Transition Planning for ALL Learners
Transition services, whether you’re where I am in Maryland or somewhere else, must be inclusive of all learners, including students on a certificate track who may have significant support needs or be nonverbal. In the past, when working with these students, I use pictorial interest inventories and hands-on job exploration. These help with insights into what my students enjoy or don’t enjoy. Patrick has also mentioned visual tools that students can use and express their preferences meaningfully.
There was a student I worked with who showed a clear preference for shredding papers over cleaning tasks; that was valuable information for me and informed future work placements and/or training. And it doesn’t have to be just me. Teachers and families can make observations, either in real-world environments, school-based job sites or through simple tasks at home. These experiences often paint a more complete picture of a student’s interests than any paper-based assessment could.
The key is collaboration. I always encourage my family’s to “mirror’ experiences at home and stay involved in tracking their student’s reactions to different tasks. These insights are essential for creating effective, person-centered transition plans.
We’ll talk more soon.
