Involving Culturally Diverse Parents in Transition Planning

Abstract

PARENT TRAINING was developed and implemented to provide culturally diverse parents with basic knowledge about the school-to-community transition. Prior to their attendance at an individualized transition planning conference, parents of high school youth with disabilities were provided with training. In order to determine the effects of the preconference training on conference participation, conference proceedings were audiotaped and analyzed. The participation of parents who received training was compared to the participation of parents who received no preconference training. Parents were interviewed to determine their opinions about and satisfaction with the conference.

Facilitating Participation: Parents' Perceptions of Their Involvement in the IEP/Transition Planning Process

“…Our results, along with the results of previous studies (e.g., Boone, 1992;Lichtenstein & Michaelides, 1993), suggest that a more in-depth understanding of parent participation and the development of strong parent/professional relationships could be examined through studies that interview parents directly and use qualitative research methods to analyze interview results. Through a qualitative lens, it may be possible to more fully understand how parents define participation in the ideal, what constitutes parent satisfaction with participation, how parents and professionals develop and maintain good communication and relationships, and why some parents do not attend IEP/transition planning meetings.…”

“…Studies of transition planning practices suggest that parents lack the information they need regarding the concept of transition planning and the availability of community resources (Gallivan-Fenlon, 1994). It appears that strategies are not being successfully employed to promote active parent roles in developing and implementing transition plans (Boone, 1992;McNair & Rusch, 1991), and that transition plans are not being developed based on students' individual interests, preferences, and needs (Lichtenstein, 1993;Lichtenstein & Michaelides, 1993). It has been suggested that further studies need to be conducted on parent participation in the IEP/transition planning process and that such studies need to include direct inquiry of parents regarding their perceptions of participation (Boone, 1992).…”

Preservice and Inservice Professional Development for School to Adult Life Transition

“…Transition personnel development programs should promote family participation. As a field, we have not focused on the needs of parents, with even less attention paid to working with culturally diverse parents (Boone, 1992;English, 1990;Johnson & Rusch, 1993). By including parents in professional development programs, the family perspective can be authentically represented while allowing interested family members access to training.…”

“…By including parents in professional development programs, the family perspective can be authentically represented while allowing interested family members access to training. Likewise, we need to develop meaningful education targeted specifically to parents (Boone, 1992). Ways of dealing with family stresses, family networking and programs which allow parents to define and develop support systems should be offered by different systems as part of 'inservice' education (English, 1992;Irvin, 1993;McDonald, McKie, & Webber, 1991;Taymans et al, 1991).…”

The Roles and Needs of Families of Adolescents With ASD

“…For example, in a comprehensive review of evidence-based practices (EBPs) in secondary transition for students in special education by Test and colleagues (2009), of the 32 identified EBPs, only one, teaching parents about transition, was related to family involvement and the evidence for that practice was based on one study conducted over 20 years ago (Boone, 1992). In the Boone (1992) study, families of students with mild to moderate disabilities attended a training session prior to a transition conference covering topics such as rationale for transition planning, major areas for planning, and the role of the parent in the planning meeting. Compared to families who did not receive the preconference training, parenting with the training had higher levels of knowledge on the transition process; however, parental communication during the conference was similar between the two groups of parents (Boone, 1992).…”