ESE 633 – Week 4 – Assignment – Helping Parents Promote Independence

Helping Parents Promote Independence

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Introduction

In order to help the students with disabilities, students who are transitioning from school to post-secondary education, vocational education or integrated employment. In this, a transition plan should be made by the transition meeting. It is important for the transition planning to start immediately when the student reaches at the age of 16. In some instances, transition planning starts early before the age of 16. It may start at the age of 14 after an assessment is done and the results of the assessment require that it starts earlier. The transition planning and service are intended to prepare students tom make transition from the world of school to the world of adulthood e.g. prepares students for college education, job market etc. In planning what type of transition services a student needs to prepare for adulthood, the IEP team considers areas such as postsecondary education or vocational training, employment, independent living, and community participation.

Special Education Transition Services with a Foundation in IDEA

            Special education transition service involves a coordination of set of activities for the child with a disability. These services are aimed at improving academic and functional achievement of the child with disability in order to facilitate the child’s movement from school to post-school activities (Wilmshurst & Brue, 2005).  The transition services provided are based on the child’s needs, strengths and weaknesses. The services also includes the instructions, community experiences, the development of employment and other post-school adult living objectives, and acquisition of daily living skills and functional vocational evaluation (Ysseldyke & Algozzine, 2006).

Role of the Parent

            In the transition meeting, each member has a role to play. The role of each member helps in making the transition meeting and transition planning to be successful. LaVenture (2007) argued that, parents play a crucial role in the lives of their disabled children even after their son or daughter has made the transition to adulthood.  In the transition meeting, parents play an important part. One of the roles of the parent is that, parent ensures that the rights mandated to their disabled children by Federal law are made available to them. In this, the parent ensures that all the rights of the children that are mandated by the federal law are protected when in the school and also when they are out of the school.

The other role of the parent in the meeting is to provide team members with the information on the activity of the child when at home. The information given to the team members will help in planning the type of transition services a student needs to receive (Cook & Schirmer, 2006). Also, the parent will ensures that the records of the follow up information that are learnt during the meeting are kept safe and is always followed. This will ensure that the all the needs of the child are met based on their special needs. According to Wolffe (1999), parents are a necessary component in ensuring that their disabled children are provided with the services mandated to assist in the successful transition from school to adulthood and work.

Steps Involved in the Transition Process

Step 1: Build the Team

            The first step in the transition process involves building of the team. Since no one person can take part in the transition process, a team must be built. The team build will help in setting the goals for the child and also helps in making these goals a reality. The role of the parent in the team building is to select the members who he or she thinks one is comfortable in working with. Also, the parent will give a suggestion on what he thinks the child will be in the near future e.g. in the next 5 years. This therefore will be important in the development of realistic goals.    

Step 2: Create a Vision and Build the Profile

The second step in the transition process involved creation of the vision as well as building the profile. In this step, information about child is gathered. Also the information about the family of the child is gathered. Gathering of the information will help the team members in making the right decisions throughout the transition process (Wolffe, 1999). In this step, the role of the parent is to give family information as well as information of about the child. The parent will give a description of the family history as well as the history of the child.

Step 3: Set Goals

In this step of the transition process, the goals for the child should be set. All the set goals should be written down clearly so as to make it easier if the child has achieved them. According to Smith (2000), goals are an important step in the process since they will help identify the kinds of experiences the child should pursue. The goals set should be positive and possible. In this step, the parent will play a crucial role in ensuring that the team members get to know the fears that the child has about the future. This will therefore helps in giving a child a chance to talk about those fears.

Step 4: Action Plan

            Once the goals have been set, an action should be taken in order to work towards the set goals. In this step, the tasks that will help in attaining the goals are identified. The role of the parent in this step is to review the tasks identified to make sure that they are consistent with the vision developed for child. The parent will check if the tasks will be within the child’s ability to accomplish.

Step 5: Updating the Plan

This is the final step in the transition process and it involves reviewing and updating the plan on a regular basis. The meeting for reviewing the plan should ensure that there is progress and that the goals continue to be consistent with the child’s interests and preferences. The role of the parent at this stage is to present the interest and preferences of the child to make it easier for the team members to identify if they are consistent with the set goals. The parent will help in identifying the interest and preferences of the child and presenting them to the team members. 

Common Questions for the Parent as a Team Member

 

Within the group, there are several questions that a parent can be asked. Some of the questions include;

 

• What are the interest and preferences of the child?
• Although the child has the disability, some of the interests and preferences include; drawing and designing, and playing football.
• Where will your child be in the next three years?
• With the transition plan provided to the child, it will be possible for the child to go far after school. In the next three years, I expect the child to have completed training in drawing and designing and have joined one of the companies as a designer.
• What skills does your child need to learn to achieve the set goals?
• One of the skills that the child needs in order to achieve set goals is the drawing and literary skills which includes good comprehension of language.
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References 

Cook, B. G., & Schirmer, B. R. (2006). What is special about special education: Examining the role of evidence- based practices. Austin, Tex: PRO-ED, Inc.

 

LaVenture, S. (2007). A parents’ guide to special education for children with visual impairments. New York, N.Y: AFB Press.

 

Smith, D. D. (2000). Introduction to special education: Teaching in an age of opportunity. S.l.: Allyn & Bacon.

 

Wilmshurst, L., & Brue, A. W. (2005). A parent’s guide to special education: Insider advice on how to navigate the system and help your child succeed. New York: AMACOM.

 

Wolffe, K. E. (1999). Skills for success: A career education handbook for children and adolescents with visual impairments. New York: AFB Press.

 

http://www.transitiontoschoolresource.org.au/tts-content/preparing-for-transition-meetings