Transition Planning {Tip 20 of 31}

The importance of preparing your child for the time when they will be released from the school district cannot be stressed enough. This preparation is called “transitioning”, and should start when your child reaches fourteen years of age.

Develop a Plan

By the age of twenty-one, your child will be removed from the school district, either through graduation or discharge. Therefore, it is critical that during your child’s annual IEP, you discuss and review with the school the transitioning process. This transitioning process includes the progress your child has made during the past school year with their self-help skills, intellectual skills, social skills, vocational interest as well as their ability to manage whatever physical impediments they may have. During the IEP, these topics, among others, should be discussed, as they will affect the opportunities and options your child will have at age twenty-one.

Don’t be “Blindsided”

Failure to review the transitioning progress during your IEP meetings may find you “blindsided” with little or no options for your child when they are released from the school district. Remember, transitioning should be an intricate part of the annual IEP from the child’s age of fourteen to twenty-one. Check with your child’s special education teacher and/or your school district’s office of student personnel services to see which specific programs are offered or available.