1.2: Guiding Principle 1: Plan with the Individual and Family

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Page ID: 57820

Samuel Sennott, Sheldon Loman, Kristy Lee Park, Luis F. Pérez, Michael J. Kennedy, John Romig, & Wendy J. Rodgers
Portland State University via Portland State University Library

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An essential first step to designing and implementing instruction for individuals with disabilities (IWD) is to plan with the individual and their family. Person-centered planning is a process used with IWD and others that is key to implementing supports for the individual (e.g., social workers, speech and language therapists, special educators). The purpose of person-centered planning is to establish positive, collaborative, meaningful, and individualized programs for IWD (Claes, Van Hove, Vandevelvelde, Loon, & Schalock, 2010). There are several person-centered planning models such as Planning Alternative Tomorrows with Hope (PATH; Pearpoint, O’Brien, & Forest, 1993), Personal Futures Planning (O’Brien & Lovett, 1992), McGill Action Planning (Vandercook, York, & Forest, 1989), and the Picture Method (Holburn, Gordon, & Vietze, 2007). All of these models are designed to center the supports and services for IWD with the individual and their families.

Choosing Outcomes and Accommodations for Children (COACH, Giangreco et al., 2011) is a comprehensive, yet practical approach to collaborative instructional planning for IWD who require intensive supports. The COACH process is designed to focus on promoting achievement for IWD within inclusive settings. There are two parts of COACH: Part A guides families and educators to determine a student’s educational program; and Part B guides the team to translate the family-identified priorities into goals and objectives. Part A involves a family interview that helps IWD and their families identify valued life outcomes and prioritize learning outcomes within selected curriculum areas. Part A concludes with the student team identifying general supports that will improve access and participation in the student’s educational program. These general supports outline accommodations, modifications, and individuals essential to implementing a successful inclusive program for a student. Part B of COACH then guides the team to translate these supports into measurable annual goals and shortterm objectives. Finally, the team delineates a “Program-at-a-glance” that is shared with everyone who supports the student.

A resource for assisting IWD plan their supports and services is the website www.imdetermined.org. The “One-Pager” from this resource is a practical tool that can be used by students and their teams to share strengths, preferences, interests, and needs with new teachers, employers, case managers, and other people who may support the students. A template is provided that allows students to type or handwrite and embed pictures within this one-page document. Examples are provided on this website for how this tool can be used. Overall, the “One-Pager” is a tool that can be used with students to ensure that they are the center of their instructional programming.

Person-centered planning outlines life-long dreams for the individual and plans to help them achieve them. The process brings together the individual, their family, and support-service providers (e.g., special and general educators, social workers, community support providers) to collaborate in designing a cohesive instructional program that addresses the individuals’ values. This person-centered team (sometimes called an instructional team) will follow a student along in their program, its members consistently updating one another to improve the outcomes for the individual and their family.