Essentials of Transition Planning

Paul Wehman

• Publisher: Brookes Publishing
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781681253701
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Inclusive Education

For a smooth transition to adulthood, young people with disabilities need the support, guidance, and planning expertise of a successful collaborative team. All the essentials of transition planning are at your fingertips in the second edition of this popular book, a one-stop guide to helping young people live fulfilling adult lives beyond the classroom. Equally useful as a professional resource and a supplemental text, this how-to guidebook gets transition teams ready to help students with disabilities plan the future they want, pursue employment and/or higher education, and navigate the complex shift to adult life in the community. Renowned expert Paul Wehman and a select group of contributors introduce you to all the fundamentals of transition planning, offering fast facts, vivid examples, realistic case studies, and checklists and tools for putting your plan into action. Expanded and updated with the very latest on new legislation, funding sources, and other timely topics, this reader-friendly resource will help current and future professionals prepare young people to lead successful, self-determined adult lives. WHAT'S NEW

• Guidance on the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) and its implications for transition and employment
• All-new chapter on customized employment
• In-depth coverage of funding sources available today due to new legislation
• More emphasis on involving students and families in transition planning as early as middle school
• New information on working with minority populations
• Cutting-edge case studies that reflect the current state of transition services
• More on employment goals and postsecondary education goals
• New evidence-based practices for students with complex support needs

SELECTED TOPICS COVERED: self-determination * school inclusion * access to the general curriculum * goal development * transition IEP planning and development * social competence * postsecondary education * vocational education * community-based instruction * customized employment * interagency collaboration * funding transition programs Includes practical checklists and forms!

• Transition Planning Checklist
• A Checklist for Inclusive Schooling
• Career and Vocational Transition Worksheet
• Postsecondary Education Transition Worksheet
• Social Competencies Worksheet
• Checklist of Steps in Designing a Functional Assessment
• Checklist of Steps for Including Families in the Transition IEP Process
• Dos and Don'ts of Transition IEP Implementation
• and more!

Learn more about the new edition!

1

Introduction to Transition Planning

PAUL WEHMAN, VALERIE BROOKE, AND JOSHUA TAYLOR

ELISHA

Elisha is a 19-year-old student with autism spectrum disorder. She is a talented artist who enjoys drawing anime artwork and has even designed a few of her own original characters. She participated for all 4 years of high school in the animation club, where she met several of her friends, but in other environments, she is quiet and rarely speaks to other students or adults. Last year, after participating in graduation with her peers, she enrolled in the career and technical education (CTE) program in her school district, where she is eligible to continue receiving services until her 22nd birthday. At her orientation to the CTE program, she met Mr. Wilcox, her vocational teacher, as well as Ms. Baines from the state vocational rehabilitation (VR) agency. Ms. Baines coordinates pre-employment transition services (Pre-ETS) in her area and talked to her and Mr. Wilcox about some work-based learning experiences that might be of interest in addition to her classes. Ms. Baines and Mr. Wilcox explained that although the CTE program had a central building, most of the time they would be out in the community, and Ms. Baines would contract with a community rehabilitation program (CRP) so they could secure the services of an employment specialist.

Ms. Baines secured the services of a local CRP so an employment specialist could set up a series of work-based learning experiences to learn more about Elisha’s strengths and interests, which might help direct her career search. Before going to a jobsite, Ms. Baines invited Elisha on a trip to her office from the CTE program, taking the public bus system and stopping by a convenience store and a game store that specialized in Japanese anime. In that short time in the community, Ms. Baines determined that Elisha had little experience with public transportation and was reserved in the convenience store setting. She became very excited, however, in the game store and immediately chatted with two of the store clerks that she knew and introduced them to Ms. Baines. Although this informal observation was not in a vocational setting, the experience provided crucial information for planning some of Elisha’s Pre-ETS and transition programming by identifying some of the strengths and interests that she could capitalize on to assist her in finding a potential career path.

Several work-based learning experiences were set up using information from the informal observation as well as interviews with Elisha’s family and previous teachers. The first experience took place at a warehouse for a national vitamin company that was within walking distance of the CTE program. As a result of the work experience, both Elisha and her employment specialist learned a great deal about work preferences and learning style. Over the 6-week work experience, Elisha learned to load, pack, wrap, and label customer orders with minimal assistance. She not only enjoyed working alongside her co-workers, but she also liked the independent nature of her job. Elisha also reported that she did not like the loud environment where people had to yell at each other to be heard.

Mr. Wilcox and the employment specialist set up the next work-based learning experience at a small office building on the same bus line as the CTE program building. On the way there, the employment specialist provided Elisha with a visual support showing the steps of purchasing bus fare, reading the map, and riding to a destination—providing some instruction in completing each part. Upon arriving at the office, the employment specialist not only taught Elisha many of the job tasks required, but also organized a casual lunch with a couple younger employees from the office who shared some similar interests. The three of them chatted throughout lunch, and over the next couple days, Elisha was more comfortable approaching them to ask questions and get help, rather than relying on her employment specialist. Near the end of the second week of the work-based learning experience, a supervisor who was seeking to fill a position with part-time hours approached the employment specialist and Elisha to encourage her to apply for a job opening and said that he would put in a good word for her.

The employment specialist and Mr. Wilcox discussed the job opportunity with Elisha and her mother and explained why they felt it might be a good job match. They further explained that because Ms. Baines had already enrolled Elisha in VR, she could continue to receive job coaching from the employment specialist that she already knew. Elisha’s parents talked that evening and agreed that they wanted their daughter to pursue the opportunity. When asked about working there, Elisha talked about how much she liked the two co-workers she had gone to lunch with on her first day and how nice the office was. This information, paired with other observations from the employment specialist, indicated that office work was a consistent vocational theme, and this particular office appeared to be a good job match. Elisha interviewed with the manager the following day and was ultimately offered the job.

After about 6 weeks, the employment specialist was able to fade her presence from the job site. Today, Elisha works 20 hours per week and earns $15.00 per hour. She works longer shifts on the weekends and has learned how to independently ride the public bus from her home to work. The employment specialist provides long-term follow-up services, visiting the office at least twice a month to see how Elisha is doing. Additional training and on-the-job supports are provided as needed to help Elisha continue to expand her job duties and working hours.

What really surprised everyone was how Elisha’s independence and confidence grew each day she worked at the office. Elisha’s parents were not expecting the intangibles that she got from being employed. For example, she made two new friends and learned to ride the bus. Elisha opened a bank account and is learning how to use an automatic teller machine to deposit and retrieve funds. Elisha has also started building relationships with her managers, co-workers, and a few clients who regularly come to the office, a few of whom say they look forward to coming in to see Elisha.

Elisha’s is a success story. The planning and process that went into these outcomes should not be minimized. These activities could never be replicated in just a classroom situation. There is little doubt that without the federal law setting the stage for these services, trained personnel, advocates, and Elisha herself having a clear road map from school to competitive integrated employment, she could have easily ended up like thousands of young people with disabilities in this country who are sitting at home with few friends, no job, and no excitement about having a whole life.

THE IMPORTANCE OF TRANSITION

Transition refers to a change from one phase to another. When we talk about transition in the context of this book, we are specifically talking about the period of time when adolescents prepare to exit school and enter the adult world. This is a time when young people develop greater self-determination and choice and begin to consider big decisions about where to live, what to do for work, how to meet people and maintain social networks of friends, and how to set and achieve goals in their lives. For any individual, this stage of life is complex and can be tumultuous. For individuals with disabilities, it also includes a huge shift in the way that services and supports are provided, from the school-based system in which educational staff actively seek out and administer supports to an adult system in which services are provided by several different agencies that each may have differing eligibility requirements, processes, and restrictions. Nevertheless, transition is not only about this changing service model, but it is also about promoting self-determination and choice, encouraging big goals for the future, and inspiring a path to get there—the same as other teenagers their age.

In discussing transition planning, it is important to acknowledge that current outcomes for many young adults with disabilities after graduation are poor in many areas. Among students with intellectual and developmental disabilities, rates of competitive integrated employment (CIE) are less than 10% (Hiersteiner, Bershad...