Instructional Event # 1:

Read the overview / Author Insights:

     The concept of planning for the transition of students from high school to the adult world is not new. Special education teachers and parents have long recognized the difficulties that students face in accessing employment and gaining independence in their communities. On the job training (OJT), community based instruction (CBI), and social skills training have been common place in classrooms for students with moderate and severe disabilities. Transition planning for students with mild disabilities and emotional disabilities, however, was (historically) not always adequately addressed. The implied assumption was that students with fewer needs required less support as they left high school. Students were supported and monitored while they were still in school, and literally falling off the cliff upon graduation, with no net to catch them.
Transition planning for students with disabilities took new shape when the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1997 (IDEA 97) and Indiana’s Article 7 (511 IAC 7-17 through 7-31) recognized the need to better prepare students to enter the adult world. Just having skills to “get a job” was no longer acceptable. Waiting until a student’s junior or senior year to begin planning was not enough. Students with disabilities were leaving high school without possessing the skills to: live independently, access their community and its resources, gain and maintain employment of their choice, identify adult support systems and agencies, advocate for themselves, or move on to vocational or post secondary education institutions. IDEA and Indiana Article 7 have set new parameters for better preparing students with disabilities as they exit secondary educational settings.

The Three Cs of Transition:

     Transition is, and should be, about CHOICE, CONNECTION, and COLLABORATION. Students need support in determining what they hope to do, how they hope to get there, and who they need to help them along the way. Transition planning requires listening to, and working with, students and families as they identify individual goals, needs, and desired outcomes. Transition is about making connections between students and their secondary course of study, students and their areas of interest, students and potential employers, students and communities, and students and adult agencies. Ultimately, transition planning for students with disabilities is about assisting each individual student on this leg of their journey into adulthood.