Q: Who might benefit from using the CATS Process?
A: Collaboration Achieves Travel Success or CATS is a team process for service providers and families. The CATS website was specifically designed for teams to use with students who are deafblind and/or have multiple disabilities and who may not be typical candidates for orientation and mobility instruction.
Q: How can the CATS Process increase opportunities for participation in different activities and environments?
A: The CATS Process provides a team focus for discussing how a student can travel and be more involved in his or her day-to-day activities or be able to add new activities into his or her schedule. Even though the student may not perform the travel or the overall activity independently, the student may be able to increase his or her quality of life through partial participation. Working through the steps of the CATS process allows the team to think through how the student can travel and become the most active participant possible.
In deciding where to use the CATS process to develop and promote travel opportunities for persons who are deafblind, the team should consider the following questions for their particular student:
(1) Would the student learn more quickly by practicing travel abilities across similar travel circumstances? If “Yes,” consider reviewing the student’s current daily and weekly schedules for opportunities to repeat routes and/or activities.
(2) Would the student learn to travel more independently in familiar situations or settings? If “Yes,” consider expanding the student’s travel opportunities to participate in circumstances where current activities will remain practical in the future.
(3) Would the student learn to travel more successfully in situations or settings where he or she is motivated? If “Yes,” consider targeting travel opportunities in circumstances where the student is likely to recognize and anticipate a positive outcome at the beginning of the activity or route, as well as finding the experience reinforcing during the activity or at the end of the route.
(4) Is there enough variety in the student’s current daily life? If “No,” consider reviewing the environments in which the student participates in activities, as they were sorted into the following five areas: home, school, community, recreation, and work. Look to see if there is a balance between the different areas or domains. If there are areas in which the student spends significantly less time, the team may want to consider activities in these environments as a point to start the CATS process.
(5) Is there access throughout the home? If “No,” consider examining what happens for other family members in each room and where natural transitions during daily routines might create travel opportunities.
(6) Is there enough contact with non-disabled peers during the school day? If “No,” consider targeting the following locations: gym, playground, cafeteria, library, main office, hallways, and classrooms while other students are present.
(7) Is there access to the wider community? If “No,” consider examining when and where the student’s other family members go out, as well as where same age peers typically can be found (e.g., churches, shopping malls, restaurants, and grocery stores).
(8) Are there enough opportunities to participate in recreation and leisure activities at home, in school, and around the community? If “No,” consider targeting options under the other four domain areas. For example, are there games, hobbies, or family activities in the home that involve movement or travel? Are there times at school during recess or after classes when other students are participating in fun activities? And, are there certain community sites such as the YMCA, a bowling alley, a public library or a mall where a number of different recreation and leisure options are grouped together?
(9) Finally, is the student old enough to work, volunteer, or participate in job training? If “Yes,” consider targeting travel opportunities between work tasks, to and from break areas or the lunchroom, to and from home, and to and from the site of a particular recreation and leisure activity.
It is these types of considerations that can help the team pick an activity or environment to use when working through the CATS Process that will be the most motivating for the student and help increase the student’s participation in his or her daily life.
Q: How can the CATS Process help you incorporate travel goals in the IEP/IFSP?
A: The CATS Process can help the team see the possibilities for travel for their student. Many times team members have been surprised to find that simple changes in routes or activities can help a student be more independent and be a part of a given activity. Working through each of the CATS Phases can help make that clear to the team as a whole.
The team should review the student’s current IEP or IFSP. As a team, discuss any travels goals presently included, as well as what team members would like to include. Consider the following:
(1) Even though there may not be specific travel goals in the IEP/IFSP, are there any current goals that include objectives with embedded travel skills occurring during typical activities? If “No,” consider adding specific short-term objectives that identify functional or age-appropriate situations where the student could use travel skills in order to participate in an activity.
(2) Are there any goals that would support opportunities for the student to apply current travel abilities in new situations? If “No,” consider adding a goal that identifies when and where the student could use existing travel abilities in a novel setting or activity sequence.
(3) Are there any goals that focus on travel in future environments? If “No,” consider writing travel goals that target the next set of environments the student is likely to encounter the following semester, the subsequent school year or after graduation. And,
(4) Are there any goals that target the student traveling where same age students go? If “No,” consider writing travel goals that involve accessing age appropriate environments frequented by peers.
Once ideas have been generated by the team’s answers to these questions, using the CATS Process can help the team implement the chosen goal and activity or even help the team to think through which travel goal might be more appropriate for their student’s abilities and interests.
Q: Does the CATS team take the place of an Orientation and Mobility specialist?
A: No! The purpose of the CATS process is to use a team approach in identifying activity specific situations where students need to travel to more effectively participate. The process provides a means for the team to problem-solve how the student can learn to travel in that particular situation more independently and safely.
Q: When would you need to add an Orientation and Mobility Specialist to the team?
The team may reach a point after proceeding through the process where they are unsure about the student's safety or they are unsure about a strategy they are thinking of using. If the team reaches this point in the decision-making process, they should consult with an Orientation & Mobility (O&M) Specialist. An O & M Specialist could be added to the team and he or she would be able to understand the team's concerns and evaluate the situation. He or she may recommend a different strategy for the team to use and/or a piece of equipment that would help the student.
If team members decided the student needed to learn outdoor travel skills that required crossing intersections, they need to contact an O & M Specialist. The specialist would evaluate the student in this environment and assist in teaching the student appropriate travel and street crossing skills.
