Life After High School: A Guide for Students With Disabilities and Their Families [Paperback]

Susan Yellin (Author), Christina Cacioppo Bertsch (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 15, 2010

Graduating high school and moving on to further education or the workplace brings with it a whole new set of challenges, and this is especially true for students with disabilities. This useful book provides a complete overview of the issues such students and their families will need to consider, and outlines the key skills they will need in order to succeed once they get there. The authors describe the legal landscape as it applies to students with disabilities in the USA, and how to obtain the proper disability documentation to ensure that the student receives the right support and accommodations in college. Focussing specifically on the issues that affect students with disabilities, they offer advice on everything from dealing with college entrance exams and the college application process, to selecting the right college, visiting the campus, and achieving medical and financial independence away from home. A list of further resources guides students and their families towards additional sources of information and support, and stories of students with disabilities who have made the transition from high school to further education or the workplace are included throughout. This accessible and thoroughly readable book offers help and support to students with disabilities of all kinds, and their families, both before and during the transition to life after high school.

Editorial Reviews

Review

This book was awarded Bronze Medals as Best Education Book of the Year by both ForeWord Reviews (Book of the Year Awards)  and the Independent Publishers Association (IPPY Awards).

There are myriad accommodations that colleges and, to a lesser extent, work sites are required to make for people with disabilities, yet navigating the process can be daunting. Here, Yellin, attorney and founder of the nonprofit Center for Learning Differences, and Bertsch (former director, disability svcs., Fordham Univ.) provide students with disabilities and their parents an outstanding and highly readable guide to preparing for and transitioning to life after high school. They start by examining the legal landscape and cover defining a disability and creating a paper trail to document the disability and previous accommodations. They move on to college-entrance exams, how to select a college, and the admissions process, and then discuss the transition to full-time work. There is also a chapter devoted to dealing with medical issues without mom. The book ends with a useful list of resources, organized by topic, for further information. Verdict An excellent resource for students with disabilities and their families; at this price, within reach for most people and libraries. Highly recommended. --Library Journal

This book is a useful resource for helping disabled students and their families plan for continuing education after high school. It addresses the specific needs of physical, mental, and learning disabilities, covering how to work with guidance counselors, how and when to take standardized tests, and the specific attributes that a college or university needs to have to help the disabled learner succeed....Perhaps most valuable is the book s overall approach: it addresses the whole person, and not just the disability. The chapters discussing competency are particularly helpful; they discuss not only how to get special accommodations in class, but address issues like money management, personal hygiene, and sex. Every parent hopes that his or her child will grow up to have a full and fulfilling life. The information and advice presented in Life After High School will be a key resource in making this happen for the disabled child. --ForeWord Magazine

About the Author

Susan Yellin is an attorney and founder of The Center for Learning Differences, a New York-based nonprofit organization that runs an annual Life After High School program for students with disabilities. She is also head of the Advocacy and Transition team at the Yellin Center for Student Success, which provides educational evaluations and support for students of all ages. She and her husband, Dr. Paul Yellin, have three sons, one of whom has complex learning and medical issues, and all of whom have made the transition from high school. Christina Cacioppo Bertsch is the former Director of Disability Services for Fordham University in New York and the founder of CCB Educational Consulting Corp. Christina and her husband, a high school administrator and supervisor of guidance, have two daughters.

Product Details

• Paperback: 269 pages
• Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Pub (August 15, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1849058288
• ISBN-13: 978-1849058285
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #138,368 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Covers a lot of grounds and provides plenty of resources, August 7, 2010

By 

Techie Evan - See all my reviews

This review is from: Life After High School: A Guide for Students With Disabilities and Their Families (Paperback)

(What's this?)

For most American teenagers, life after high school means transitioning into adulthood and finding one's own path to independent living. Most will choose to get further education, while others may move on to the workplace directly. Whatever the chosen path, there will be a new set of challenges, especially for those with disabilities.

Written by women who have helped many high school graduates with disabilities that ran the spectrum (learning, emotional, medical, and physical, etc) successfully transition into college, trade school, or the workplace, this book calls attention to what those challenges are and the tools available to teenagers with disabilities and their families for working through those challenges.

The first tool is a set of laws that give the disabled and their advocates legal support for seeking reasonable accommodations to help the disabled achieve his or her potential in school and in the workplace. The authors identify the major laws that readers need to become familiar with (they cover only a handful of the really important ones so no need to run for cover thinking you'll need to learn so many of them!), and explain, in simple language, what they do and do not mandate.

Other tools come in the form of empowering knowledge about services that government agencies, educational institutions, and testing organizations can provide to the disabled, how to engage or apply for such services in a timely fashion, what documentation may be required to ensure that requests for accommodations or services are legitimate, and what mistakes to avoid.

Perhaps the most important advice the authors can impart to disabled teenagers and their families journeying through this rite of passage is the one they echo throughout the book: to the fullest extent possible, the disabled teenager must learn how to become his or her own best advocate, by becoming in touch with him or her self, taking responsibility for his or her own well-being, and not letting people speak for him or her whenever possible. Yes, this can be difficult, but some of the stories told in this guide about how some disabled teenagers were able to do this with thoughtful support from their families can serve as useful, perhaps even inspiring, blueprints.

Overall, I thought this guide covers a lot of grounds, is easy to read, and provides plenty of resources for follow-on research. The disabilities covered are diverse, and the discussions about issues arising from such disabilities and their potential remedies are thoughtful and helpful, but always realistic.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Title is misleading, August 29, 2010

By 

Carol "kepela" (Chatsworth, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Life After High School: A Guide for Students With Disabilities and Their Families (Paperback)

(What's this?)

From the title, I assumed the book was going to discuss what to do after high school for students with disabilities, without the heavy focus on college. It is a book that would be great for students who do not have major disabilities and who are planning to attend college.

On the surface, the book is a good one. It is complete in that it encompasses how to choose a college, applying for college, discusses HIPAA and FERPA, how to find resources at college, finding work, and living alone.

The book is very broadly written, and it discusses teaching the person skills such as making sure they take their meds on time, refill prescriptions, etc. You learn that you need to start early to teach your child to be self-reliant, but realistically, I feel many families are already doing this. Families of children with disabilities, tend to think ahead, they aren't going to wake up two days before graduation and realize "Wow, my son doesn't have any idea how to take his own medication."

I would prefer to see the book add focus chapters on specific disabilities so that students and their families have a better idea of what they need to plan for. Having to read the book cover to cover to find the tidbits of information pertaining to a child with ADHD or Aspergers is harder than being able to find that chapter.

I would like to see more of a focus on children who are not going to be living in college dorms, but will continue living at home, and the legal aspects of what the parents need to do to prepare for this. Not all students or children who turn 18 are able to sign their own paperwork or even begin work. They are not emotionally, or mentally or physically ready for college and living alone. I feel this book does not focus enough on these children, and on the needs of their parents.

The information is good solid information with a wonderful reference section for different agencies and organizations that can help with specific problems, organized by chapter.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Really mostly for those with minor disabilities, August 13, 2010

By 

J. Hauer "me" - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Life After High School: A Guide for Students With Disabilities and Their Families (Paperback)

(What's this?)

As I have a twice-exceptional daughter with a disability who is very high functioning and will most likely attend college, I like reading books that can possibly help me start to prepare for transition now. Most if the skills she will need at 18 need to start being developed while still in elementary school. You simply can't ignore them until age 14 when you are required to have your first transition meeting or util 18 at high school graduation.

I felt that the majority of this book dealt with what I consider minor disabilties where you need accommodations but other than self-advocacy, not a lot of life impacting issues. While Crohn's Disease may involve embarrassment and the preference for a private bathroom, it doesn't generally keep a student from having the organizational and executive functioning skills necessary to succeed in college. Nor does it keep a student from participating in everything college has to offer from dormitory life to academic success.

What I took away from this book is that you need to prepare your child starting yesterday to completely understand his disability, how it impacts the child's life and what needs to be done in order to help the child success. Most importantly, the child needs to be able to communicate this effectively to others which can be an extremely difficult and possibly impossible task for those with severe ADHD or autism spectrum disorders. Still, as a parent, it is crucial that your child must learn to do this for himself. Parents can't do for college students what they can for their minor children.

I also thought that the book gave little guidance for those with more profound disabilities, those headed to technical or vocational schools and those headed directly to the workforce. While the information contained is informative for those headed to college, perhaps a title change would be helpful so as not to mislead those who are not headed in that direction after high school.