Supporting Youth with Disabilities in Juvenile Corrections

Sixteen-year-old Carlos has just been incarcerated in a juvenile corrections facility for the second time. He has many characteristics that are common among juvenile offenders: he was raised in a single-parent household; he grew up in a high-poverty, high-crime neighborhood with negative peer and family influences; and he has a learning disability.

In the United States, roughly 54,000 youth reside in juvenile corrections facilities on any given day. Though precise figures are difficult to come by, it is estimated that the percentage of incarcerated youth with disabilities typically range from 30 percent to 60 percent, with some estimates as high as 85 percent. This means that in a class of 15 students, anywhere from 5 to 13 of those students are likely to have a disability, most commonly specific learning disabilities (SLD), emotional or behavioral disorders (EBD), intellectual disability (ID), or attention deficit hyperactivity disorders (ADHD).

Whether or not they are incarcerated, students with disabilities are entitled to the free appropriate public education guaranteed to them under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). More than 16,000 incarcerated youth were served under IDEA from 2012 to 2013. However, less than half of all incarcerated youth during that time, who were identified as having a disability, reported receiving special education services. Furthermore, students who receive inadequate or no instructional services are more likely to be rearrested and reincarcerated within 12 months of their release. Unfortunately, educators face significant challenges in helping these students meet the rigorous expectations tied to college-and-career readiness standards.

IRIS Center’s Resources on Youth with Disabilities in Juvenile Corrections

IRIS Center Logo

The Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) funds the IRIS Center, which has released a new module on youth with disabilities transitioning from juvenile corrections to school and community.

In response to these important issues, the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP)-funded IRIS Center has developed an online learning module, Youth with Disabilities in Juvenile Corrections (Part 2): Transition and Reentry to School and Community.

This instructional module includes a detailed overview of transition planning processes and practices at system entry and incarceration, as well as system exit and aftercare. The module presents audio interviews with experts in the field. These include the following OSEP-funded model demonstration project leads:

  • Heather Griller Clark and Leslie LaCroix of Project RISE,
  • Jean K. Echternacht of the MAP Institute on Community Integration, and
  • Deanne Unruh of STAY OUT.

The module also highlights the work of these projects, which have been designed to:

  1. identify strategies for reducing recidivism and
  2. promote the successful reentry of students with disabilities from juvenile correctional facilities into education, employment, and community programs.

We encourage you to explore the Youth with Disabilities in Juvenile Corrections (Part 2): Transition and Reentry to School and Community module. Here you will learn more about Carlos (featured above), and his journey through the transition and reentry process. Please also check out part one of the juvenile correction series, Youth with Disabilities in Juvenile Corrections (Part 1): Improving Instruction.

Visit the IRIS Center website for a vast array of resources on important educational topics.

“Voices from the Field” Interview with Deborah Dixon,
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA)
Director of School Services

Deborah Dixon, ASHA Director of School Services

Deborah Dixon, ASHA Director of School Services

“True collaboration requires a lot of trust, but once you build that trust you understand that no one person can be responsible for a child’s progress”.


As part of Better Hearing and Speech Month (BHSM) ED interviewed Deborah Dixon, M.A., CCC-SLP, who is American Speech-Language-Hearing Association’s (ASHA) Director of School Services. Deborah leads ASHA’s schools team to provide resources, technical assistance and contemporary information to school-based speech-language pathologists (SLPs). She has presented to many state and national organizations and serves as ex officio to several ASHA committees. Some of her areas of expertise are integrating state standards; workload strategies; the role of the SLP in multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) and response to intervention (RTI); dynamic service delivery for SLPs; eligibility and dismissal criteria for school SLP services; and contemporary issues in school practice.

Note to readers: Given the importance of high quality early learning opportunities for young children with disabilities, OSERS will periodically highlight voices from the broader field of early learning in our blog.


ED: Speech-language pathologists (SLP) are trained to work across the age span, why did you become interested in working specifically in schools?

Deborah: Most of my practice career [as an SLP] was in and around Pittsburgh in various school districts. I was always interested in working in a school setting since the most important things in a child’s life happen in the context of the child’s family and in their schools. In the school setting I enjoyed building relationships with teachers and other colleagues, families, and children. Working with children at an early age allows you to watch them change and grow overtime and to have an impact on many aspects of their development, including social, emotional, language, and literacy. With a preventive mindset, we can catch children early when they are struggling with language or communication, and then work with them and the adults in their lives to improve their outcomes.

ED: What is the SLP’s role in an early learning or school environment?

Deborah: When most people think about a speech-language pathologist, they think about helping children with make correct speech sounds, but an SLP’s role is much broader and includes all aspects of communication. SLPs serve an important role in assisting students to be “reading ready” by helping them hear and process differences in sounds, expand their vocabulary, use and understand grammar, build skills to summarize and sequence information, and problem solve and interpret idiomatic language. They support both oral and written language. SLPs also help students engage socially with one another; helping them learn a wide variety of verbal and nonverbal skills that support more successful interactions with peers and adults.

One of ASHA’s major strategic goals is to promote cross-discipline collaborationencouraging SLPs and their colleagues in schools (teachers, parents, physical therapists, occupational therapists, etc.) to work more collaboratively to address the needs of the whole child. We need to bring the various perspectives from different professions together to conduct child assessments, develop an intervention approach focused on improving outcomes for children holistically, and assess whether what we, the professionals, are doing is working. True collaboration requires a lot of trust, but once you build that trust you understand that no one person can be responsible for a child’s progress. A team made up of the family and professional, each with different expertise, can make all the difference.

ED: What are some of the challenges in this work, and what strategies have you tried to overcome them? 

Deborah: One of the biggest challenges is the school day. For meaningful collaboration, professionals need time to meet regularly. It is a huge struggle to find collaborative planning time because of the way schools are scheduled. One solution to this is getting buy-in from program or school leadership on how teams need to work to ultimately benefit children. Currently there isn’t a great understanding of the different roles and responsibilities of specialists (SLPs, OT, PT) in early learning programs and schools, or how they contribute to improving the developmental and educational outcomes of all children.

One successful strategy for improving collaboration is integrating SLP services into the program or classroom. If an SLP works in the general education classroom, the teacher sees their expertise in action and vice versa. The SLP also witnesses experiences the demands the teacher faces every day. Both professionals gain a new appreciation for roles and expectations, and have an opportunity to work together. Another strategy is to make staff assignments based on workload and not simply on numbers of children.

When there is concern in a school such as literacy rates or behavioral problems, bringing a team together can be really effective. Schools and early learning programs need to create a learning community that engages professionals and families to collaboratively develop solutions for such issues, including using data to inform interventions. If, as members of such a team, we all understand what we each other are trying to achieve, we can work together much more efficiently and effectively.

Families are a key partner in this collaborative work. We are getting better at figuring out how to engage working families. This is important, because most families do want to be involved. We must use technology and innovative solutions to involve families. We often tell families, “you need to work on this,” but we don’t engage with them on the other piece, how you build this into your everyday activities. This type of engagement can go a long way, and provide great support and perspective for the family and professional. For example, how do you use the grocery store to facilitate speech and language development?

ED: May is Better Hearing and Speech Month (BHSM). Why is it important to have a BHSM?

Deborah: BHSM is an annual opportunity to raise awareness about communication disorders, share strategies for building communication skills every day, and promote the important role SLPs and audiologists play in helping to build communication skills.

This year’s BHSM theme is “Communication—the Key to Connection.” This provides an opportunity to underscore that we engage with one another through communication. As adults, we are role models for children in our communication; even in terms of our problem solving, disagreeing, etc. Being very deliberate in terms of modeling positive communication skills is important. Additionally, being aware of and understanding the cultural nuance of communication gives us an opportunity to embrace and celebrate our diversity.


More information on BHSM can be found at: http://www.asha.org/public/


Blog articles provide insights on the activities of schools, programs, grantees, and other education stakeholders to promote continuing discussion of educational innovation and reform. Articles do not endorse any educational product, service, curriculum or pedagogy.


Deborah Dixon, ASHA Director of School Services
Posted by
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association’s (ASHA) Director of School Services

“Why I Teach” — Shirin Felfelti & Margaret Brewer-LaPorta

Teachers Change Lives at:

‪#‎WhyITeach


Shirin Felfelti

Shirin Felfelti

Shirin Felfelti

I became a special education teacher because working with students with special needs brings me so much joy. In high school I took an exploratory class called “Peer Facilitation.” I was not exactly sure what to expect, but I signed up. It turned out to be a blessing and the highlight of my high school years. In the class I spent an hour each day helping and participating with the special education class in P.E. I formed such amazing bonds with each of the students and I felt such joy being with them amid all the pressures of high school. That was when a seed was planted.

Once I got to college the idea of being a special education teacher came to fruition. Though as a beginning teacher I get anxious and unsure, the joy and pure love I receive from working with the students supersedes all insecurities I face.

Shirin Felfelti
Resource Teacher
Mathews Elementary School, Midland, Georgia


Margaret Brewer-LaPorta

Margaret Brewer-LaPorta

Margaret Brewer-LaPorta

Raised in poverty by an immigrant family, statistics claim that I should never have graduated from high school, let alone moved on to earn bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in the geological sciences. After teaching at the college level for years, I became a student again, this time to earn a second masters in Inclusive Adolescent Education. All of my teachers opened the world to me. They taught me to believe in myself, and showed me how to fly higher than I ever dreamed possible.

Now I teach Earth Science at Monroe-Woodbury High School to students with disabilities. My students are bright and innovative. Yet due to their struggles with learning, they often lack faith in their own abilities. To pass on the gifts given to me, I teach to lift souls, to help my students find their wings, and to show them how to reach beyond their dreams.

Margaret Brewer-LaPorta, M.S., M.S.T., Ph.D.
Special Education Earth Science

Monroe-Woodbury High School, Central Valley, N.Y.

Pace University graduate. The program received an OSEP-funded grant:
84.325T: Special Education Preservice Program Improvement Grants


Shirin Felfelti
Posted by
Resource Teacher Mathews Elementary School, Midland, Ga.
Margaret Brewer LaPorta
Posted by
Special Education Earth Science Monroe-Woodbury High School, Central Valley, N.Y.