Secondary Transition
Transition is the change from one stage of a person’s life to another stage (such as moving from the school world to the adult world). It is a gradual process and a plan is important to make the process go smoothly. The process is called “transition planning” and is one of the most misunderstood parts of the IEP (Individual Education Program) process. Successful transitions begin as family, school and the community think about the future, plan ahead and work together. See below the transition timelines that explains the work and activities that need to happen at different ages during the transition process.
AGE 14:
AGE 16:
AGE 16 -18
AGE 17-18
AGE 18-21
Download handout Transition Timelines
What Does Federal and State Law Say About Transition?
The following is a list of essential elements from the state and federal rules governing secondary transition for Students with Disabilities (taken from Ohio's edresources web page). These elements must be addressed in the secondary transition component of the IEP.
In the Federal Rules, Secondary Transition is described as "designed to be within a results oriented process, that is focused on improving the academic and functional achievement of the child with a disability to facilitate the child's movement from school to post-school activities, including post secondary education, vocational education, integrated employment (including supported employment), continuing and adult education, adult services, independent living, or community participation.."
Specific elements of the Federal Rules include:
From Ohio's Operating Standards for Educational Agencies Serving Children with Disabilities:
The transition process begins with the student's dream for the future. It will answer the questions of what you want to do after you graduate high school and where and how you want to live your life. To answer these questions you must first understand who you are and what the possibilities for the future can include. It begins with assessments specifically around your Preferences, Interests, Needs and Strengths (referred to as PINS). As part of the transition process this will begin formally at age 14 and continue throughout your high school years. Assessment data will be gathered around 3 specific areas which relate directly to the transition plan and goals as outlined on the Individualized Education Program (IEP). The 3 areas are post secondary education and training (i.e. college, vocational training, etc.), employment and independent living skills (including self determination and advocacy skills, financial and healthcare skills and daily living skills). The assessments in these areas provide a baseline or beginning point for the student and drive the instruction, activities and training that will need to happen as part of the transition plan. This baseline becomes the present levels of performance on the IEP. It also connects what the student is doing right now to their future and makes high school meaningful for them. The continued assessments provides documentation of the students progress.
Assessments can be formal or informal. Formal assessments use a standard way for administrating, scoring and interpreting results. The interpretation is relative to other students (i.e. compare one student to other students). Some examples of formal assessments are intelligence tests, specific aptitude and achievement tests, state and district tests, vocational assessments and information from the Evaluation Team Report. Informal assessments are less structured and allow assessment of student performance over time and with a variety of people (student, family, employer, teacher). It does not compare the student to other students. Examples of informal assessments include interviews, checklists, questionnaires, direct observation and student self-evaluation. In selecting an assessment it is important to keep in mind what information you want to gather so it can be used to develop realistic and meaningful IEP goals and objectives. Below are informal assessments arranged by area.
Preferences, Interests, Needs and Strengths (PINS) Assessments:
Things That Are Difficult For Me
Post secondary Education and Training (including Academics) Assessments:
World Wide Web Self Assessment Skill Checklist
Assessing My Multiple Intelligence
Reading Style Preference Checklist
Writing Self Assessment: Skills and Attitudes
Employment and Career Assessments
Career Cluster Interest Survey
Spanish version Career Cluster Interest Survey
Employability & Life Skills Assessment
Job Preparation Awareness Survey
Independent Living and Interpersonal Skills
Am I Ready To Live On My Own (a checklist of skills)
It's Your Life (checklist of skills)
Self determination and self advocacy checklist
Self determination questionnaire
Planning for Living Independently
AIR Self Determination Scale for Students
AIR Self Determination Scale for Parents
School and Community Social Skills Checklist
Parents of Teenagers Survival Checklist
Two of the most important skills for transition planning is self determination and self advocacy. Self determination is knowing and accepting who you are, where you want to go in life and developing a plan to get there. Self advocacy means the ability to understand and explain your disability, strengths, challenges and to ask for help when you need it. It is really about individual choice and being able to speak up for oneself. Good transition planning is an individual focused plan that allows for choices!
Building self determination and advocacy skills on behalf of the student/child will take time and should begin long before the transition process. Hopefully, we have allowed our children/students to make choices, suffer consequences, speak up for themselves, etc. As we build a transition plan we are asking students to listen and take-in information, sort through it and see what makes sense to them. It is about self exploration (who am I?) and learning to take that information and share it with others (such as advocating for accommodations on the job or at college). Learning about our preferences, interests, needs and strengths all help to identify who we are. Please see below for some activities and further information to develop these skills.
Promoting Self Determination In Youth with Disabilities: Tips For Families and Professionals (taken from NCSET brief)
Promote Choice Making
• Identify strengths, interests, and learning styles;
• Provide choices about clothing, social activities, family events, and methods of learning new information;
• Hold high expectations for youth;
• Teach youth about their disability;
• Involve children and youth in self-determination/self advocacy; opportunities in school, home, and community;
• Prepare children and youth for school meetings;
• Speak directly to children and youth;
• Involve children and youth in educational, medical, and family decisions;
• Allow for mistakes and natural consequences;
• Listen often to children and youth.
Encourage Exploration of Possibilities
• Promote exploration of the world every day;
• Use personal, tactile, visual, and auditory methods for exploration;
• Identify young adult mentors with similar disabilities;
• Talk about future jobs, hobbies, and family lifestyles;
• Develop personal collages/scrap books based on interests and goals;
• Involve children and youth in service learning (4H, AmeriCorps, local volunteering).
Promote Reasonable Risk Taking
• Make choice maps listing risks, benefits, and consequences of choice;
• Build safety nets through family members, friends, schools, and others;
• Develop skills in problem solving;
• Develop skills in evaluating consequences.
Encourage Problem Solving
• Teach problem solving skills;
• Allow ownership of challenges and problems;
• Accept problems as part of healthy development;
• Hold family meetings to identify problems at home and in the community;
• Hold class meetings to identify problems in school;
• Allow children and youth to develop a list of self-identified consequences.
Promote Self Advocacy
• Encourage communication and self-representation;
• Praise all efforts of assertiveness and problem solving;
• Develop opportunities at home and in school for self-advocacy;
• Provide opportunities for leadership roles at home and in school;
• Encourage self-advocates to speak in class;
• Teach about appropriate accommodation needs;
• Practice ways to disclose disability and accommodation needs;
• Create opportunities to speak about the disability in school, home, church, business and community.
Facilitate Development of Self-Esteem
• Create a sense of belonging within schools and communities;
• Provide experiences for children and youth to use their talents;
• Provide opportunities to youth for contributing to their families, schools, and communities;
• Provide opportunities for individuality and independence;
• Identify caring adult mentors at home, school, church, or in the community;
• Model a sense of self-esteem and self-confidence.
Develop Goal Setting and Planning
• Teach children and youth family values, priorities, and goals;
• Make posters that reflect values and are age-appropriate;
• Define what a goal is and demonstrate the steps to reach a goal;
• Make a road map to mark the short-term identifiers as they work toward a goal;
• Support children and youth in developing values and goals;
• Discuss family history and culture—make a family tree;
• Be flexible in supporting youth to reach their goals; some days they may need much motivation and help; other days they may want to try alone.
Help Youth Understand Their Disabilities
• Develop a process that is directed by youth for self-identity: Who are you? What do you want? What are your challenges and barriers? What supports do you need?
• Direct children and youth to write an autobiography;
• Talk about the youth’s disability;
• Talk about the youth’s abilities;
• Involve children and youth in their IEP;
• Use good learning style inventories and transition assessments;
• Identify and utilize support systems for all people.
As parents and teachers our job is to ask questions (which are sometimes difficult) and allow time for our children/student to process through the information. It is not about what we want but what the child/student wants. We need to gently guide and question as we step back to let our young adults assume responsibility for their life.
General Transition Information Age 14-21 (documents may take a couple of minutes to download
The Transition Record keeping and Resource Binder was created by Linda McDowell for families of Middletown City School District. The binder is an organizational system for parents and students. It can be used to organize documents and resources that will be needed as a student leaves high school and moves into the adult world. Files can be downloaded and inserted into a 4 or 5 inch binder to create your personal record keeping and reference system. Directions, forms, etc. are provided. Please download all three sections below (Section ABC, Section DEF, Section GHI):
Section A,B,C includes Personal and Family History, Medical and Related Services Information, and Educational Information.
Section D, E, F includes Agency Information, Employment and Work Information and College Information.
Section G, H, I includes Community/Independent Living Information, Legal and Financial Information and References and Resources.
Moving On: A Guide for Parents and Students on Transition, Moving From the School World to the Adult World. This booklet was created by Linda McDowell for students and families of Middletown City School District and explains the transition process 14-21. To assembly the booklet you will need to print booklet front and back (double sided). Fold in half (folder page to the outside of the book) and insert pages into one another following the page numbers on the bottom of the page. Place 2 staples on the folded edge of the booklet.
Transition Contact Information for Middletown Families
Transition Agencies That Can Help
Questions To Ask Before Graduation
Transition to Adult Guidelines for Individuals with ASD-- by OCALI (excellent resources for all young adults in the transition process)
Transition Services Flow Chart
Local Social Activities for Young Adults with Disabilities
Building A Bridge -- A resource manual for high school students created by the Connecticut Transition Task Force
Apps Designed with Transition in Mind --by OCALI (excellent resource for assistive tech)
Adults with Disabilities Supports and Services lists all the local help available in the areas of cash benefits and household supports, employment and career development, transportation, medical and mental health, education and further training, housing and emergency services. A must have for graduating seniors
Autism Speaks Transition Toolkit for Families
Charting A Course For Supporting Career Development in Youth With Disabilities
Transition Considerations Checklist by the National Center for Learning Disabilities
Information on Self Determination and Self Advocacy
NCSET Research Brief on Self Determination
http://education.ou.edu/zarrow/ is The Zarrow Center For Learning Enrichment which has multiple resources for teaching self determination skills. Please check out "Whose Life Is It Anyway?" which includes 36 lessons in 6 sections that help students prepare for their transition meetings and gain self determination skills. Excellent resource!
www.ldpride.net/selfadvocacy.htm is an online manual that teaches self discovery, self awareness and self advocacy.
www.ldpride.net/learningstyles.MI.htm explains the different learning styles, has an online test to determine yours and strategies to make your style work for you
Taking Charge: Stories of Success
Post-Itt Guidance Activities: College Planning for Students with Disabilities
Information on College and Post secondary Education and Training (documents may take a couple of minutes to download):
How is High School Different Than College
Post secondary Course Analysis form
Ways That College Students Can Help Themselves
Transition to College by the National Center for Learning Disabilities
www.going-to-college.org contains information about selecting and living college life with a disability. It contains modules which include video's and activities for students, parents and professionals.
Booklets that may be requested free through the Parent Mentor office include:
Planning Your Future: Why Choose College
Auxiliary Aids and Services for Post secondary Student's with Disabilities
Students With Disabilities Preparing for Post secondary Education: Know Your Rights and Responsibilities
An Instruction Booklet for the Parents of College Bound Students
Planning for College
Planning for College: A Senior Year Calendar
On Living On Your Own
On Your Career
Choosing A Career Path
How To Keep A Job Once Your Hired
Interviewing Skills
Career Choices and Educational Options
An Idea Book for Employability Skill Development in the Home
Click here for additional resources listed on parent mentor site
www.khake.com is a vocational web information center containing a huge database of information, assessments and curriculum.
www.heath.gwu.edu is an online clearinghouse on post secondary education for individuals. Check out the modules section.
www.alife4me.org is a cyber community of transition activities.
www.driveofyourlife.org has online career exploration games.
www.vaview.org has career search database, booklets, games and assessments that can be printed or saved to a file.
www.nsttac.org is the National Secondary Transition Technical Assistance Center.
www.edresourcesohio.org/transition is Ohio's Department of Educations transition information page.
www.ourfactsyourfuture.org has career resources for middle schools (click on career resources, then students). Check out MCIS junior.
www.acinet.org has career video's (also available in Spanish).
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