the opportunity to invite anyone who knows and cares for the student to be involved in this important process. Parents can invite anyone they would like but should let the school know ahead of time whom they are inviting and how many people may be attending. Other family members, friends of the family, any support persons who have worked with the student, can be invited to attend. According to the law, agencies from the community that may be responsible for providing or paying for transition services to the student must be invited to the ITP meeting (Reiser 1995).
We began Eric’s Transition Plan meeting with everyone introducing themselves. Each person took turns saying their name and what agency they represented or how they knew Eric. When it got to Eric’s turn, his father and I were holding our breaths, not sure what Eric would say. He said, “My name is Eric, and I have autism.” I was completely taken by surprise that Eric volunteered that he had autism. I knew he had been aware of his autism for years but he had never just announced it to a group of people like that. After the meeting I asked Eric why he chose to say that in particular. He said that everyone else around the table was saying their name and why they were there so he had to say something too. He knew his autism was why he was there.
The ITP meeting was very different from previous IEP meetings and not only because of the new faces around the table. This meeting was all about Eric’s dreams and his goals for what he wanted to do with his life. During the meeting Eric was asked questions about what he wanted to do when he graduated from high school. They asked him about where he might want to live when he is an adult, whether he wanted to learn to drive, where he envisioned himself working. Sometimes Eric didn’t have answers to the questions and would say he didn’t know and that was OK. Even when he didn’t have an answer it was helpful because it opened up a discussion about what options Eric might have. Eric learned more about the decisions he would eventually have to make for his future. It was a learning experience for me as his parent because Eric had not spoken about many of these things before. It was good to hear Eric’s hopes and dreams for himself. When the ITP team had a better idea about Eric’s goals, they discussed ways to help him reach these goals. They suggested resources within the school and the community that could possibly be helpful. They talked about the skills Eric already had and what he would need to learn. Goals were written in the Transition Plan including the names of who would be responsible for working on these goals.
The ITP meetings are a wonderful opportunity to focus on issues of self-advocacy and independent living skills needed for the student’s future. In determining what needs the student may have in this area, parents, with the student, may want to consider the following questions:
•Does the student understand the disability and how it affects their learning?
•Can the student describe their strengths and weaknesses in ways others can understand?
•Does the student know what resources are available to help them?
•Does the student know how to access these resources?
•Does the student understand their legal rights in regard to accessing services?
•Does the student have the capability to live independently? If not, what skills do they need? (Heggie 1999)
The transition team can use these kinds of questions to stimulate discussion and keep the focus of the meetings on the future needs of the student.
When Eric started his junior year of high school, his sister became a freshman at the same school. It was the first time in many years that they would be attending the same school and riding the same bus to school. It was great for me as their mother to have them in the same school. The previous two years all three of my children were at different schools and life was complicated. I had concerns that socially it might be difficult for my daughter if other students asked her about her brother. Being a ninth grader entering high school can be stressful enough without adding that piece to the puzzle. As it turned out, my daughter handled it really well. There were times when new friends at school would ask her about her brother and she would explain that he had autism. She didn’t bring up her autistic brother to many people as a topic of conversation but she was also not afraid to answer their questions or correct them if they made comments that were not correct.
I think parents need to be proactive and try to prevent possible difficult situations from occurring for the sibling. It is easy to forget sometimes that the sibling may be feeling accepting and proud of their brother or sister with a disability but at the same time may also be embarrassed or uncomfortable when having to explain to their peers about their differences. At the beginning of the first year Eric and my daughter were at the high school together, the bus they rode home from school was very late arriving at the high school every afternoon. The students had to wait at the school for at least a half an hour for the bus to arrive. I knew what Eric would be doing while he was waiting for the bus. He would be walking back and forth, maybe quietly talking to himself, and maybe flicking his fingers near his face. It doesn’t bother people, it isn’t disruptive in any way, but I knew it could cause some stares or comments from the other students. I thought that would be difficult for my daughter to have to deal with during her first weeks of high school when she was trying to adjust and find new friends. I changed my work schedule and arranged to pick them up at school each afternoon until the buses became more predictable. Parents can try to think ahead and prevent uncomfortable situations for the siblings.
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