Recorded Date: March 21, 2024
No CRC credits available
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About this Event
Do you want to learn effective strategies and skills to help your students Think College? Join this free, public webinar to gain strategies and insights from a panel composed of K-12 transition specialists, a program director from an IPSE program, and a vocational rehabilitation (VR). They will discuss:
- How to collaborate across the transition spectrum
- College options for students with ID across the country
- How to guide students to explore college during transition
- Cutting edge transition resources and approaches
- Best practices for IPSEs
- College funding opportunities for students with intellectual disability
- Current research about positive outcomes for students with ID who attend college, such as increased rates of competitive integrated employment
Dan Habib will moderate this panel of experts and share and discuss the new, free “Think Higher. Think College.” campaign video and resources.
Training Objectives:
- Identify the current higher education opportunities for students with intellectual disability.
- Discover and download free, cutting-edge resources from the “Think Higher. Think College.” campaign website.
- Recall current research about increased outcomes for students with ID who attend college, such as competitive integrated employment.
- Gain insights from a panel comprised of a K-12 educator, a program director from an IPSE program, and a VR executive director about what options exist for students with ID, how to guide students to pursue college, and how to collaborate across the transition spectrum to support students with ID along the path to college.
Presenters
Brenda Barrio
Assistant Vice President of Research and Innovation
Associate Professor of Special Education
University of North Texas
University of North Texas
Brenda Barrio is the Assistant Vice President of Research and Innovation and Associate Professor of Special Education at the University of North Texas. Her research focuses on the disproportionality of students from marginalized students in special education, culturally responsive teaching, bilingual special education, and teacher preparation. Dr. Barrio has more than 20 years of teaching and research experience. She is also the co-founder of the UNT ELEVAR and WSU ROAR inclusive post-secondary education programs for young adults with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities.
Dan Habib
Inclusive Communities Project Director
Westchester Institute for Human Development
Dan Habib is the Inclusive Communities Project Director at the Westchester Institute for Human Development and the founder of LikeRightNow Films. He is the Director and Producer of Intelligent Lives, Including Samuel, Who Cares About Kelsey?, and Mr. Connolly Has ALS. His current project is the Emmy Award-winning My Disability Roadmap, which he Co-Directed with his son Samuel Habib. Dan is also helping to lead a new public awareness campaign called “Think Higher – Think College,” which is part of the Think College Inclusive Higher Education Network Project. Habib gave the TEDx talk, “Disabling Segregation,” and served on President Barack Obama’s President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities from 2014-2017.
Melinda Fruendt
Executive Director
Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services
As executive director of the Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services for over five years, Melinda Fruendt leads more than 1,000 state employees who served 96,178 Oklahomans with disabilities in 2023. She previously served as DRS chief of staff for DRS’ seven divisions with 25 statewide programs focused on employment, education, independence, and the determination of medical eligibility for disability benefits. Her past positions include chief of staff, and executive-level project coordinator for DRS. Melinda farms with her husband Paul in Guthrie where they have a cow-calf and stocker operation, as well as diversified crops production.
Sean Phelan is currently in his 5th year of teaching at Blue Valley North High School in Overland Park, Kansas where he teaches students with extensive support needs. While attending the University of Kansas, Sean was a peer for KU – Transition to Postsecondary Education Program (KU-TPE), where he saw firsthand that individuals with disabilities can succeed in college. Those experiences have shaped his philosophies by instituting inclusive practices and enforcing high expectations for his students. Sean has helped transition many students to postsecondary programs after graduating from high school.
Yuki Nishizawa
Teacher and Transition Specialist
Brookline High School
Yuki Nishizawa is a teacher with 20 years of experience working with students who are neurodivergent/disabled. She holds a Master’s degree in Special Education from Lesley university, and is currently serving as a Transition Specialist at Brookline High School. Born and raised in Tokyo,Japan, where a pathway for employment for people with disabilities exists, Yuki maintains high expectations for each and every student she encounters. While at the Henderson School in Dorchester, MA, she developed a transition program at the school, and successfully started a pilot program with MassArt college, now known as the Aspire program as part of MAICEI. She’s also worked with her students to practice their employability skills at local businesses and non-profit organizations.
