Special Ed
Coordinating System and Agencies for Successful Transition
By reading about coordinated system and agencies for successful transition, I have come to appreciate their importance in successful transition of the disabled individual from school to post-school life. Indeed, everyone, irrespective of whether they have disabilities or not, has varied and interconnected needs. This therefore requires that coordinated systems be put in place to ensure that no need is left uncatered for. I came to understand that there are various best practices recommended in transition for youths with disabilities, which are a result of coordinated efforts between different agencies. While I had previously thought that the school had the sole responsibility of ensuring smooth transition, I came to discover that the family and other agencies in the community all had a role to play.
I was pleased to learn that the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) required that schools provide youth with disabilities proper transition services, as well as coordinated effort between schools and other agencies in the community such as those dealing with mental health, social services and family services. To me, this was a sign that the state had come to realize the importance of involvement of other ‘non-school’ agencies for the transition of youth with disabilities. I feel that IDEA’s requirement of coordinated systems at the state level, at the local level and at the individual level is a positive step in this process.
It was interesting to note that best practices in transition for youth with disabilities go a long way back and came into being after transition became a major priority in the special education and vocational education fields. Its definition – various established recommendations for ensuring smooth transition of youths with disabilities from school to post-school life – proved to me that the practice of facilitating smooth transition of youths had been long established, thereby producing recommended practices. I saw that the move from non-empirical literature about best practices to that of empirical literature was quite welcome. The sources of these recommendations which were now both empirical and non-empirical (journal articles, textbooks and state policy) indicated to me that everyone in the field was committed to ensuring that only the best practices were employed.
I agree with the writer’s assertion that best practices in transition also require interagency collaboration including education programs and planning (individual-centered and family-involvement).This is because both categories involve recommendations that help youth with disabilities transition smoothly into adult life. In addition, they involve the youth with disability in the transition process, which makes it run smoother as it is not only anticipated, but can also be quite welcome.
Best Practices in Family-Centered Transition
There has historically been low participation of family in transition planning meetings due to a number of reasons. To change this, school personnel, including middle-school teachers, should change their approach during transition planning meetings with the parents by:
- Ensuring that common needs of all members of the family are stressed. This would help in enhancing better linkages within the family and within the broader community.
- Encouraging shared responsibility with the parents in order to promote family involvement in the transition period. This can be done through the recognition of parents as equal partners in the process, capable of solving any problems that may arise.
- Educators reexamining their expectations and perceptions of children with disabilities by replacing negative stereotypes, getting rid of the perception that disability is outside the norm, and employment of ‘people first’ language in description of children and other people with disabilities.
Example: In many cases, meetings have been plagued by stigma where the issue under review affects the conduct of those involved. To avoid this, all stakeholders, including educators, parents and the students should be encouraged to deal with any problems head on thereby avoiding any hindrances in transition planning meetings.
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