Connecting Students With Significant Support Needs to Employment: A Tool to Structure Employment Planning Meetings

Abstract

One powerful way to prepare students with significant support needs for employment in adulthood is to ensure they experience employment during high school. To assist students with significant support needs in developing their employment goals and connecting to and sustaining a job, we developed a person-centered planning meeting focused centrally on employment—the Employment Planning Meeting. During the meeting, an Employment Planning Meeting Tool (The Tool) is used to guide and provide structure and organization for a team supporting a student. It serves as a living document of the student’s interests, needs, and goals as they relate to employment during and after high school. This article describes each step of the meeting and how to use the Tool with students and their support team members. In addition, we share the experiences of professionals who organized and facilitated Employment Planning Meetings with a student with significant support needs and their families.