or her life. The ITP team should be thinking about what the student wants to be doing in the future, where they want to live, what their dreams are and what they need to learn or do to reach these dreams.
There are many areas that can be addressed in an ITP in addition to the academic issues. Some of the goals written in the Transition Plan may address a specific skill. Goals may also address basic life skills such as the use of money, personal hygiene, transportation, assistive technology, and self-advocacy. The Transition Plan is a wonderful opportunity to concentrate on the individual student and help them to understand their disability and be able to advocate for themselves. Discussion in the ITP should include ways to help the student identify and access support services in the community such as Vocational Rehabilitation (VR), Social Security, or residential support services. In the past, educators have had to provide school-based services only. Now, with transition services, schools must include instructional and educational experiences that may need to occur outside the school campus.
Students with disabilities often learn a needed skill in the classroom and then practice it in the classroom. The next step should be to practice the skill in the community. Some schools may be reluctant to use a community-based approach to teaching the student the skills needed for transition. When turning down a request for community instruction, it is not uncommon for schools to report issues related to staffing, funding, transportation, safety, or liability. Parents and students may need to advocate for more community-based instruction opportunities for the student. This may be necessary especially for those students who are not in self-contained special education classrooms where non-academic skills are more frequently taught. Being in the mainstream setting may mean fewer opportunities to teach self-help and independence skills to the student.
I arranged for Eric to work at a library in the community one period a day during one of his years in high school. It helped him learn some vocational skills that he would not have the chance to learn in the school setting. The school was agreeable but I had to suggest it, I had to arrange it with the library, and I had to transport Eric to the library. VR was involved in supporting him by meeting occasionally with Eric’s supervisor at the library. They also paid Eric a small stipend while he worked there. If working in the community is not available to your child, there may be jobs available on campus that can be pursued. Possible jobs may include working in the main office or the guidance office, working in the cafeteria, or working in the mailroom. During the last two years of high school, Eric worked in the high school library one period each day. This was good experience and also gave him the opportunity to meet more students and feel more involved with the school. Parents may need to initiate ideas such as these as schools frequently will not.
Leisure and recreational skills should be included as part of the goals in the ITP related to community participation. All leisure activities and ideas should be based on the individual interests and desires of the student. Specific skills can be developed to enable the student to participate in a recreational activity the student enjoys such as singing, bowling, swimming, etc. Goals also might focus on skills to help the student learn how to choose leisure activities or how to use their leisure time constructively. Ideas for recreational goals may include attending activities and sporting events on the school campus or attending activities in the community.
Personal and social skills should also be addressed in the student’s Transition Plan. Good personal and social skills can benefit the student in most areas of their life. Goals should again be based on the individual preferences of the student and should be individualized to meet the student’s specific needs. Goals may include learning how to greet people, developing better eye contact, improving table manners, or understanding the difference between strangers and acquaintances. The ITP team, including the student, should assess what the social and personal needs are of the student and develop goals based on that information.
High school was a time of growth for Eric socially as well as academically. For most individuals on the autism spectrum, social skills are going to be an ongoing challenge. As I mentioned before, Eric had always been a loner and not very social with anyone outside of family. He was socially appropriate in most situations; he just didn’t like to initiate social contact and often preferred to be alone. Eric became more social in high school as he realized how enjoyable it was to talk to girls. There was one particular girl in one of his classes who was friendly with Eric and invited him to sit with her and her friends at lunch. For the first time in his school career, Eric was not eating lunch alone. She became his friend, inviting him to activities at the school and in the community. Eric’s relationship with this girl was a wonderful gift. It gave him confidence and showed him how pleasurable having friends can be.
After the social difficulties of middle school, it was refreshing to have a positive social experience for Eric, especially one that I didn’t arrange! Of course social experiences in high school will vary. They may not always be successful and many individuals on the autism spectrum report extremely difficult experiences in high school. However, many parents have told me and I certainly have found that high school is easier socially than middle school. Students in high school may be more accepting of differences than students in middle school.
As parents, the social rejection of our children is one of the most painful things we can experience. For the student, social rejection can be devastating. Individuals on the autism spectrum will probably always have to work hard to deal with the social aspects of their world. But as individuals mature, they learn more about themselves and their strengths and difficulties and, we hope, can adjust better to the social demands they face. As adults, they will also have more social opportunities with people who are more mature and more accepting. I believe social experiences can get better as the individual on the spectrum gets older.
For some individuals on the autism spectrum, the Transition Plan meeting may be their first experience of sitting around a table with people who are discussing the student’s disability and the accommodations they may need. Parents frequently choose not to include the student in IEP meetings. They might think it may make the student uncomfortable or may be difficult for the student to hear others talk about their weaknesses. Although school districts are always required to invite students with disabilities to their IEP planning meetings, students are not required actually to attend and are often not encouraged to attend. If students do attend, they frequently do not have the self-advocacy skills to participate in the meeting. It is crucial in high school that students on the autism spectrum attend and participate, if possible, in all meetings concerning their needs at school.
Parents and the school can help prepare the student for such meetings by discussing with them the purpose of the meeting and who will be there. If the student is prepared for the meeting, he or she can participate more fully. The student can be given an agenda for the meeting with a time designated for the student to make a statement if appropriate. If they are going to speak, some students may need to rehearse their part ahead of time. If the student is not able to attend the meeting, or speaking to the group is too difficult, he or she can possibly write out any questions or comments they would like to see addressed. If attending the entire meeting is too much for the student, consider having him or her attend the beginning of the meeting only, long enough to hear the introductions and hear about progress the student has made. The student can also write a statement that can be read at the meeting. Any opportunity to understand the transition process and participate in self-advocating will benefit the student.
Eric’s Transition Plan meeting in high school was his first experience of participating fully in a meeting about his school services. He had attended the before-school meetings with teachers to meet the teachers and introduce himself, but had not attended an IEP meeting. In retrospect, I wish I had included him earlier in other meetings so he would have had more experience in advocating for himself. I believe secondary schools should fully inform parents and students with disabilities about the emphasis on self-advocacy at the postsecondary school level. If your high school is not talking about this issue, the parent or student should be initiating discussion about this with the support team.
Other individuals attended Eric’s transition
