Sponsored by NTACT, Michael Stoehr, Linda O’Neal, and Charlie Walters will discuss information regarding effective practice strategies and supports for youth with Complex Support Needs as they transition to successful post-secondary outcomes of education/training, employment, and community engagement.
LIVE EVENT: September 12, 2019 Recording available
ONLINE CHAT: September 12-September 26, 2019
Join the Discussion!
Please enter the following information before accessing resources on our site. Thank you.
Great information!
The case study CaPromise was really helpful. And the tools, general points, etc. Thanks!
This is a good webinar! Thanks so much!
thanks…..how do I subscribe though?
Sydney, you can subscribe to receive a daily notification when items are added to the discussion by clicking on the green subscribe tab at the top of this discussion thread.
Thank you to everyone able to make it today! Looking forward to some good discussion with you all here!
Thanks for the info!
Thank you so much, I don’t think we address the students with complex needs as often as we should when thinking of transition.
Thank you for being there, Sheri! I wholeheartedly agree – we tend to keep things pretty general and don’t always hit the complications head on… Are there any areas that would be helpful to cover in more detail in the future?
Assessments for MDS students nonverbal. I have three who are turning transition age and assessments will need to be completed in the three key areas. Our team is trying to figure out where to go for resources.
Your turn
Hello Sheri. I’d be glad to share our resources. We’ve been doing assessment for these students for many years.
Judith it would be great if you would be willing to post the assessments that you have found useful in working with students with complex support needs. This continues to be a major are of interest/need for education, VR, and ID/DD Human Services professionals. Thanks in advance for anything you are willing share!
I’d love to. Just have to figure it out. I’ll email them to you and perhaps you can attach them?
Great!
Thanks Judith, please forward to [email protected]
Thank you! I am excited to check out the Life Course Framework.
We greatly appreciate everyone who was able to participate in today’s webinar and are glad to see from your comments that you found this information useful! Please let Linda, Charlie and me know if you have any specific questions over the next two weeks so we can continue our discussion.
In terms of the student with allergies as well as other disabilities (VI, HI, CP), we have done PCP with this student twice – but most likely not as much follow through as possible. We plan to try the LifeCourse Planning. And I would like to get him into Customized Employment. One of the primary difficulties, however, is the difficulty the parent has letting this student try different things other than just what he “wants” to do – which may or may not be appropriate yet. Any suggestions about how to help the parents through this process while also encouraging the student to be as self-determined as possible? p
Hey Patricia! Great question and such a common issue, right? I have two answers, although I know that Michael, Linda, and lots of other folks probably have some valuable input to add, too! The first relates to this issue in general, and that is, how do we in local areas better convey the mission of SPED supports and services to families throughout the lifespan? Do families know that we’re aiming for self-determined students pursuing fulfilling lives, integrated into their communities? If not, how can we better communicate the aim of SPED as students age? Student-led IEP meetings? Earlier transition planning or transition meetings outside of the annual review IEP meeting? Lots of possibility there. Secondly, and more to your point, I used to frequently think when I worked in an inclusive college program for students with ID that 99% of the “intervention” was just getting the parents to drop the students off to live on campus. From there, so much tension on the expectations of parents and the self-determination of students seemed to be just a minor detail. I’ve seen something similar on a smaller scale with youth development events like Youth Leadership Forum – something that lets parents know it’s ok to let go while empowering youth to confidently step into some of that responsibility can make all the difference in the world. On the self-determination front, really anything we can do to connect youth to their empowered peers with disabilities for mentoring is huge!
Thanks Charlie. Actually I am glad you brought up the YLF. I encouraged parent to attend the final luncheon this year with the idea that we could get the son to YLF within the next two years. Mom indicated that he could do all of the leadership, self-advocacy stuff but that YLF could not accommodate his allergies. We have some work to do there but I hope we can pull it off within the next few years. I wholly agree with your perspective! Thanks for the reminder and support.
Good Morning Patricia,
So a couple of additional suggestions.
If you are able to have this student engage in the customized employment (I am not sure if there are community rehabilitation providers (CRPs) trained to provide customized employment in your area or if perhaps you have trained school staff) – in either case the first step of the customized employment process would be to conduct the discovery process, A part of the discovery process is to conduct a visit/interview with the family and student and to explore how the student engages at home and in the community including interests and preferences. This information is then utilized in developing a Vocational Profile for the student and can help guide not only employment exploration but also the necessary skills and activities the student can develop.
In addition to exploring customized employment – I have found it useful to engage the student and family in discussing what their projected post-secondary goals are regarding employment, training and how the young person will engage and live in the community. Once these goals are determine explore with the student and family what skills (academic and functional) will be needed by the student to successfully reach these goals. Then examine where the student is currently functioning and what needs to be worked on either at home or as part the student’s measurable annual goals and activities in the IEP. I have found that this has been helpful in moving students away from just doing whatever he “wants” to do to a more focused plan to meet his outcomes for after he graduates.
Great points Michael. We have a PPT on Monday and I will bring some of these ideas up. Fortunately we have 4 more years to work on this but forward progress is slow. We are now making EVERYTHING about transition so hopefully we will begin to more forward soon. I like your second comment in particular (although I am really gung ho on the discovery process for this student – hope I can find a vendor soon) and although they have had several PCP sessions I was not a part of those and the results don’t seem to be being used or discussed. I am pushing for some LifeCourse Planning to help flush out the points you made. Thanks again.
Patricia – I also passed along your questions to Linda ONeal who co-presented with us on Thursday. The following are her suggestions and we will be posting the referenced attachments in the resources for this Ask the Experts above:
In terms of the student with allergies as well as other disabilities (VI, HI, CP), we have done PCP with this student twice – but most likely not as much follow through as possible.
Your are correct the PCP Process is an ongoing process used for planning, problem solving and resources/service identification. With students with significant needs, I have found that it is really important to address each individual concern. This often leads to a need for additional school/community partners who can best address these concerns. These partners with specific expertise don’t necessarily have to attend the PCP Meeting but can lend expertise needed to address specific parent questions/concerns. This may seem like a timely process but I have found in the long run it saves you time because the parent typically does not have a need to continue to say “yes…but” and most importantly they feel heard and part of the process.
I have included a mini power point demonstrating a PCP that really addresses very important student transition needs including work training, transportation, PSE, AT and medical supports. Sorry…I had to limit the photos due to file size.
We plan to try the LifeCourse Planning.
I don’t have any experience using this tool but it looks awesome and I plan to do more research so I can recommend it to families here in California. I would be interested in hearing your opinion.
And I would like to get him into Customized Employment.
Great idea…partnering with an Adult Service Provider who is very experienced at Customized Employment in your community will be helpful.
One of the primary difficulties, however, is the difficulty the parent has letting this student try different things other than just what he “wants” to do – which may or may not be appropriate yet.
One of the things that has been successful for our students with significant needs here in CA, is to do a variety of work experiences. This has proven beneficial for students because, often they lack the opportunities to get out in the community that their same age general ed. peers have had. Because of this their frame of reference is limited. Typically a student completes 4 work experience each year. I have included the evaluation tool we use to help monitor skill development. We share this with the student and the parents. I have also included the sheet that has the directions on it. If you decide you would like to use these documents I would be happy to send them in Word version and you can make any revisions/additions you would like.
Any suggestions about how to help the parents through this process while also encouraging the student to be as self-determined as possible?
Great idea to work on Self-Determination Skills development. I have attached a chart that we are using in an OSERS funded grant program called California Career Innovations. These are the competencies that we work on and monitor. Keep in mind that the parent can support the students SD skill development at home and the community as well. If this something you would be interested in ..I would be happy to send you the Word document so that you could make any additions/revisions you would like.
Other ideas for the family members:
Provide family workshop or 1:1 support where you can provide opportunities to see and hear about student success stories.
Connect family to other experienced family members who can share their stories and serve as mentors.
Connect family to Family Resource Centers where there is training, materials, resources and parent-to-parent activities. (They may be called something else in your community.)
Provide ongoing Work-Based Learning evaluation information so they can see the skill attainment progression.
Provide ideas on what they can do at home to help the student prepare for a job.
I hope this is helpful. Please let me know if you have additional questions/comments.
Linda
Thanks you so much Michael and Linda – Will look at the resources you sent and be in touch if we would like the documents you mentioned in another form. Much appreciated.
However, I am not able to find the PPoint or other forms – are they posted on the Transition Coalition website or somewhere else. You are welcome to send them to me directly ([email protected]) – Thanks.
Hey all! This was a great Ask the Expert, thanks for your interest and participation! I wanted to let you know that there is a technical glitch with the emails going out every time someone comments. We are working to get that fixed so you will just receive ONE a day if you are subscribed to the discussion (go to the green box and click on the drop down next to subscribe if you are interested).
In the meantime, please forgive us for the multiple emails and thanks again!!
Also, I will post the resources above over the next two weeks. Keep on the lookout for those!
I cannot download the resources from yesterday’s webinar. It says popup window blocked. Do you know how I can fix this issue?
Dixie if you send me an email @ – [email protected] – I will forward the materials that we discussed during yesterday’s webinar.
I am looking for the recording of the live session. I would like to go back and watch it again. Does anyone have the link they can share?
Good Afternoon April.
The recorded webinar has been posted at the beginning of this page.
Please let us know if you have any additional questions.
For Linda: When you said with the right “marketing” families attended in higher numbers to events. Could could you describe that marketing?
Kathy,
Linda responded to your question with the following information.
We will have the examples that Linda discusses in this posting added to the resources on this page and/or if you provide me with your email I can send them to you directly.
Communities in California are doing a great a job of providing transition related
training opportunities. Best practice is to bring together multiple service agencies educators and families to plan and implement the most up-to-date training opportunities.
Examples:
Throughout the state…California PROMISE (2013-2019) Communities who were offering the various transition related trainings utilize these strategies for planning and implementation.
Transition programming was provided by multiple agencies working together
Families participated in the leadership aspects of planning training opportunities
Families were invited to share their success stories at state-wide conferences
Family Resource Center Staff helped to organize and hold training options including 1:1 family-to-family mentors
SDSU Interns assisted with set up and materials.
They also provided the following at the trainings:
Food/refreshments/Coffee
Community Resources
Transition Materials & Tools
Translation Services
Materials available in needed languages
Child Care (Not everyone did this…but was valued in locations that did.)
These workshops/camps were marketed through newsletters, flyers, emails, texting and home visits. Families appreciated the on-going contact by agency & school staff. Once trust was established, families were very responsive to participating in training opportunities. Typical family workshop size was 25-80 participants.
Examples:
#1 CaPROMISE Newsletter
#2 CaPROMISE Summer Camp
#3 CaPROMISE Hot Tips
In Orange County California in combination with CaPROMISE, families were provided transition training through various workshop formats.
Example Flyers:
#4 Flyer for Transition Webinars
#5 Flyer for “All-In-One” General Transition Planning Workshop
#6 Flyer for Talks Workshop (example: Families select 4 topics to participate in
from 7 Transition Topics.) These are done though the use of table or rooms depending on the size of the training location and number of anticipating workshop attendees. Typical participation size is 80-150.
The flyers are sent out through local school districts and from the Regional Center (IDD Agency) to their clients. Staff from the various participating agencies and educational sites also work directly with families and Individuals with Disabilities to encourage participation in the various training opportunities.
We also are in the process of developing a website through the Chapman University Thompson Policy Institute Transition Initiative. This website will have a training calendar on the front page that will pull together and highlight training opportunities for families, service providers and educators.
Please let us know if you have any additional questions
Thank you for the information! Those are all great examples and really liked adding that once trust was established families were open to training opportunities. Important piece to consider when holding events. We have had statewide Community Conversations around employment through “Promise” and other employment first initiatives!
Kathy,
Very glad that you found the information Linda provided useful. Please let us know if you would like us to email the referenced documents directly to you by sending an email to [email protected].
Just saw this. Yes I would like those references. I will email you!
This Ask the Expert is a great format!
Michael: I tried to link to the AT assessment but went to a bigger website and could not locate it.
Could it be posted to this site?
Kathy, sorry about that – I noticed that the folks in CT updated their website and the link in the PowerPoint that we used last week is no longer valid.
You can find the the AT assessment document directly at: http://www.sese.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Assistive-Technology-Protocol-for-Transition.pdf
You may also want to explore the following resources:
Assistive Technology and Transition – Canfield, T & Reed, P. – https://transitioncoalition.org/wp-content/originalSiteAssets/files/docs/attransitionpacket1224259340.pdf
CT – Technology & Transition Guide – http://cttechact.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/at-and-high-school.pdf
Family Information Guide to AT and Transition Planning – https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED520112.pdf
Thanks Mike! These will be great additions to our Assessment Resource LiveBinder for teachers here in WI. We also have some of these tools in our Self Advocacy Curriculum! Great information!
I did have the Canfield Reed resources…..I am in Wisconsin! 🙂 Always looking for more….every changing need .
THANK YOU! It took me a second to get back to this page and really appreciate all the follow up and resource sharing.
I am working with my team to find some research that we can use to “level set” expecations for brainstorming appropriate student artifacts for a graduation capstone portfolio for our teachers working with youth with complex support needs.
Could you point me in the direction of an article or the name of a researcher/research team that has explored the impact of high expectations in transition planning in all areas for youth with complex support needs? THANKS for any help.
I’d love to have an article or two to use as a frame for our teachers to reflect on as they work together.
Courtney,
There are several resources/articles that we are going to post to the above resources on this discussion page. If you would like me to email these documents directly to you send me an email at [email protected].
Included in these resources is a newly developed document that Linda ONeal developed as a follow up to the California PROMISE grant that provides great observations and recommendations for improved outcomes.
Also included are a number of articles authored/co-authored by Erik Carter from Vanderbilt University. Dr. Carter has been a leader in this field for many years and provides research based examples of predictors for post school success for students/youth with complex support needs.
Finally, are two articles that are specific to students with ASD, however they have utility when working with a cross section of students with complex support needs.
Please let us know if you have any additional questions.
Michael
I downloaded all the different resources from here — THANK YOU. This is very helpful — I’m glad I made time for this webinar — usually I sign up for them and something else comes up. All the different pieces you three touched on in that short hour are things I needed to get focused on again and dig into as I collaborate with others to start some new projects to raise expectations and the relevancy of transition services we provide for our youth with complex support needs.
New resources added! A few more to come.
All. Thank you for this webinar. The your suggestions for focus was practical to transition and positive trajectory for adult life. We all cannot hear enough about high expectations and how that context drives success for students. Thank you!
!!
My curiosity (more than a question) was the absences of information about transition assessment. Without assessment, individualization can’t happen. I won’t go into that…but…Person Centered Planning is a wonderful tool which you did mention- one that has a history of creation during the deinstitutionalization period when folks had no input. Thankfully, IDEA builds into its mandates everyone’s voice. (Whether schools pay attention to that is another drama!).
But I have been witness to many states using a PCP meeting as an assessment tool and there ONLY assessment tool. However, rarely, if ever, have I seen this “informal” gathering produce data in which then informs the IEP.
In a PCP a student can express their desire, but whether that desire is triangulated with industry standards, natural skills, potential for training, etc. – it means nothing in preparing relevant, MEANINGFUL, postsecondary goals that then drive the IEP.
Please don’t leave comprehensive transition assessment out of your presentations – it’s the cornerstone to all transition planning. And, PCP is great – but it MUST jump from a friendly discussion to relevant evaluation in the IEP.
Good Morning Judith,
Thank you for your question. Given the very condensed time of last week’s webinar we really only had time to briefly scratch the surface regarding this topic, including the importance of early and ongoing assessment as the foundation of the secondary transition process. I appreciate you highlighting the importance of assessment in this posting and it truly is the foundation for both effective special education and transition planning. I agree that Person Centered Planning and the example we presented regarding LifeCourse is just one step in this process and that it definitely needs coupled with multiple academic and functional assessments to ensure that the student/youth is engaged in the most appropriate services & activities and has relevant measurable annual IEP goals that will lead to post-secondary successes. While we didn’t have time to expound upon other assessment resources we did provide a few links and examples of various assessments and templates in the PowerPoint that would be relevant when working with students with complex support needs including:
NTACT Student Progress Monitoring Toolkit
Zarrow Center = Preference Indicators
AT Protocol for Transition Planning
Significant Disabilities Planning Assessment Form
Understandably this was far from an exhaustive list of assessment options but more of a starting point of a few example resources. The following are a few additional assessment examples that could be considered:
1,2,3 Testing – On-line Career Test
Let’s Get to Work – Transition Planning Tool
Transition Coalition – Inclusive Listing of Transition Assessment Resources for Student with Significant Disabilities
Career Services – Picture Interest Career Survey
Transition Assessment and Goal Generator (TAG): Zarrow Center (minimal cost)
Hands & Voices – The Transition Process from High School to Postsecondary Education (For Deaf & Hard of Hearing Student)
Minnesota Transition Guide for the Deaf & Hard of Hearing
National Association of the Deaf – (Employment Resources)
Supporting success for Children with Hearing Loss (Transition Planning for Adulthood)
Autism Transition Handbook
CAR Autism Roadmap
Community Based Functional Skills Assessment for Transition Aged Student with Autism Spectrum Disorder – Virginia Commonwealth University Rehabilitation Research and Training Center: Autism Speaks
Milestones
I unfortunately wasn’t able to hyperlink these titles in this discussion format, however it you would like the links to these resources send me an email at [email protected]
Can I have the citation from Charlie’s presentation re: the study that talked about how guardianship doesn’t necessarily equate to safer and more quality of life. I am very interested in that area. Thank you!
What an awesome question and super cool area of interest. As far as I know, nobody has conducted a systematic review of the literature on this specific topic or conducted a study that looks at something like the quality of life for persons under guardianship versus those who are not. I’ve explored the literature on the topic for some time now, and have never come across anything like that, however. The issue is really how alarming it is that, even if there may be some sort of isolated finding that promotes guardianship on the basis of quality of life, it would be a drop in the bucket compared to the frequency with which guardianship is pursued. I’m not sure of anything we do more consistently and with less evidence (or no evidence!). Does that make sense? I hope I wasn’t too misleading in how I presented that tidbit!
Another way of talking about this is in what we know about self-determination. Folks under guardianship have been shown to be more self-determined, and self-determination has been linked to everything from preventing sexual abuse/exploitation for women with ID to quality of life, employment, and so much more. So many of the things that are said about guardianship are really more about self-determination than they are based on what we know about guardianship from research. It’s a bit of a leap but pretty well accepted at this point.
Here are some of my very favorite articles on the topic for some good sources you may or may not have already taken a look at:
Zhang, D., [email protected] ed., Walker, J. M. ., Leal, D. R. ., Landmark, L. J., & Katsiyannis, A. (2019). A
Call to Society for Supported Decision-Making: Theoretical and Legal Reasoning. Journal of Child &
Family Studies, 28(7), 1803–1814.
Rood, C. E., Kanter, A., & Causton, J. (2014). Presumption of Incompetence: The Systematic Assignment
of Guardianship Within the Transition Process. Research & Practice for Persons with Severe
Disabilities, 39(4), 319–328.
Millar, D. S. (2014b). Extending Transition to Address Guardianship Alternatives: An Issue Concerning
Students who have Intellectual Disability. Education & Training in Autism & Developmental
Disabilities, 49(3), 449. (really anything by Millar on the topic!)
Jameson, J. M., Riesen, T., Polychronis, S., Trader, B., Mizner, S., Martinis, J., & Hoyle, D. (2015b).
Guardianship and the Potential of Supported Decision Making With Individuals With Disabilities.
Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities, 40(1), 36–51.
The National Council on Disability realeased a great report on the subject this year, too:
National Council on Disability (U.S.) (Ed.). (2018). Beyond guardianship: toward alternatives that
promote greater self-determination. Washington, DC: National Council on Disability.
And I’m a little behind in getting to it (I only ordered my copy last week!), but some amazing folks recently published the first SDM textbook. I’m willing to bet it’s probably great if you’re looking for some extended reading on the topic.
Shogren, K. A., Wehmeyer, M. L., Martinis, J., Blanck, P. D., & Turnbull, H. R. (2019). Supported
decision-making: theory, research, and practice to enhance self-determination and quality of life.
Cambridge, United Kingdom ; New York, NY, USA: Cambridge University Press.
If I can be a resource to you on anything else related to all of this, I’m happy to help!
The new resources Michael mentioned earlier this week are now posted. Let me know if there are any missing!