Chapter 8: Transition
Planning Your Child's Future Success
Who is this for? This chapter is for middle school and high school students and their parents. It provides important information about the transition services that must be a part of IEPs for all students with disabilities who are age 16 or older.
Why is this important? Transition planning is crucial to students' success after high school. Because students with disabilities often experience limited success after leaving high school, many new IDEA 2004 provisions seek to improve transition planning so that students with disabilities can be more successful in their adult lives.
What can parents do? All too often, parents fail to take an active role in their child’s transition planning. Parents can take an active role by working with the school to plan the supports and services that will lead to success. Parents can also help their children to define goals and aspirations for life after high school. Both parents and students need to make sure that transition planning starts early enough for adequate preparation, which is frequently well before IDEA’s mandatory age of 16.
Words and Terms to Know
Functional skills: As used in this chapter, functional skills are those needed for independent living, such as cooking, shopping, working with or managing money, using public transportation, and knowing how to be safe at home and in the community.
Postsecondary education: Formal education or training beyond high school, including college, university, vocational school and trade school.
Courses of study: Middle and high school course work (or classes) that lead to certain types of diplomas and/or are required for postsecondary education.
Transition services: A coordinated set of activities that:
- Improves the academic and functional skills of the student in order to facilitate the student's movement from school to post-school activities such as postsecondary education, vocational education, integrated employment (including supported employment), continuing and adult education, adult services, independent living or community participation
- Is based on the individual student's needs, taking into account his or her strengths, preferences and interests
- Includes instruction, related services, community experiences, the development of employment and other post-school adult living objectives and, when appropriate, the acquisition of daily living skills. Transition services often include a functional vocational evaluation.
Summary of performance: A summary of the student's academic achievement and functional performance that includes recommendations to assist the student in meeting his or her postsecondary goals (more details later in this chapter).
Vocational Rehabilitation Agency: A publicly funded state agency that provides direct and indirect services to youth with disabilities as they transition from school to work, in order to maximize their employability, independence and integration into the workplace and the community..
Vocational rehabilitation (VR): a set of services offered to individuals with disabilities designed to enable participants to attain skills, resources, attitudes, and expectations needed to compete in the interview process, get a job, and keep a job.
Note: The IDEA Parent Guide was created to provide a basic understanding of the key requirements of the federal law under IDEA. The information presented here is not legal advice and should not be used as a legal resource.
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