What is "Transition"? Where do I even begin?

Those are going to be big questions put to the parent when their child is about to enter high school. Around age 14-16, the child will be invited to the ARD (Admission, Review, and Dismissal) meetings to discuss his own IEP (Individual Education Plan). They'll start doing certain screening tools and asking the interests of the child. But, rather than go into great detail here, check out this website to get started. It has a wealth of articles available for download.

National Center on Secondary Education and Transition (NCSET)

Another source presents a power point presentation:

Transition in Texas

Also something to think about when planning course choices for high school are the career and technology classes. It's not all about science, history, English, and math anymore. People get so caught up in getting their kids into "honors" or "AP" classes. Unfortunately, not all fit into this category, even with modifications. School systems are beginning to upload the course guides for their students. Here is the link to Plano ISD's high school course guides to show as an example:

PISD Course Guides

If you are interested in how teachers evaluate students and what is taken into consideration for placement in certain CTE (Career and Technical Education) classes check out the

Career and Technical Special Populations Center

This site has instructional videos for teachers but also resources for parents.

During my internet search on this topic, information about conference popped up. A conference on Transition!

Texas Transition Conference
February 23-25, 2009
Double Tree Hotel
Austin, TX

It can be very hard finding information about a school systems transition program. Some school websites won't even list their Special Education Dept.! But, it's nice to know that some do. Here's an example in Richardson, TX ISD:

Richardson ISD Transition Services

More links about transition:

Wright's Law section on transition

An article about an organization called College Living Experience

The Horizons School in Alabama which helps young adults with learning disability to transition into life. It's a non-degree program

A tip sheet about moving on to high school. Institute for Community Inclusion

A booklet from the ICI: "Transition Planning for Adolescents with Special Health Care Needs"

Another booklet from ICI about building personal networks to achieve goals when leaving high school: "Making Dreams A Reality"