Active Transition of Student Into College - Paper Example

There is a huge number of students who have completed their high school education, but their intellectual disability has hindered them to proceed to the college level education. This challenge is influenced by the high academic scores that have been provided by most of the colleges hence leading to disappointment to most of the students with intellectual disabilities. The social ability and personal growth ability of the students with the intellectual disabilities was linked with limiting them to access the college education.

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Continued research shows that since the early 1970s, the number of students with mental disabilities who have been attending college education has continued to diminish over time. Based on this, the research has also shown that of all the students with the intellectual disability that attend college level education, only 23% of them manage to attend a one year course program. It also indicates that only 11% of them attend a four year course program in college and on only 28% of the students manage to graduate (Hall, Kleinert, & Kearns, 2000). This issue is mainly attached to the fact that colleges gets involved with different education programs and social difficulties and most of the students with intellectual disabilities are usually faced with the challenge of making critical decisions.

The college level education gets aligned to a high volume of complex research and learning as compared to the high school education, and most of the students with an intellectual disability find it tough to cope with the college education level. According to (proctor, 2006), these high demands and expectation of the faculty contribute to high anxiety levels hence leading to a poor academic performance of examinations by the intellectually disabled children.

Attitude of students about college

Intellectually disabled students who do not manage to transition to the college level education are also faced with an enormous social challenge. This social issue refers to the fact they have to build a social network through making friends with other students who are either from the same environment or different settings. Some of the students that they will make friendship with do not have intellectual disabilities and therefore they have a college degree. Present social realms are very sensitive and also cautious about their peers education status and remaining behind academically diminishes the self-worth of the student with the intellectual disability.

Several programs, policies and structures should be put in place to help the students who have this condition. This kind of programs should aim at contributing to making the students embrace their situation and also take it positively. This initiative helps the students to feel their worth by helping them to transit into their college education realm at a level that will assist them to complete it successfully. Some of these preparations include introducing an education program similar to the college education while still in high school so as to prepare them on how to meet the complex college education demands and expectations. The students should also register with student support services that can quickly help them to solve their intellectual disability. Research shows that there are more than 200 available post-secondary education programs which assist the students with the intellectual disability problem.

According to (Newman, Wagner, Cameto, & Knokey, 2009), there are three types of post-secondary education programs. One is one known as the separate model program; the second one is the mixed model program, and the third one is called the comprehensive design program. The mixed model programs are mainly incorporated separately in the college and universities environments. They are separate classes entirely dedicated to the students with the intellectual disability problem. Despite different categories, the students also interact with the other students with no intellectual disability through some shared course programs, social interaction and also equal working opportunities. The mixed program system hires Special Education tutors who usually educate these students and also guide them at a level where they all understand. Research has shown that this program has helped more than 50 students in every year.

Hope optimism of fast year students in college

The Inclusive program is a college education system that is specifically tailored to meet the needs of students with only intellectual disabilities. These students join the program when they are in their final year of their high school education or immediately after their high school education. This program helps to simulate an environment similar to the college level education. This Initiative contributes to preparing the students for the college education by familiarising them with all the complex academic demands as well as social needs that they are expected to meet in college. Through this program, the scholar's strengths, weaknesses and as well as interests are analysed to help support and guide them in their career decision making during their college education level.

Research has shown that the Inclusive program is has been and remained to be the most efficient program for the college students with intellectual disabilities. According to the research statistics, 85 % of all the students who went through the post-secondary programs managed to complete their college education even in college programs with very complex educational demands. The statistics also showed that 95% of them were also able to work with no supervision at their working environments and earn more compared to those who never went through the post-graduate program.

According to (Newman, Wagner, Cameto, & Knokey, 2009), a positive attitude from people with no intellectual towards the individuals who have an intellectual disability also helps to boost the students feeling of worth in several ways. One is that a Positive attitude contributes to merge them into the society and increase their productivity since the can see that their work and efforts are appreciated the same way as for the people with no intellectual disabilities. Research has also indicated that positive attitude towards intellectually concerned people helps to increase the social relations and hence contributing to increasing their opportunities in various positions within the society. Secondly, a positive attitude has also assisted in the structuring of legal policies and procedures that help to protect the people with intellectual disability from issues that affect them. The society segregates most of the individuals with this problem but putting up legal structures and policies helps to protect them by providing them with equal opportunities to those with no intellectual disabilities.

Students will intellectual disabilities

Intellectual disability is also highly attached at the transition stage where the young students are between adulthood and adolescence. Psychological research shows that this is usually a tough stage in life for the young people since this is a stage that they learn how to be responsible and also make critical decisions in their lives. It is also at this juncture in life where these most of the students with the intellectual disability advance into secondary level education where they are expected to meet high education demands in the college education. Research has also shown that students with mental disabilities face low levels of self-confidence and anxiety which later leads to depression (Eyal, David, Oranit, Etai & Malka 2015).

The hopeful theory is one of the principles that have been applied to help boost the confidence of the students. It mainly achieves these by injecting hope to the affected students and helping them to efficiently overcome hindering issues in their lives by putting up objectives and also plans on how to succeed in their college level education successfully. Hope helps also helps the intellectually affected students to set their targets and goals through pathway and agency cognition. The pathway cognition helps the students individually by focusing on the pathways that will help them to achieve their objectives after they have laid out plans. On the other hand, agency thinking contributes to strengthen the personal beliefs the students have. This personal view helps to guide the students on how to start and also proceed with the best pathways that will help them to achieve their goals. Setting up a positive thinking as I believe I make it, contributes to induce an individual motivation to the students when they are pursuing their goals. Research shows that 75% of the students who were hopeful and confident managed to succeed at all the levels of their college education. Hopeful thinking combined with a positive attitude has been proofed to have a superior ability in achieving multiple education levels.

Optimism is also highly rated as one of the most important attributes that every individual must possess since it helps an individual to purely focus on the achievement of every person goal as well as focus on a future with the best outcome. According to (David L, Kelly, Brittany & Seb 2013), Optimism helps to increase the anticipated thinking where the preferred events will get attained. High and energetic optimism helps to reduce distress levels for students with intellectual disabilities and enhance an enormous positive expectation which helps them in the completion of their college education. It also helps them to feel contented with their life achievements, strengthen their health physically and their psychological state too.

Students with an intellectual disability may end up having a feeling of loneliness when they get socially segregated. College environments are a huge trigger to this feeling because most cases these students are looked down by the other students with no intellectual disability since they only want to create relations with other students who have the same intellectual levels. Social segregation hinders them from attaining their basic requirements regarding relationships and also developing a sense of belonging. College environments are linked to having extreme education and social network challenges among students with no intellectual disability and those who don't have.

However, all these problems associated with the college education and its environment should hinder the student with intellectual disabilities from attending their college education. Research has shown places where some the student with an intellectual disability has completed complex college careers like piloting. An example of this is a piloting project named SHEP in Kentucky where the young students with the intellectual disabilities are successfully completing their piloting jobs and other courses too. This college has created a huge impact to the affected by supporting and guiding them to pursue and achieve their goals and personal ambitions (David L, Kelly, Brittany & Seb 2013). Other than only pursuing their personal goals, the college has taught the students about other important life skills that will help them to achieve more in their future careers and working environments too.

Higher Education

The college has mainly achieved this by liaising with career mentors and tutors who have a have an old background about people with intellectual disabilities. These career mentors and teachers have a clear and profound understanding of the best techniques that they will use to help these students achieve their goals. The college has also contributed to creating employment opportunities through building partnerships with co...