Transitional Guide for Students with Learning Disabilities
A transition is usually described as a form of coordinated activities that are set and designed to promote the successful progress of the students to and from school (Bakken & Obiakor, 2008). According to Gillis (2006), most of the successful transition programs are established for all students who have learning disabilities, in which the programs are set according to the student’s needs, strengths, skills, competence, interest, and past academic achievements. Therefore, the purpose of this transitional plan guide is to provide young people who have Autism disability with the guidelines that will give them support in making a successful move into their life. The transitional guide aims at identifying ways that the family of the young people with the Autism can use to improve the life of their children, especially when preparing for post-school activities such as college or university programs, employment, community participation career, and technical training.
Rationale of the Transitional Guide
According to Baxter (2011), it is important for one to consider the rationale and benefits that the transitional will spark, as this guide the transitional providers with the opportunity to come up with a program that has positive results. In addition, Gillis (2006) argue that a transitional guide for students with disabilities is not always described smoothly, but with the rationale of the process, the guide will overcome the obstacles that may influence the results of the process and make the transitional process effective. Therefore, with researchers such as Gill (2006) revealing that it is important for a transitional guide to be based on specific rationale and benefits, this paper justifies why this transitional guide is necessary for young children with Autism disability. The transitional guide or service is relevant for the students with Autism disabilities, as it will offer special education and benefit the students on improving their academic and functional achievements. In fact, the programs will assist the students to attain specialized knowledge and abilities concerning their lives, which will allow them to take into account personal strengths, preferences, and interest. On the other hand, the transitional services will include influential people who have a direct influence on the lives of the special young students. As such, this implies that the program will directly involve a team made of teachers, young people, and their family.
Gathering the Information and Materials for the Guide
To collect the information and materials for the transitional guide, the team preparing the transitional program will engage directly with the families of the students with Autism disability and the teachers within the school where these students are undertaking their studies. In reference to a study by Townsend (1995), it is clear that transition is an educational passage that people change their understanding and view of life aspects. Therefore, for the guide to have outcome-oriented results, the team preparing this guide views the need to engage with the family members of the young students who are set to receive the services and teachers who teach the students receiving the services as a source of the information that is needed for the exercise.
Resources about and for Families
The success of a transitional planning relies on each member that has a direct connection with the children receiving the services. This means that the children’s parents are crucial in the transitional process, as the involvement of the family members to the exercise determine how successful the transitional will be or the how the transitional result will be effective.
Some of the important things that one will consider when interacting with the family members include: the goals of the young person in life, strength, and resources of the family, services the family need, the services that the family have received in the past, and community resources (Townsend, 1995). On the other hand, to maintain the relationship with the families’ members, the team initiating the transitional guide has to identify effective strategies that will make the family members to maintain the connection.
Communication is one of the strategies that will enhance an effective relationship between the individual facilitating the transitional program and the families of the children receiving the services. According to Early Head Start Program Strategies (2016), a transition occurs at three major levels, big, small, and sublet level, in which the program in each level is meant to change the participant. Therefore, communication as a primary strategy in the transitional guide will help one to attain the attention of the family members and participants, thus creating a sound relationship between the individual offering the services and family members. Additionally, linking the program with the agencies will be used to enhance a successful and effective exercise. Connecting the agencies with the program will bring new ideas concerning the transitional change program and give the program the significant support that is needed at all levels (Early Head Start Program Strategies, 2016). Lastly, the transitional change program will embrace teamwork for success and effectiveness. Here, teamwork will allow all members of the group that is facilitating the transitional services to play their part, which will in turn influence the outcome of the process.
Resources That Will Help When Working with the Family
The resources that are necessary to the success of this program include personnel and funding resources. Nichols, et al. (2009) indicate that to manage the transition process effectively and successfully, the team facilitating the program should at least consider funds availability and other resources such as communication tools that will enhance effective communication between the service providers and the family members of the children receiving the services. The availability of funds will also make the service providers to set realistic goals for the program and educate the participant appropriately regarding how they will be achieving their personal goals.
Resources that will be given to the Families
Ferguson and wood (2005) state that in most of the transitional programs families are interested in participating so that they can make significant contributions that support their children in the programs. As the families are invited to the programs so that they can add relative contributions to the program, they will also get significant information regarding the program, in which they will use the information to foster the understanding of the learning activity and how they can use the skills gained in the future. In other words, some of the information that the program will give the families includes how the Individual Educational Plan (IEP) can help their children to grow and adapt their changing life (Ferguson & wood, 2005). Here, the parent will use IEP to put the program into practice, whereby the family will use the information to create recommendations on how to use the transitional services to change themselves. Besides, technological resource is the other form of resources that the families participating in the program will be given. Nichols, et al. (2009) suggest that technology components are important to resources that students with learning disabilities at either secondary or postsecondary level requires for IEP programs. Therefore, the transitional program will give the families of the children participating technological components so that they can integrate the components with the children’s learning activities.
Resources about Communities
In the transitional changes programs, it will be important to consider or address the impact of the community, in which the transitional team will identify any community agencies that may offer services to the young individuals with a disability and has needs to achieve. Although the community agencies will be invited to the transitional change program with the consent of the families of the children receiving the services, it will be important for the program to collaborate them with the exercise. Before involving the community agencies to the program, it is necessary to consider the competencies of the agencies, in which the area focus will be on their competence to carry out the training plan. The community agencies goals related to social and community work will be another area that the service providers will consider before involving them to the program. In this case, the community goals will be reviewed concerning the way the agencies participate in the community activities that are set to educate people with disabilities.
State or Community-Based Agencies
The reason why the state or community support is used in this transitional change is that the agencies can support the effort of the people initiating the program through policy changes that may have an impact on rules and regulations regarding guidelines and funding of the whole process. In fact, most of the state agencies that are serving the youths and young people with disabilities share the problem with the community and then come up with solutions for the successful transition of the young individual from school t adult life. Therefore, for this transitional program, one of the community agency that will be used is the Florida Department of Education, in which the department will support the program through the policies it is setting to influence the education of the young people with disabilities. The transitional program will hope to get the commitment of the agency so that the transition can fit the uniqueness of each member receiving the services. The school itself can be another form of a community agency that is likely to have a responsibility when providing transition services. The school staffs can give valuable information such as knowledge of the young person or concerning the special equipment that the young people are using. The school will also provide assessment data showing how the young student with a disability has been performing for the past years.
Resources that Will Help in Working with State or Community-Based Agencies
A report on the U.S. Department of Education strategic plan (2002) outlines that working with the state and local partners assist in developing new models of flexible, high quality based education, and come up with new learning services that will help the students prospers their learning skills and knowledge. However, for a transitional program to ensure that it works with the state and local agencies for the benefit of the young person, it is important to consider the resources available and accessible. Some of the resources that will help in working with the state or local partners include things like the school or public libraries and classrooms.
For the program to corporate the resources and the state agencies, it will work with two major agencies within the community. The first agency is the Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) agencies, where the service providers will seek assistance from the agency in implementing performance standards. The transitional providers will also work with the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. The agency will help the providers to develop reliable models that the young people will use in the education programs and enhance that the students get improved skills and knowledge that will support them within their lives.
References
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Bakken, J. P., & Obiakor, F. E. (2008). Transition Planning for Students with Disabilities: What Educators and Service Providers Can Do.? Springfield: Charles C Thomas Publisher, LTD.
Boyle, J. R., & Scanlon, D. (2010). Methods and strategies for teaching students with mild disabilities: A case-based approach. Belmont, Calif: Wadsworth.
Davis, D., (2000). Supporting Parent, Family, and Community Involvement in Your School. Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, 101 S.W. Main Street, Suite 500 Portland
Early Head Start Program Strategies, (2016). Transition Strategies: Continuity and Change in the Lives of Infants and Toddlers. Retrieved from https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/hs/resources/ECLKC_Bookstore/PDFs/transition_strategies.pdf
Ferguson, C. & Wood, L., (2005). Easing the Transition from PreK to Kindergarten: What Schools and Families Can Do to Address Child Readiness. Retrieved from http://www.sedl.org/connections/resources/rb/rb6-readiness.pdf
Gillis, L.L., (2006). Effective Transition Services for Students with Disabilities: Examining the Roles of Building Principals and School Counselors. Dissertation, The College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, United States.
Hewitt, S. (2005). Specialist support approaches to autism spectrum disorder students in mainstream settings. Philadelphia, PA: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Nichols, E. Paul, C. Vandenbossche, D. Yaworski, C. & Ziraldo, L., (2009). Transition Planning Resource Guide for Students with Learning Disabilities. Learning Disabilities Association of Ontario. Retrieved from http://www.ldao.ca/wp-content/uploads/LDAO-Transition-Planning-Resource-Guide.pdf
Townsend, S. (1995). Transition and your adolescent with learning disabilities: Moving from high school to post-secondary education, training, and employment: parent handbook. Lawrence Kansas: Kansas Transition Systems Change Project.
Transitional Kindergarten (Tk) Planning Guide, (2011). A Resource for Administrators of California Public School Districts. Retrieved from http://www.sbunified.org/districtwp/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/TKGuide_11311.pdf
Transition Planning, (2014). Colorado Department of Education, Exceptional Student Services Unit. Retrieved from https://www.cde.state.co.us/cdesped/tk_tab02_planning
United States. (2002). U.S. Department of Education strategic plan, 2002-2007. Washington, DC: U.S. Dept. of Education.
