Transition: It’s Not Just for Kids – Parents Need a Transition Plan Too!

1. Transition: It’s Not Just for Kids – Parents Need a Transition Plan Too! The GPS of Secondary Transition April 4, 2009 - 9:00 AM – 12:10 PM Brown Bag Lunch Discussion – 12:10 PM – 1:00 PM

2. 9:00 - 9:10 a.m. Introduction and Overview 9:10 - 9:30 a.m. Why Focus on Transition Family Engagement and the Importance of Self Determination 9:30 - 9:45 a.m. A Personal Perspective 9:45 - 9:55 a.m. Participant Activity 9:55 - 10:00 a.m. Transition and the Law 10:00 - 10:15 a.m. The Transition Process – Post School Goals 10:15 - 10:25 a.m. Participant Activity 10:25 - 10:35 a.m. Break 10:35 - 10:45 a.m. The Transition Process – Present Education Levels 10:45 - 10:55 a.m. Participant Activity Agenda

3. 10:55 - 11:05 a.m. The Transition Process - Agency Involvement 11:05 - 11:15 a.m. The Transition Process – “The Grid” 11:15 - 11:30 a.m. The Transition Process – Measurable Annual Goals 11:30 - 11:40 a.m. Participant Activity 11:40 - 11:50 a.m. Alignment of Assessment to Goals 11:50 - 12: 00 p.m. Participant Activity 12:00 - 12:10 p.m. Wrap-up and Upcoming Events 12:10 - 1:00 p.m. Brown Bag Lunch Discussion Agenda

4. On Site Q & A and Follow Along Checks We will be utilizing an email system for all questions and remote site location monitoring Please use the following website to correspond with PaTTAN Pittsburgh: vc@pattanpgh.net

5. Electronic copies of the Power Points and handouts from this session along with a recording of today’s session will be posted on: • the PaTTAN website • the PEAL website and • the Pennsylvania site on sharedwork.org • Aligning Accommodations & Supports • in the Repository section • in the folder entitled: April 4, 2009 – The GPS of Secondary Transition www.sharedwork.org/patransition

6. Why Focus on Transition

7. Why Focus on Transition? Getting a high school diploma is not enough The challenge is not only to ensure all students achieve high academic standards, but also gain skills needed to achieve their desired post-school goals and assume adult responsibilities in their communities Storms, J., O’Leary, E., Williams, J (2000). Transition requirements: A guide for states, districts, schools, universities and families, p. 6

8. What is Transition? Is focused on your child’s preferences and interests Address your child’s individual needs Plans for a successful outcome for your child Is a coordinated set of activities, services and goals Promotes the movement of your child from high school to adulthood

9. Steps to a Successful Transition Your child will begin to explore their goals for life after high school and develop a plan to achieve these goals. Step One

10. Step Two Design a program, at school and in the community, beginning at age 14, to help your child gain the skills necessary to achieve his/her goals. This should include information on:

11. Step Three Develop a team of people who will help your child reach his/her goals. This may be people in the family, in the school and in the community.

12. Step Four Your child will graduate with skills and knowledge to help him/her:

13. Dr. Seuss tells us “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any Direction you choose. You’re on your own And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy/girl Who’ll decide where to go.”

14. Family/Caregiver Engagement in the Secondary Transition Process The Highest Stake…Of Great Value

15. Families • Families are essential to the transition process for any youth. • Parents and families are often the most helpful historians, providing the transition team partners with an essential level of detail about the background, experiences, and functional needs of the young person

16. Families • Family input early in the transition process establishes a solid foundation for planning and builds a critical connections and relationships with the transition partners • It is vital that educators and agency staff: • Build a trustworthy relationship with the young person and family • Appreciate the fact that families have a long history of working with multiple professionals with mixed results • Provide support to families to plan for change during the transition process

17. Work backwards • Start now to build for the future! • Parents make the difference • Your child’s self-perception as a capable person is influenced by you and their experiences • Expectations make a difference • Develop a transition plan for yourself to move from primary care taker to secondary support person

18. Universal Truths! • Learned Helplessness or Independence come from you • There is true dignity in risk • The development of self-determination is a learned behavior, based on experiences, attitudes and opportunities

19. Why Let Go? • Self-determined students twice as likely to be employed after high school (Wehmeyer & Schwartz, 1997) • Greater post secondary enrollment (Mason, McGahee, Kovac, Johnson & Stillerman, 2002) • You won’t be there forever

20. What the research says… • “Students who are more involved in setting educational goals are more likely to reach their goals.” • Wehmeyer found that “students with disabilities who are more self-determined are more likely to be employed and living independently in the community after completing high school than students who are less self-determined.”

21. Self-Determination means

22. National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities According to transition information from NICHY, it is suggested that four of the most fundamental skills students can have that serve them well in a wide variety of adult situations are:

23. National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities The ability to assess yourself, including your skills and abilities, and the needs associated with your disabilities Awareness of the academic adjustments/accommodations you need Knowledge of your civil rights to accommodations through legislation such as the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 (http://www.ed.gov/ocr ) The self-advocacy skills necessary to express your needs in the workplace, in educational institutions, and in community settings

24. Barriers to Self-Determination

25. How to begin • Timeline: When to begin • Sky is limit • Regardless of the extent of your son’s or daughter’s disabilities you can still begin the process of letting go

26. Familiesneed to support sons and daughters as they set their course.

27. A Personal Perspective on Self Advocacy and Secondary Transition Presented by: Rachel Kallem, Youth Advocate The Pennsylvania Youth Leadership Network

28. Awareness & Exploration: Keeping on Target Participant Activity

29. Transition ServicesWhat the Law States

30. Education for Handicapped Act (P.L. 94-142 ) 1975: Free Appropriate Public Education Due Process Rights Individual Education Plans Least Restrictive Environment Individual with Disabilities Education Act, 1990, 1997, 2000: Driven and strengthens role of parent/guardian Addresses free and appropriate public education Considers graduation and improving results for ALL Transition Services involves planning as part of IEP Transition Services planning process is long term Transition Services planning process involves agencies Transition ServicesHistorical Perspective

31. Individuals with Disabilities Education Act IDEA 2004 Primary Purpose • To ensure that all children with disabilities have available to them a free appropriate public education that emphasizes special education and related services designed to meet their unique needs and prepare them for further education, employment, and independent livingH.R.1350 (IDEA 2004)

32. Age Requirement Transition services must be addressed in the IEP of the student in the year in which the student turns 14 years of age The IEP team does not have to wait until the student’s approaching 14th birthday year to consider the student’s transition needs Pennsylvania Chapter 14 Regulations 7/2008

33. Chapter 14: Special Education Services & Programs 14.131. Individualized Education Program (b) In addition to the requirements incorporated by reference in 34 CRF 300.29, 300.344(b) and 300.347(b) (relating to transition services; IEP team: and content of IEP), each school district shall designate person(s) responsible to coordinate transition activities. 33

34. A Process for Addressing Secondary Transition

36. A Process for Addressing Transition Step One: Identify the student’s post-school desired goals or vision. (Assessment) Step Two: Describe the student’s Present Levels of Academic Achievement / Functional Performance (Assessment) Step Three: Determine Agency Linkages and Supports Step Four: Design a Transition Plan that includes courses of study and activities/services (transition grid) Step Five: Determine Measurable Annual Goals that lead to post-school goals (academic, transition, etc) Step Six: Monitor the progress of the Measurable Annual Goals

37. Additional Areas of the IEP to Address

38. Identify the student’s post-school desired goals or vision. (Based on Assessment)

39. How does the student set goals for the time after high school?

40. Assessment is A process of gathering relevant information to plan, evaluate, or make decisions (academic assessment, transition assessment, career assessment, vocational assessment). Information can be gathered from multiple people and places over a period of time. 40

41. Assessment ≠ test Assessment= gathering information

42. Assessment Data from Families: It is Real! • On an ongoing basis, gather and synthesize all assessment information gathered from families • Families observe the young person within the context of genuine environments (home, community, etc.) • Behavioral observations provided by those who know the young person the best (family) can provide valuable insight into the transition planning process

43. Process of Career Development Career development is a continuous life process through which individuals explore activities, make decisions, and assume a variety of roles. Careers are formulated by the continuous evaluation of personal goals and the perception, assessment, and decisions regarding opportunities to achieve those goals. Career development occurs as educational and vocational pursuits interact with personal goals. It continues over the life span. SOURCE: National Career Development Association, A Division of the American Counseling Association, Policy & Procedure Manual, 2007-08, http://www.ncda.org/pdf/policy_and_procedures2007-08.pdf

44. Career Assessment within the Context of Career Development The on-going process of collecting information for career development and career planning. • Lifelong process • Addresses all aspects of life within career contexts • People come to understand themselves • Cyclical process and content:

45. Types of Assessment • Transition Assessmentrelates to all life roles and the supports needed before, during, and after transition to adult life; it serves as an umbrella for career and vocational assessment and evaluation. • Career Assessmentrelates to life-long career development, which affects life roles, and is ongoing throughout one’s life. • Vocational Assessment and Evaluationrelate to the role of the potential worker (and employment).

46. What is Transition Assessment? “Transition assessment is an ongoing process of collecting information on the student’s strengths, needs, preferences, and interests as they relate to the demands of current and future living, learning and working environments” All stakeholders participate in the process of information-gathering and decision-making 2007 Corwin Press. Assess for Success: A Practitioner’s Handbook on Transition Assessment, 2nd ed., by Stillingtion, Neubert, Begun, Lombard, and Leconte

47. Post-School GoalsCharacteristics Measurable statements: • Based on Individual’s Assessment Data • Identifies where student will be AFTER high school • NOT intended to describe events that occur IN high school • NOT the same thing as IEP measurable annual goal • Addresses • Post-Secondary Education/Training • Employment • Independent Living

48. Gathering information on interests and preferences

49. Sharing information on the student’s interests and preferences with the I.E.P. team

50. How does the school collect information on interests and preferences?