Paul Menton Centre's Virtual Make the Cut 2020:
Video #6 - PYT Presentation

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SOMEI TAM: 
The last presenter will be Sonia Tanguay. Sonia is a Senior Disability Advisor at the Paul Menton Centre. She will be presenting on the topic of planning your transition to university. You will learn about the differences between high school and university when it comes to setting up accommodation in- at the post-secondary level. She will give you tips on how to make a successful transition to university life and how to prepare before, during, and after your university admission.

SONIA TANGUAY: 
So, we will move on to our presentation about planning your transition and kind of to give you a quick overview of what we're gonna be talking about is we're going to talk about planning overall and what does the first step of planning come into account.

The accommodation process, what does it look like. At the University level? At the postsecondary level? 

And this is across Canada, whether you decide to come to Carleton or whether you decide to go to another institution in Ontario or elsewhere.

We'll talk about documentation requirements, um the types of accommodations and support services that are available at the university. How to plan ahead in the summer, in the fall, and once the semester begins and then we'll talk briefly about differences between high school and university. 

I think some of you based on what Amanda was talking about earlier and in some of you when you were posting um words and sentences in the poll um kind of have an idea already of what the differences are and I think your- your teachers your high school teachers are definitely uh talking about maybe what to expect in a university setting.

So, let's do um a bit of a poll um a word cloud, uh so if you can please log into the poll everyone um and then what I'd like you to um to post is what words come to mind when you think about planning your transition to post-secondary?

So, let's wait some for some responses. I have words already that come to mind. With the words that I have, perhaps before responses come up um I'm thinking of - oh difficult, re- residence and transportation, change- oh I love that! Drag, oh really?! Uh fear, overwhelming, stressful, stress. Okay a lot of stress, finding new friends, so there's a bit of apprehension, a bit of anxiety, uncertainty, more focus, maturity, over preparation, GPA, we call it as well as CGPA- a cumulative grade point average, due dates, deadlines, new opportunities, I have that word on my list. That's wonderful. Words that I have in mine: opportunity, knowledge, new beginnings, and exploring. So, let's move on to the next slide.

So, before we talk about accommodations and before we talk about documentation requirements you know I - most of you and I know not all of you but most of you will be applying to post-secondary by February and the February deadline is coming, it's quickly approaching. But the first step before you come to a campus or you- you participate in online learning, is to figure out what program you're going to enroll in or apply to. And things to keep in mind is you know do it do I choose a program based on my strengths my attitudes and my interests? Do I have to consider my weaknesses? Do I want to consider labor market trends? What's the economy telling me out there? Um you know more and more um there's a lot - there's a big trend in terms of looking at STEM programs, the science, the technology, engineering, and math. When we look at the trends out there I mean there's- there's a trend in terms of becoming a data scientist, working in a health care system, working in policy in terms of health, um computer science is a very popular program. 

So, kind of figuring out what's out there and you know despite you know kind of choosing an area where you may be interested there's also the opportunity where you could join or add on a minor to your degree so you can not only broaden your interests and area of expertise but those are things that you kind of want to keep in mind. I added a little um an additional kind of point to when you're planning into um to choosing your program is to consider - are the programs offering co-op programs? And more and more universities are now offering experiential learning opportunities or employment programs that allow you to gain meaningful employment based on your- your program. So experiential learning is kind of getting some hands-on uh experience so- so those are things that you may want to consider when you're choosing a program of interest and choosing a program that you really want to do this coming fall.

So, let's talk a little bit about the differences between high school and post-secondary. Um I'll first talk about the legal framework and then the accommodation process but so uh - to access education. So, access to education for students with disabilities is regulated by, in high school by the Education Act. In post-secondary um we're talking about the Ontario Human Rights Code and the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act.

So those are two different um areas that regulate how students can receive accommodations. I'll explain a little bit as we get through this presentation why the difference is. So, to show that a student has a disability they must in high school they must have an IEP that's based on a formal diagnosis so that means there's a confirmed disability or on an informal identification. And some of you may have an informal identification, so no exceptionality. And what does that mean? That means that you never really completed formal testing with a psychologist or with an individual that can or a professional that can commune a diagnosis. 

In post-secondary however, you need to have recent documentation completed by a regulated health professional that confirms functional limitations and a diagnosis of a disability. So there is the distinction, in high school you can actually receive accommodations such as extra time on the basis of an IEP without formal identification. In university um we do not um, that is not the case and you need to have documentation which confirms the disability.

So, the decision to disclose your disability to your teachers and professors is made in high school by your parents, the guardian that may be caring for you until you are 18 years old. In post-secondary, it's up to you. You can decide in terms of when you're approaching your professors if you want to disclose the nature of your disability or if you prefer to simply talk about your learning profile and how you know some of your strengths and weaknesses in terms of your disability affects you in the learning environment. So to decide which accommodations students need in high school teachers can often recommend various accommodations to students often all students with learning difficulties have access to the same accommodations when I look at IEPs as a secondary document when students are coming in, uh the common ones everybody gets 50% extra time, many people have access to a computer, um but when you look at post-secondary and university disability coordinators or advisors will review the documentation and only choose specific accommodations that meet your learning profile, functional limitations, and they need to take into consideration what are essential course requirements. 

I'll give you a perfect example of what an essential course requirement is. So, if you're in a marketing business program an essential course requirement is that you're actually going to be working in groups and doing presentations you're going to market your product for instance. So that is an essential course requirement, so accommodations cannot undermine that. Accommodations um are meant to level the playing field but they can never go against a requirement of a program. So, all that to say, those accommodations the accommodations that you were receiving in high school you may not necessarily receive the same accommodations in a university setting.

Who informs teachers about your accommodations? Well in high school the special education teacher provides each classroom teacher with IEPs for all their students. So, it's kind of done for you and that's kind of nice but in post-secondary the student must request accommodations every term. Why? Because classes change, new professors are teaching courses every term, and you're required to follow up with professors to make sure that accommodations are made. So, in other words, in university you actually need to be more involved, more proactive, and more engaged in the accommodation process. You don't just do it once or assume that things will be done for you. There's actually a part of you that needs to kind of get involved and engage in the process so let's talk about the IEP, the most common thing that students often talk about when- when they initially register with the disabilities office. 

So, I have an IEP. Can I use my IEP as documentation? And this is kind of to the point that I was making. So actually, to access permanent accommodations in post-secondary education, an IEP is not sufficient documentation. So, the answer is no. Most universities require an assessment of functional limitations to determine how your disability impacts you in the learning environment.

And who does that assessment of functional limitation? Well it's the coordinator advisor but also the regulated health professional that fills out your documentation. And who is a regulated health professional? Well, medical doctor, audiologist, optometrist, ophthalmologist, speech and language pathologist, psychologist. That's just to give you some examples.

If you log into our website or you visit our website at the Paul Menton Centre, we have specific documentation forms that are- have been created for the different types of disabilities such as chronic medical, sensory, ADHD, mobility, um concussions or head trauma, mental health. And you may wish to actually look at the institution that you will be going to for this upcoming fall to find out what are their documentation requirements. Although they may very much be similar to what we are requiring. When in doubt schedule an information meeting to review your documentation prior to the start of the academic year so you're not showing up in September and asking for extra time for a test when you're going to be told that what you have does not provide sufficient information to grant that.

So um academic accommodations um and support services. So- so what are accommodations? Well, they are meant to provide equal opportunity to meet essential course requirements. Success is not guaranteed. So you can be granted extra time, so an extra 20 minutes per hour to complete tests for instance. Um, that's great however you still need to study to- to uh to do well on a test so extra time will not guarantee that you're actually going to be doing well on a test. There's more to it. Individualized so accommodations are individualized according to disability related needs so one individual may receive these specific accommodations another individual will - may receive other ones. 

There's actually a student's active engagement in the accommodation process that is different from high school and accommodations are usually formalized in a document, issued by the disabilities office to your professor. So, unless you have that particular documents which is typically a letter that means that you do not have um accommodations set up. So, if you just send over your documentation to the disabilities office and expect that oh I'm registered and I'll receive extra time um there's- there's more steps to that. You actually need to- to meet with someone such as myself in order to formalize uh the accommodations. So I'll give you examples and certainly again, this is based on individual need but examples of accommodations could be: extra time, use of a quiet location to write exams, use of a computer such as Microsoft Office, using assistive software, reading, voice recognition screen reading software, sometimes supervised breaks within the vicinity of the test center, classroom accommodations um we're looking at possible audio recording lectures, ASL interpreters, captioning, or computerized note-taking those are just examples of what may be possible.

In terms of student support services those services are typically available across every disability's office. Amanda gave a really good idea or a good kind of exhaustive list of the different types of on-campus resources available but in terms of in-house disability specific services we do have supplemental notes provided by a volunteer peer note takers. They don't replace your own notes certainly, but they- they can be quite helpful in terms of supplementing what you may not be able to grasp or take down. Individualized learning strategies, peer mentorship and transition programs, um typically we offer at the end of August or at the start of September a transition program to um meet other students but also to learn specifically about the accommodation process so that you feel more comfortable in terms of transitioning to the fall term. We offer disability counseling, we have assisted learning technologies, and learning labs that you can use in order to try the technology before any purchases are made, tutoring, and we have employment programs in partnership with Career Services that really aim to help you develop those crucial employment skills, um, and gaining meaningful employment opportunities. Um to not only just focus on academics that's great but I think to get a well-rounded experience uh for you, um to- to kind of develop and grow um, as a student. 

So, planning ahead okay so Before, During, and After. So, when we're talking about before - so spring/summer okay so gather your documentation and review the documentation requirements so there's nothing more important for you to have a file folder at home and to start asking your Spec-Ed teacher to give you the documents that you have on file at your high school and to get copies of that. And never lose those copies because after a while you know the high schools will destroy your documents, the psychologists who did your Psych-Ed Assessment um does also destroy documents after a number of years, so keep those documents. It's very, very important even the most recent documents it is important to have that information. Schedule an information meeting or an intake appointment with an advisor or coordinator. Do that you know once you know or have an idea where you want to go, depending on which institution you're going to um you know you can schedule just an information meeting in terms of:  Is my documentation okay? What else do I need? Is it up to date? Is it recent? Will it meet the requirements of university? What else do I need? Attend open house events I know we will be hosting some through the Admissions Office. 

Attend transition programs, universities are actually offering transition or summer transition programs such as Chem Matters so chemistry matters or Math Matters. Those are great programs sometimes there's a fee to them but those are great programs for you to kind of touch up on some skills. If you haven't taken math in a little while and you're you know Oh I'm, I'm worried that I'm not going to be able to-to be up to par when I start in September - join those programs.

Consider housing arrangements, financial support, and how to budget costs and expenses. I know most financial aid offices have calculators that you can use and those calculators can help you um you know identify how much will university cost and what will be the expenses. So, during - okay so in terms of while you're engaging in university. So, an important thing in terms of in the fall, in September you need to request accommodations every term. Understand the accommodation process, which I talked about and most institutions will have different processes, discuss your accommodation needs with your professors and stay in contact with your coordinator or advisor. Don't wait until the last minute or until you're close to the end of the term to speak to your coordinator to let them know that things are not going well - try to be proactive! 

In terms of fall ,in winter it's important to assess and monitor your academic progress and well-being um participate in skill development opportunities to improve coping and academic skills, stay engaged and connected with others, and when we're talk-  I saw a lot of words about stress you know monitoring your stress monitoring what your mind and body is telling you uh monitoring in terms of or may grades dropping , why is it that I'm procrastinating a lot more? So, seeking help is very important. 

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