Transition Services for Young Adults with Severe Disabilities: Defining Professional and Parental Roles and Responsibilities

Abstract

As transition planning and implementation proce dures evolve across the country, professionals and par ents are struggling with the roles and responsibilities they need to assume to ensure meaningful adult out comes for young adults with disabilities. This article outlines "optimal" roles and responsibilities and dis cusses these roles in interagency and transdisciplinary teams.The need for systematically planned procedures to transition young adults with severe disabilities from the auspices of the public school system into meaningful employment and other adult outcomes is well docu mented in both education and rehabilitation literature (Elder, 1984;. As a result of nearly a decade of legally mandated special education services under the entitlements of Public Law 94-142, a growing num ber of individuals with disabilities are requesting em ployment and related services from vocational rehabil itation and other adult service agencies. These individ uals and their parents, along with the education profes sionals who have worked with them, are often con fronted with two realizations: Adult services do not operate under entitlement procedures as does special education, and "appropriate" education does not always translate into paid employment opportunities once a student leaves school. has estimated that between 250,000 and 300,000 students leave special education programs each year. Elder (1984) has noted that more than 60% of all special education students in the United States are transition-aged, between 15 and 21 years old. With an unemployment rate for special education graduates with disabilities approaching 50 to 65% (e.g.

Hispanic Youth/Young Adults with Disabilities: Parents' Visions for the Future

“…Indeed, parent participation is one of the six fundamental principles of IDEA (Turnbull & Turnbull, 2000). Families play a major role in the transition of individuals with disabilities to adulthood and have been identified as perhaps the single most important element in the total transition continuum (Everson & Moon, 1987;McNair & Rusch, 1991). Many individuals with disabilities continue to live with or to receive intense support from their parents t hroughout their lives (Freedman et al, 1997;Heller et al, 1997;Lakin, 1996).…”

Rehabilitation Counseling, Special Education, and Vocational Special Needs Education: Three Transition Disciplines

“…If appropriately implemented, secondary special education provides the foundation for adult life through teaching students with disabilities functional, academic and community-based survival skills (Wehman, 1986;Everson, Moon, & Williams, 1986;. Special educators teaching these skills can be found in a variety of settings including public and private schools, institutions, developmental disabilities agencies, and community training and employment programs.…”

“…Many special education personnel preparation programs have focused on preparing teachers for elementary level instruction (Weisenstein, 1986), resulting in large numbers of special education teachers who are not prepared to teach their students the skills critical to survival in employment and in other adult arenas (Chadsey- ). However, teachers appropriately prepared in secondary special education can provide the following specialized services for their students: (a) systematic training of vocational, home and family, leisure/recreation, and community skills in the natural settings of skill performance; (b) vocational evaluation input by assisting in the collection and interpretation of data; (c) community/school education ; and (d) coordination of services while the student is in school (Everson, Moon, & Williams, 1986). Thus, special education teachers with appropriate training in secondary special education are vital to effective employment preparation of special education students.…”

Training Trends and Needs of Paraprofessionals in Transition Service Delivery Agencies

“…An analysis of the roles of paraprofessionals suggests that their duties and responsibilities have evolved from being primarily clerical to providing direct service, as special educators have assumed greater administrative responsibility (Lindeman & Beegle, 1988;P~c~e~~, 1986). reliance upon paraprofessionals in the transition process has escalated, advancement opportunities, systematic training, and professional supervision have not (Boomer, 1982;Everson & Moon, 1987; National Resource Center for Paraprofessionals in Special Education and Related Services, 1988). Yet studies indicated that training is vital to paraprofessionals' abii'14L-Ies to assist in the successful transitioning of individuals with disabilities (Frith & Lindsey, 1982;McKenzie & Houk, 1986;Pickett, 1980).…”