and it is required by IDEA. Planning begins during high school around 16 years of age. It may start earlier if the team decides it would be appropriate to do so. The IEP team develops a plan and considers areas such as postsecondary education, vocational training, employment, independent living and community participation. Transition services are based on the students needs and take into account their preferences and interests. The team comes up with goals and assists the child in reaching them. ("Transition to adulthood," 2010)
A few transition goals that might be seen on Terrence’s plan include:
• Upon completion of high school, Terrance will enroll at the local community college.
o This goal is very much so attainable for Terrance’s level of knowledge. Transition services stay involved in reaching the goals and help assist him with skills that he might need to learn such as transportation, tutoring and self advocacy training.
• Given public situations Terrance will demonstrate sitting quietly and refraining from inappropriate comments and conversation with strangers.
o This is very important for Terrance to attain due to his behavior issues that he struggles with.
• Terrance will get a part time job in his area of interest.
o A great way for Terrance to gain personal relationships and social interactions. ("Transition goals in," 2010)
* How is Terrance likely to understand his racial identity given his low level of cognitive functioning?
ReplyDeleteTerrance’s IQ is 65, which does place him in the mild mental retardation category of cognitive function. Given this circumstance and that he is also biracial, places quite the strain on him to see a clear racial identity for himself. It was stated that he does view himself as being black which is a good clue that he has started to sort out the differences between what race is and how it is determined.
There have been several proposed cognitive focused models on the development of racial identity. It has been found that in order for a child to understand racial differences and to have racial preferences, they must first be able to de-center and conserve their issues about race. They must also be able to understand the racial influences and attitudes related to this topic.
One common Cognitive Model of Racial Identity Development is described in 4 stages:
• “Stage 1: Racial Classification
o Understanding of racial differences.
• Stage 2: Racial awareness
o Understanding that differences are limited to skin color, ability to categorize people by ethnic group
• Stage 3: Racial Constancy/Stability
o Understanding that race is permanent
• Stage 4: Racial Preferences
• Identification and attitudes (Graham & Harris, 2007).”
It is also said that not only are cognitive levels of functioning dependent on a child’s perception of racial identity but also the social and environmental factors that they encounter relating to this issue as well. Terrance is experiencing some negative feedback from peers regarding his racial identity and therefore that is feeding into his social and environmental perspective of himself as being black.
* How is Terrance likely to understand his racial identity given his low level of cognitive functioning? (CONTINUED)
ReplyDeleteBronfennbrener’s Ecological Theory provides a useful framework for exploring these influences on the development of racial identity in African American children. This Ecological Model of Racial Identity Development is described in terms of the different systems as levels and the questions that commonly go along with that level:
• “Level1 : Microsystem
o How does the child’s immediate environment influence racial identity development (parents, activities in the home, where the child lives)?
• Level 2: Mesosystem
o As the child enters school or daycare, what experiences have an impact directly on the child’s racial identity and what experiences have an impact on the parent’s role or behavior that development of the child’s racial identity?
• Level 3: Exosystem
o How do parental experiences with racial issues impact their parenting and their discussions about racial issues and racial identity?
• Level 4: Macrosystem
o How has affirmative action/desegregation has an impact on racial identity development?
• Level 5: Chronosystem
o How do political/societal changes impact racial identity? Development? (Graham & Harris, 2007)”
Due to Terrance’s lack of communication, the lacking role of his father who is the African American influence on him, the lack of his mother’s understanding of what it is like growing up and identifying yourself as black, and his low level of cognitive functioning, it is safe to say that he has quite the number of obstacles set up.
He is likely to view himself as black, and have that be his racial identity, however he may not be able to fully understand what it is that makes races different from one another. If he can, then it is most likely based on concrete reasons, and not understanding so much about the cultural aspects of all the different races. He may also have a hard time realizing that race is permanent and this may become an issue if he wants to change his race due to the recent development of teasing that has been going on in school. This bullying will have an effect on his views of the attitudes toward his own race and those of others without many reasoning skills to help cope with it.
This idea of race permanence may also be particularly alarming to him due to the fact that he is indeed not “fully” one race or another, yet a mixture of two separate races. Therefore it will be even harder for him to fully understand the different attitudes, differences, and cultures of both his mother’s and his father’s race, let alone his own. The absence of his father’s perspective on what it means to be a black man in today’s society would be helpful for him in finding out what it racial identity means, however since his father has never been in the picture that will only add to his confusion.
It will be a hard determination of identification on Terrance’s behalf, and it may take him some time to sort out his emotions and thoughts about what it means to be black, however with the help of his mother and his teacher’s who have taken it upon themselves to stick up for Terrance in school, we believe he should be able to have a reliable racial identity in the future. This identity may not be as deeply understood as it would be by a young black man of his age who has normal intelligence.
* What is a manifestation determination meeting? Why does it occur? What are the possible ramifications of the meeting?
ReplyDeleteA “manifestation determination meeting” is used through the child’s IEP team when the child commits an offense that violates the school code of conduct. This may result in exclusion for longer than 10 school days of removal. The common definition for a “manifestation determination meeting” is:
“The IEP team must determine if the behavior was a manifestation of the child’s disability and the conduct was caused by, or had a direct and substantial relationship to, the child’s disability (BG Center, 2012).”
During this meeting their goal is to DETERMINE what the MANIFESTATION of the offense was. Both the child’s parents and their IEP team are involved in this process. Many times the symptoms of neurologically based disabilities (such as Terrance’s) are misinterpreted as purposeful misbehavior. To try and diffuse this problem as much as possible is the purpose of the manifestation determination meeting.
A typical agenda for this meeting includes the following:
• Examine the records of the child’s behavior over the period of current IEP in order to see if similar behaviors occurred in the past with particular eye on the type of behavior that caused the referral.
• Collect information from the school staff about the child’s school performance to identify the extent, to which the problem behaviors are typical for the child.
• Collect information from parents on behavior concerns at home.
• Review the child’s current IEP and placement for appropriateness.
• Review options available at school for children with similar cognitive, emotional, and behavior status.
• Conduct Functional Behavior Assessment and develop a Positive Behavior Support plan, unless that has already been done.
• IF a Positive Behavior Support plan has already been implemented, review and modify it as necessary.
• IF the child has to be transferred to another setting, they should analyze the appropriateness of the proposed Interim Alternative Educational Setting: how the proposed IAES matches the child’s psycho-educational and emotional profile and educational disability (BG Center, 2012).”
IF the child has not had a Functional Behavior Assessment by the district prior to change of placement, the team should preform FBA what will include:
• “Define the child’s behavior in specific, concrete terms, label it according to its seriousness (destructive, disruptive, distracting), and prioritize the behaviors to address.
• Collect data to answer key questions regarding when the behavior is most and least likely to occur. These data will normally include: who was present during the last episode, what was going on at the time, when, where, how often, and how long such episodes may continue.
• Observe and record antecedents, behaviors, and consequences of behavior in question.
• Develop a hypothesis about the purpose or function, served by the behavior (attentions seeking, escape/avoidance, obtaining something, self-regulation, plat, etc.)
• Develop a plan for the school staff, which addresses prevention of such episodes and/or instructs them on how to react appropriately if these episodes happen again (BG center, 2012).”
* What happens when Terrance turns 18? For which services will he still be eligible? What kind of public assistance can he receive? How will he support himself? Be sure to look into SSI and disability – is he eligible when he turns 18? Is he eligible now, at 16?
ReplyDeleteWhen Terrance turns 18 he will be considered a legal adult. After turning 18 years old, “three major benefit programs” change their determination of eligibility rules (World Institute on Disability, 2012). These programs include Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI)/ Title II benefits, and Private Health Coverage. Due to Terrance’s disabling condition of FAS, he must be re-evaluated at 18 years of age for SSI eligibility.
If SSI finds Terrance to still be disabled, there are five major changes that will occur to his benefit. Terrance “may be eligible for a higher benefit; however, his benefit amount will depend on his living situation and disability” (World Institute on Disability, 2012). Another change that will occur is that his “Parent-to-Child deeming will stop, which also might result in increased benefits” (World Institute on Disability, 2012). After Terrance turns 18 years old, “Child Support rules also change, and the amount of his child support is no longer reduced by a third” (World Institute on Disability, 2012). After turning 18 years old, “In-Kind Support and Maintenance rules also change,” and if Terrance decides to still live at home with his mom then “the federal portion of his benefit amount will be decreased by one-third” (World Institute on Disability, 2012). The fifth change that may occur if Terrance is still deemed disabled includes that he “may no longer have representative payee,” which means he can “request to have benefits sent directly to him, or to a different person” (World Institute on Disability, 2012).
After Terrance turns 18 years old, Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI)/ Title II benefits will also change their rules of eligibility. After Terrance turns 18 years old, his “Title II child benefits will end “(World Institute on Disability, 2012). If Terrance was on “SSI as well as receiving Title II child benefits” as a minor, his re-evaluated “SSI benefit could possibly increase” (World Institute on Disability, 2012). When Terrance’s Title II child benefits end he “may also be eligible for Childhood Disability Benefits” (World Institute on Disability, 2012).
To be eligible for Childhood Disability Benefits (CDB), Terrance has to be considered disabled and his mother would have to receive “Social Security Disability or Retirement benefits” (World Institute on Disability, 2012). If Terrance met these requirements he might also be eligible for Medicare.
After turning 18 years old Terrance’s Private Health Insurance coverage is likely to change “unless he attends college, in which case he can be covered until he turns 23 years old” (World Institute on Disability, 2012). However, private health insurance coverage varies from plan to plan and Terrance’s eligibility for coverage is dependent on his mother’s coverage.
* What happens when Terrance turns 18? For which services will he still be eligible? What kind of public assistance can he receive? How will he support himself? Be sure to look into SSI and disability – is he eligible when he turns 18? Is he eligible now, at 16? (CONTINUED)
ReplyDeleteThere are several public assistance services that are available for children and adults with disabilities. Due to Terrance’s disabling condition, he may be considered eligible for Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Services (DVRS). The DVRS deems individuals eligible for services if they “conclude that a person has a physical or mental impairment that may prevent him/her form holding a paying job” (Kidlaw Resource Center., 2011). Some services that DVRS may provide include: “vocational counseling, job-seeking skills, training, job placement and supported employment” (Kidlaw Resource Center., 2011). After receiving these services, Terrance is more likely to find a job and start supporting himself.
To meet the eligibility for SSI and disability at 16 years old, Terrance would have to be “considered disabled by having a medically determinable physical or mental impairment or combination of impairments that causes marked and severe functional limitations, and that can be expected to cause death or that has lasted or can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than 12 months” (World Institute on Disability, 2012).
References
ReplyDeleteBG Center. (2012, March 28). Center for cognitive-developmental assessment and remediation. Retrieved from http://www.bgcenter.com/BGCenterServices/DisabilityDeterminationService.htm
Fairfax-Falls Church CSA Program. (2005, April). Services for Children, Youth & their Families under the Comprehensive Services Act: A Guide for Parents. Retrieved from Comprehensive Services Act: http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/csa/CSA_Local_Parent_Handbook.pdf
Graham, J., & Harris, Y. (2007). The african american child: Development and challenges . (pp. 70-75). New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company. Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books?id=MvRMUtCVi2IC&pg=PA76&lpg=PA76&dq=cognitive level and racial identity&source=bl&ots=cyGgQRlOD_&sig=bJtWpOUbrOTAO7YHAjzzXxnSt_4&hl=en&sa=X&ei=qml0T7r_JtC70QHv9tWAAw&ved=0CCQQ6AEwAA
Heward, W. L. (2003). Exceptional Children: An Introduction to Special Education. Upper Saddle River: Merrill.
Kidlaw Resource Center. (2011). A Basic Guide to Special Education. Retrieved March 30, 2012, from http://www.kidlaw.org/admin.asp?uri=2081&action=15&di=359&ext=pdf&view=yes
NICHCY. (2010, September). Manifestation Determination. Retrieved from National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (NICHCY): http://nichcy.org/schoolage/placement/disc-details/manifestation
The Commonwealth of Virginia. (2012, March 26). Welcome to the CSA website. Retrieved from Comprehensive Services Act: http://www.csa.virginia.gov/index.cfm
Transition goals in the iep. (2010, September). Retrieved from http://nichcy.org/schoolage/transitionadult/goals
Transition to adulthood. (2010, September). Retrieved from http://nichcy.org/schoolage/transitionadult/
World Institute on Disability. (2012). Disability Benefits 101. Retrieved March 30, 2012, from http://ca.db101.org/ca/special/youth/feature4.htm