Increasing self advocacy and student engagement in the Transition process Episode 87

Описание: If you’d like to receive our Episode 87 bonus resources on increasing self advocacy and student engagement in their Transition process, click this link http://tensigma.org/episode87bonus

In general, the purpose of education is to prepare students to lead a positive, happy, and productive adult life. An important component of this process is to involve students in taking ownership and being actively engaged throughout their Transition process.

Unfortunately, some teachers are facing challenges to involving students on a larger scale because of factors that include spending time on compliance requirements and paperwork, having limited or no direct instruction time with students, a systemic emphasis on academic requirements, and limited communication or interaction regarding Transition between IEP meetings.

As we know, Indicator 13 requires that all Transition age students are given guidance in identifying postsecondary goals, which means teachers need to be dedicated, organized, and have a system to help their students prepare for adult life. Over decades of partnering with Special Education teachers and administrators, we have developed a simple Transition approach that focuses on student engagement before, during, and after the IEP meeting. It is important to remember that students have a varying degree of abilities and needs, so the information and approach shared in this episode should be applied to the greatest extent possible based on each student.

Here is a summary of some important things to guide students to learn and do before their IEP meetings:

• Understand what an IEP is and how it helps them
• Understand their rights as well as the importance of making informed decisions
• Take age-appropriate assessments to help students explore their options, strengths, and needs related to their postsecondary goals for employment, education and training, and independent living
• Have at least one conversation about options they are considering and their proposed goals with parents before the IEP meeting
• Practice and prepare for leading a portion of the discussion during their IEP meeting (to the greatest extent possible) related to Transition through a script or document that explains the items to be discussed, which is builds leadership and self-advocacy skills

Next is a short summary of some important things to guide students to do during their IEP meetings:

• Share and discuss the work they have done to explore their options and identify their proposed goals
• Participate in discussions about the information they share during the meeting
• Accept feedback and suggestions along with acknowledgement for the positive steps they have taken

Lastly, here us a short summary of some things a student should be guided to do after (and between) IEP meetings:

• Work with parents, teachers, and guidance counselors to identify a list of important Transition tasks they need to complete and who can help them to complete the tasks
• Identify and manage a timeline of progress on completing the tasks
• Communicate about Transition progress and steps they need to complete between IEP meetings

As part of each episode of Transition Tuesday, we provide additional tips, teacher tools, and resources related to the topics we cover. For this week’s bonus, we are providing a PDF with a great Transition PDF about increasing self-advocacy and student engagement in their Transition process, which can be accessed by clicking this link - http://tensigma.org/episode87bonus

To learn more about Ten Sigma’s educational resources for teachers or parents, please visit our website http://tensigma.org and you can also connect with us on social media at:

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If you know anyone else who would benefit from the information we share in these videos, please share this video and invite them to visit http://transitiontuesday.org

We hope you enjoyed this episode and that the information we shared to increase self-advocacy and student engagement throughout the Transition process