Lack of transportation can be a significant barrier for individuals with disabilities. It can hinder these individuals from receiving medical attention, employment, and from having a social life. It is very important to inform teachers of the various transportation resources available to students with disabilities and teach them how to utilize them in day to day situations. Teachers need to teach students with disabilities the different options of transportation discussed below to prepare these students for their transportation needs after high school.
DART
Teachers can use the link above to set up educational field trips to introduce students to the Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) system. DART transportation includes rail, bus, and on call transportation. DART transit provides a community outreach education program that teaches people how DART works and how to use DART transportation. This site provides contact information for DART that each teacher should have on hand when preparing to introduce students to the transportation available in the Dallas area.
Paratransit Eligibility
Paratransit transportation is a service that helps people with disabilities receive curb to curb public transportation. The link above will guide teachers in helping students with disabilities through the process of applying for paratransit transportation. Teachers should be familiar with the step by step procedures required in applying for paratransit transportation in order to inform students about their options.
Get a Ride Guide
The link above is a great way for teachers to share valuable information with students about the different programs that can assist with their transportation needs. This PDF file is about 32 pages long, and its contents can be turned into many class activities spreading across the curriculum. This guide talks about finding the right transportation, driver safety, referral services, and many other informative contents that would be very valuable to teachers who are providing for the transportation needs of their students.
The DART website is an excellent resource for everyone to use, but especially for students and families with disabilities to use in transition planning. We love how easy it is to navigate and that they offer a Transit Education Outreach Program Presentation that will come to your school or group to educate everyone about DART.
ReplyDeleteThe Paratransit Services portion of the DART website is a very important resource to bookmark, review in depth and share as a future educator. It lays out very nicely the requirements needed to apply for this service and any questions that may arise when learning about it. Thank you for sharing this resource.
We love the Get a Ride Guide that you provided. It is such a wonderful resource for students with disabilities and their families to have as well as teachers. This at-a-glance resource provides all the local transportation options available for individuals with disabilities in a convenient, easy to read booklet.
Great tools Savvy Solutionists!
I didn't realize that Dallas has that many transportation options for people with disabilities. I really enjoyed looking over the guide it had a good variety of information. The vocabulary would be extremely useful for a teacher to educate her class on the topic of transportation.
ReplyDelete