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Friday, November 6, 2009 10:34 PM CST
Disabled students' road to transition can be a bumpy one
By HERB MEEKER, Staff Writer
hmeeker@jg-tc.com
MATTOON — Dave and Anna Ballinger of Neoga want to be a life-long advocate for their son, Gunner.
A teenager, Gunner loves hunting, fishing, riding a four-wheeler and playing on the computer. But Gunner has one obstacle straddling his path to the future: Down’s Syndrome.
That is why the Ballingers attended the Disability Awareness Day Conference on Transition Friday at Lake Land. They wanted to learn what the future can hold for Gunner after he leaves high school. At times the alphabet soup of education acronyms leaves them scratching their heads, but the conference was encouraging.
“We’re in the process of transition,” said Dave Ballinger. “We’re trying to find out the opportunities or program available for him.”
“The Neoga community has been wonderful with Gunner. But we want to become our own advocate for our son to see he gets the best opportunities after school ends for him in Neoga,” said Mrs. Ballinger.
Sandy Martin, a pre-vocational coordinator from Vermilion County, congratulated the Ballingers for coming out Friday to a conference that included about 40 educators working with young people with disabilities in East Central Illinois. During her keynote speech that opened the conference, Martin emphasized that lack of family involvement can be one of the roadblocks along the “highway of transition” for disabled students.
“We have to ask what barriers are along the way,” Martin said. “Are some students getting detoured by poverty or dysfunctional families?”
Martin said new laws and disability education methods demand that parents be involved in the transition process.
They can help their children set realistic goals. But a great deal of the burden still falls on teachers facing ever increasing tasks in a process that cannot stop to get all the paperwork and goals set in motion.
“If we do it right we will have a really good road map to get the students where they need to go,” said Martin, who won the National Iva Cook Teacher of the Year Award from the Council for Exceptional Children. “But we don’t have the option of stopping everything because the transition is ongoing.”
One vital part of successful transition for students with disabilities, 14 and older, is making sure their goals are realistic.
“It might be a student with a low-reading level and a hate for school work wanting to be a doctor,” Martin said.
A group discussion among the teachers produced some interesting career goals such as a students wanting to play in the NBA even though their athletic skills are marginal or students wanted to be a crime scene investigator even though study of science and math is a nightmare.
“We really can’t ignore their limitations. We need to let them learn what they can do on their own. We need to learn what is driving their interest so we don’t squelch their dreams. But we should find out why they want to do that,” Martin said.
One of the challenges facing Martin and other teachers in the field is a loss of financial resources. Budget cuts are making transition even harder.
During her presentation she revealed that animal charities receive twice the donations as charities for the disabled.
The Ballingers are undaunted in their efforts.
“Gunner will need a structured and repetitive job to be successful,” said his dad.
But the main thing is they want to be on the road to transition with him no matter what path he takes.
Contact Herb Meeker at hmeeker@jg-tc.com or 238-6869.
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