Transition Programs for Children and Youth with Diverse Needs: Volume 18

Transitioning a child with Autism from home to school can be a very traumatic time. The process can be extremely challenging for not only the child but also the parent and the family. This is made even more challenging when a parent is transitioning more than one child at the same time. This chapter describes how one mum planned for and managed the transition for two boys, diagnosed with Autism, from home to school. This is her story and the impact it had on her family. It is full of a range of emotions as the family moves through this process.

This chapter draws upon research conducted in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on parents' perspectives of transition in early childhood intervention (ECI) for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). The research followed a sequential exploratory mixed methods design to collect both qualitative and quantitative data. Data were collected from semi-structured interviews with 11 parents of children with different types of SEND, followed by a cross-sectional survey administered to (183) parents. Thematic analysis of interviews revealed that parents perceive the transition process as: “smooth,” “stressful,” and “blurring.” Descriptive and inferential statistical analysis tests of the parents' responses to the cross-sectional survey showed significant differences among parents' perspectives toward transition with respect to parents' gender, education, type of child with SEND, and educational setting; no significant differences were found regarding children's gender. Implications for practice regarding transition from ECI to inclusive education are addressed through a transition framework introduced at the end of this chapter.

Starting school is major educational transition for all children as it requires the forming of fresh relationships, settling into a new classroom environment, and engaging in more formal learning activities. For children on the autism spectrum, starting school is a stressful period due to the substantially changed conditions. With appropriate and flexible supports, however, these children can overcome their desire for sameness, belong to a community of active learners, and experience academic and social success. This chapter presents a practice model to support teachers seeking to successfully include and educate children on the spectrum in the early years of schooling. This Model of Practice comprises 23 practices aligned with the organizers of Belonging, Being, and Becoming from the Australian Early Years Learning Framework. The practices are foundational in nature and enable teachers to identify and use them in their planning and instruction in order to respond effectively to specific children's needs. The model has been field tested by early years teachers from 23 schools across three Australian states. Perspectives provided by these teachers about the model and how they used it in their classrooms are woven into the chapter. Their perspectives highlight the usefulness of the model as a classroom resource for teaching not only children on the spectrum but also those with diverse learning needs. Reported perspectives also indicate that using the model may enhance teachers' autism-specific knowledge and confidence in working with children on the spectrum. The chapter concludes with recommendations made by teachers for using the practice model.

This chapter reports a study of school provision for first generation learners in a tribal community in Maharashtra, India. The chapter considers how a group of children transferred from a government school provision of poor quality into a new and inclusive privately funded school with a more child centered approach. It examines issues relating both, to access and the quality of education available to meet the needs of first generation learners. The main aim of this study was to investigate educational opportunities and the challenges of this change in provision from the perspectives of children and their parents. This study provides unique insights into the needs of first generation learners by presenting their own voices as a means of articulating their experiences through a process of transition.

This chapter provides an insight into how one family managed the challenges their son faced going through school. Identified with Autism at aged six years, Ben has experienced a range of transitions throughout his school life in inclusive classrooms and programs. One of the most challenging was the transition from primary into secondary school. Now in his final year of secondary schooling, the chapter explores Ben's educational experiences, family reflections on schooling, and post school opportunities.

The transition from primary school to secondary school is viewed globally as a crucial period in students' lives and a challenging transition can have both short-term and long-term consequences for the wellbeing of students. Despite primary-secondary transition being so important, it is a neglected area of research in general in most countries including South Africa. By smoothing the transition from primary to secondary school challenges that are related to students' disengagement with education, school failure (school dropout), and continued social inequality can be addressed. In this chapter, the value of a transition intervention based on peer mentoring to ease the transition of students in five primary schools in an area of the country where the context is characterized by socioeconomic challenges is discussed. A lack of resources and funding make it difficult to provide individual support to all these students. In response to this challenge, a peer-mentoring approach has been applied to develop an intervention aimed at preparing the students with insight into the challenges that awaits them. The intervention encompasses a workshop attended by a representative group of 20 Grade 7 students, selected based on the leadership skills as demonstrated in their interactions with adults and peers. Following the workshop, they are given the opportunity to give feedback to their Grade 7 peers and also avail themselves for individual discussions with their peers. In this chapter, we critically reflect on the value of this peer-mentored approach for socioeconomically challenged school contexts.

With the move toward a more inclusive educational system across most jurisdictions, the expectation is that students with the most complex needs who have previously attended special schools, will gradually transition into inclusive schools. This expectation raises issues regarding the practicality of this move and the capacity of inclusive schools in being able to provide appropriate support and curriculum for these learners. Examples of transition programs across different countries are discussed to establish the most effective processes, support structures, and initiatives that have been employed to facilitate this transfer. The role of collaboration between schools and a review of support models that are provided for learners with high support needs in inclusive settings are discussed. Compared to the expectations for this move, and to understand the reality of it, perceptions of teachers, parents, and students are considered.

Planning for transition to a new educational setting, such as changing grades or moving from primary to high school, is important for all students but particularly for those who may require additional support for their individual needs. Research shows that transition planning and implementation for students with disability are best supported through collaboration and information sharing among all stakeholders. In Australia, the Disability Standards for Education (DSE) (2005) mandate consultation between education providers, students with disability, and their carers as part of the process of enrollment so that reasonable adjustments to support a student's progress can be identified and implemented. This chapter reports on two innovative approaches to the organization of transition and support systems for students with disability. The findings reveal that effective transition “doesn't just happen” and that school leaders need to establish effective mechanisms for consultation and collaboration.

This chapter presents the reflections of a principal in his experiences of supporting and transitioning the inclusion of learners with diverse needs into both primary and secondary schools. His extensive experience has led him to challenge established practice to find alternatives that support all learners. His journey has guided him on a path to broaden the definition of education from developing intellect and attaining knowledge to one that also includes emotion, connection, invention, and innovation. The purpose of education for all children is encouraging them to be thinkers, doers, and to embrace opportunities to develop their competence. This chapter includes his reflective approach to learning with a strong emphasis on the need for supporting students with diverse needs as they transition through the often-complex schooling arena.

Individuals with disabilities and vulnerabilities often experience a series of interventions that are of little benefit in terms of career development, resulting in uncertainty, career barriers, disinvestment in the future and school, a lack of knowledge regarding current reality, and a tendency to delay important life decisions, which can limit their ability to imagine and plan for the future. Based on the most recent and accredited approaches in the field of career guidance, this chapter explores a number of innovative programs and interventions designed to support children, adolescents, and adults with and without disabilities in planning their educational and professional futures in an inclusive perspective. Emphasis is given to actions and interventions to enable individuals with and without disabilities to develop critical consciousness, awareness, and reflection regarding the contextual variables and conditions that may represent career barriers to their future, to support them in aspiring to an inclusive and sustainable future, and to help them to acquire the strategies and skills needed to pursue what is close to their heart.

Over the last decade, there has been a significant increase of students with intellectual disabilities attending mainstream primary and secondary-level education in the Republic of Ireland (McConkey et al., 2017). Despite this increase, it appears that comparatively few of these students successfully transition to further/higher education and/or employment opportunities. This chapter examines typical transition support/guidance provided to students with intellectual disabilities as they prepare to complete their post-primary education in a mainstream setting. Using data from a study of school principals and school personnel responsible for career guidance and transition planning, the findings show guidance is limited for students with intellectual disabilities. Instead of being the responsibility of career guidance counsellors, guidance and transitions planning for students with intellectual disabilities are viewed as being the role of other personnel such as the school SENCO. By assigning this responsibility to special education roles in the school, students with intellectual disabilities may run the risk of having narrow and limited career options presented to them. This study raises serious questions about the effectiveness of mainstream schools in facilitating this critical transition stage for students who have intellectual disabilities.

Work experience helps develop skills necessary for life after high school. The California WorkAbility 1 (WA1) Program was developed to improve post-secondary outcomes for students with disabilities by providing temporary employment to students. Teacher experiences and perspectives reveal benefits and challenges of the WA1 Program. Success of the program is measured by how many student participants are hired by the employer after internship hours are completed. Challenges include funding and development of an equitable process for student selection. This chapter discusses strategies and recommendations for developing an effective work-experience program, including, acquiring and appropriating funds, staff placement, collaboration, equitable access, and education of all stakeholders.

This chapter recounts the story of the Regional Learning Collaborative (www.rlcollab.com) and its powerful positive impact, beginning in one urban region and expanding gradually. It first sets forth the challenges that gave birth to its vision. It introduces the intersegmental solutions and strategies innovated to address the challenges that thousands of students faced in advancing across the education transitions. The chapter next provides significant student achievement data in evidence of the Regional Learning Collaborative's proof of concept in supporting over one hundred thousand (113,000) primarily low-income and largely first-generation students to successfully transition across their academic and career pathways. Finally and importantly, the rigorous collaborative community approach and framework that continue to generate the Collaborative's equity outcomes are introduced and discussed.

Inclusion Alberta and Concordia University of Edmonton share a long history of providing students with intellectual disabilities fully inclusive post-secondary education through active participation in university courses and campus life; enhancing the learning environment for all. The chapter begins with a synopsis of the partnership between Inclusion Alberta and Concordia University of Edmonton described by a senior university administrator, an overview of Inclusion Alberta and their innovative approaches to enabling children, youth, and adults with intellectual disabilities and their families to be fully included in community. Inclusion Alberta works to deeply embed individuals with disabilities in the natural pathways of life while capitalizing on community capacity, with inclusive post-secondary education as one example of how many young people normatively transition into adulthood. An Inclusion Alberta coordinator will detail her work supporting the inclusion of students at Concordia University of Edmonton. A current faculty member, and former inclusive post-secondary student, will share their experience with academics and co-curricular inclusion. The chapter provides a diversity of perspectives on inclusive post-secondary education within Alberta; this range of perspectives and deep partnership is critical for successful inclusive learning experiences.

Interagency collaboration is an effective strategy for supporting students and families with resources and support to prepare students for life after high school. The Communicating Interagency Relationships and Collaborative Linkages for Exceptional Students (CIRCLES) is the only interagency collaboration model identified as a research-based practice, which means the CIRCLES model has the most and highest quality of evidence for its use among interagency collaboration models. Within this chapter, we overview the CIRCLES model and its history. School districts from multiple states have implemented CIRCLES, and, within this chapter, we overview stakeholder experiences with CIRCLES. When implementing any practice, evaluation and implementation fidelity are critical, so we provide suggestions for both. Finally, we discuss barriers and strategies to effective interagency collaboration, in addition to implications for policy and practice.

Transition from secondary school to adult life is a critical period in students' lives. Transition programs delivered at school play an important role in supporting students with disabilities to achieve successful post-school outcomes particularly in the case of transition to work whereby employment is acknowledged as the main target after graduating from secondary school. Post-school outcomes for students with disabilities related to employment, however, remain poor compared to students without disabilities. Using the taxonomy for transition programming and Bronfenbrenner's ecological system theory, this chapter proposes a model and action that needs to be taken in advancing school to work transition programming in Indonesia.

This chapter examines the barriers to reentry for justice involved young people in the US and Australia from the perspectives of the 44 Australian and 14 US stakeholders who work with them. The interviews were analyzed using inductive content analysis to identify key internal and external barriers. Results suggest a need for improvement in the areas of collaboration among systems, family engagement, and student self-determination. The discussion focuses on the similarities and differences in the barriers that exist across nations and systems. Implications for future research, practice, and policy are included to improve transition services and supports for juvenile justice involved youth.

The purpose of this chapter is to define the role of libraries as civic institutions that assist citizens in significant transition points in the lives of children and adults. Libraries play an important role in society as essential democratic spaces that help create a sense of belonging in diverse communities. They provide opportunities for inclusive services to the marginalized, a wide range of literacy development services, from early childhood to older citizens, including literacy in more than one language for immigrant families. Libraries also provide community outreach programs, such as resources for access to healthcare, housing, and food. Many of these programs are connected to life transitions, such services for veterans and a pathway for immigrants to obtain US citizenship. Most of these programs are funded by grants and use community volunteers. This chapter highlights the work of one library, referred to as City Library, in a predominantly Latinx community in Southern California, including services and resources on literacy and essential neighborhood connections and partnerships.

Inclusive practices are supported and increasingly being implemented in Malawi. Transition to inclusion requires partnerships in which parents, educators, policymakers, and community leaders come together to build an understanding of disability which values inclusion and promotes the use of innovative, contextualized strategies to facilitate inclusive perspectives and practices. The purpose of this chapter is to highlight how one agency, the Parents of Disabled Children Association of Malawi (PODCAM), is working with parents, educators, and community members to build more inclusive schools and communities for students with disability.