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Reading Article Reflections

Promoting maintenance and generalization through cognitive decision making training

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FCG/is_2_32/ai_n14832197/  This online article focuses on work outcomes, self-determination, career decision-making skills, person centered planning, and transitional planning for students with disabilities.  For those students with mild disabilities, training in cognitive decision making is suggested.  The experiences for students should be, according to the article, challenging, current and useful.  A student does not learn unless he or she is challenged, but the challenge should not be too difficult or too easy.  The level must be just right for the student to progress. 

This article led me to think about employability and how reading came into play in that respect.  For example, this would include resume writing, thank you notes, and the actual process of looking in a newspaper or online for a job.  A student should be exposed to different job and resume types as well as to the interviewing process.  The act of mailing a letter also could be a good mini lesson, but should be repeated in different environments, with different people, and with different types of envelopes and letters, for example.

In the article it stresses that students should learn to transfer what they know from the school and into the community.  If a student learns to check out a book at the school library, it would also be a good idea to have that student check one out at the local library.  Students can start out learning such concepts by being shown a flashcard of a library at the onset of a lesson unit, and then could progress gradually to going to the school library, and then finally to the local library, and maybe even to a library in another city. 

The decision making in which students are involved should focus on their interests and goals in order to be relevant to them and their futures.  When considering reading I feel that students could choose books that interest them so that they will remain interested in the book they are reading.  Students can make their own personal reading goals and this is something that can be done with writing as well.

The article discussed a study (Mithaug, Horiuchi, & Fanning, 1985; Dunn & Shumaker, 1997; Blackorby & Wagner, 1996; Sitlington, Frank, & Carson, 1992) that said that youth with disabilities had difficulties obtaining and maintaining employment.  This shows why generalization is so important. 

In this article it was stated that students who have their employability skills monitored can have better success in their futures as well as with their social skills.  Self determination was considered the skill needed by those with disabilities in order to be successful in the workplace. 

I read many articles on Twilight, special needs and reading while compiling this website.