Communication is essential for any student to benefit from education. Yet, every year Kentucky transitions students out of high school who have not successfully learned to communicate clearly since they first enrolled in kindergarten. It is a necessity for students with complex communication needs to augment their communication skills to be successful in:
- Engaging in academic instruction
- Developing social skills and friendships, and
- Successfully transitioning to work and post-school educational opportunities.
Students without communicative support are at high risk for seclusion and restraint. These students are more likely to communicate frustration using behavior when their attempts at communicating are not understood or acknowledged as communicative.
This course series is called “Don’t Let Them Leave Without It!” It is intended for school and district leaders responsible for the education of all children across the grade span from kindergarten through high school and who support the teachers and related service personnel responsible for direct support and intervention to improve these outcomes.