Family Road Map Guide

Focus
The Classroom –
Treatment Connection
IEP for Real Life
During the last four years
of David’s school career,
we began to make lists of
what he would need to live
independently. It was a little
overwhelming to discover
how many skills a person
needs just to get through a
day! Yet it helped the IEP
team to focus on setting
goals that would really make
a difference. We began to
notice small details, such as
David’s difficulty writing an
email or leaving a message
on voice mail. He needed
to learn how to handle his
wallet safely at a checkout
counter. Those things
started showing up on his
IEP. Focusing on practical
skills made a huge difference
in his independence and
self-confidence.
Transition Planning with Your Teen
Transition is a term used in education law to mean a period of years between the
late teens and early 20s, when a young person’s task is to gain the skills needed for
independent living. This passage is never smooth or easy, but it can be especially
tough for people with special needs. A youth who has spent years struggling to cope
with medical, developmental or behavioral symptoms will often grow up more slowly
than others the same age. He or she may have more trouble getting used to new
situations, making safe choices, or handling responsibility. Events that often mark a
teen’s first steps into adulthood–a summer job, a driver’s license, leaving home for
college–may not happen in the same way. The young person may follow a different
path with a different schedule and may require many helping hands along the way.
The parents of a teen with these conditions are also in transition. The clock is
ticking, and they may feel helpless to provide what the youth needs to survive in the
world. One mother worries, “Will my son never be able to do what a boss tells him
without getting into a rage?” Another wonders, “How can my daughter go to college,
when she still needs me to get her out of bed in the morning?”
Meanwhile, the teen, like most teens, probably resists being told what to do.
Parents in transition have the tricky, often thankless task of holding on while letting
go. School is one place this will happen. At age 16, or sooner when necessary, a
youth in special education becomes part of the IEP team, with the right to have
a say in what kinds of training and services he or she receives. Your job as a
parent in transition is to help your youth learn to be a full working
member of this team, planning for things to come.
Back to “The Big Picture”
People often ask a youth, “What do you want to BE when you grow up?” A more
useful question for a teen in transition might be, “How do I picture my everyday life
when I’m an adult?” That picture will have several important pieces: a satisfying
job (and whatever study it takes to get the job); a place to live; activities to fill
free time; transportation; and a community that includes friends, loved ones, and
people to give support when needed.
IDEA 2004 requires the school system to develop a transition plan that describes
the path your youth intends to take after high school. It must include the
training and services that will help prepare your youth for that path. However, the
transition planning process can end up being little more than long, empty words
on paper unless YOU and your youth keep everyone’s eyes on “The Big Picture.” At
every IEP meeting, keep asking, “How does this education program get from here to
there by the end of high school?”
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