Youth with Disabilities:
 Emerging Issues in the USA
 Dennis Moore, Ed.D. & Nikki Rogers, Ph.D.
SARDI, Boonshoft School of Medicine, Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio, USA
Institut výzkumu inkluzivního vzdělávání Masarykova Univerzita, Brno
28 Duben 2011

Goals of presentation
•Overview history and government structures
•Overview of special education and vocational rehabilitation

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Federal system in USA - 50 states with strong states rights
for example: In some states personal marijuana use is not criminal but in others it is
US federal government pays for 10.8% of education  – the rest is paid by states and local city.
For special education, it pays 14%, but cost is much higher
Funding for special education is much higher per pupil than general education – therefore trend is
for fewer services

Change increasingly falls to state, rather than federal government
– 50 states in US, therefore 50 different ways to provide special education and disability services


Special Education in USA:
not public school system responsibility until 1975
influential Americans such as Roy Rogers (cowboy)  & Kennedy family had children with Down
Syndrome  and this raised awareness
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act “IDEA” - 1975
Public school responsibility now for Individual Education Plan (IEP) and “mainstreaming” and
“inclusion”

Percentages of American Students in Special Education Programs by Type of Disability
Source: National Center for Education Statistics’ Digest of Education Statistics 2001.


“Historical” categories in special education
specific learning disability
speech or language
mental retardation - intellectual disability
emotional disturbance
multiple disability
hearing impairment
orthopedic impairment
other health impairment
visual impairment
deaf-blind
traumatic brain injury
developmental delay
autism

Emerging awareness in children and youth
1.Asthma
2.Behavioral disorders
3.Autism – Aspergers Disease
4.Fetal alcohol syndrome

Employment rates for persons with disabilities comparable to Czech Republic
Highest dropout from school are special education and vocational or trade school students
Transition programs are renewed focus (transition =  high school to work or higher education)
Employment is a Big Focus Now in Special Education

State-based Vocational Rehabilitation in USA
1.  state-federal programs serve 500,000/year
2.  $3 billion USD - cost
3.  primary goal is to assist with employment
4.  can provide job readiness, supported employment, skills training, adaptive equipment, pay for
education
5.  increasingly focused on youth and transition
6.  VR counselors contract rehab work to NGO’s
7.  VR programs vulnerable to budget cuts