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An Open Letter to Parents of Students With Disabilities About to Enter College

The FCTD Family Information Guide to Assistive Technology and Transition Planning includes the following sections: We have included many website addresses throughout the guide. Whenever possible, we have listed the URL (the website address) that will take you to the precise page within an organization's website on which the relevant resource appears.

This website is very useful for families who are going through a time of transition and in need of assistive technology. The website is easy to follow and provides many links to the URL that will help assist someone who is interested. One thing that I thought was really interesting about this website is that it gives success stories and discussions for families in need to refer to. One other important factor about this website is that it has a link for a glossary of key transition terms. This will be helpful to families who are new to this process. As a special educator, this resource could come in handy when meeting with a family who has a child in middle or high school in need of transition services. I recommend this website to the family and explain to them how it is set up and what type of information is provided. If the family does not have internet access at home, I would give them an opportunity to explore the website at the school.

The National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for Youth (NCWD/Youth) has released three new publications, including "By Youth, for Youth: Employment," "Transition Truths: An Overview of Transition Systems," and "Supporting Families of Students with Disabilities in Postsecondary Education: Learning from the Voices of Families." NCWD/Youth assists state and local workforce development systems to better serve all youth, including youth with disabilities and other disconnected youth, and is composed of partners with expertise in education, youth development, disability, employment, workforce development, and family issues.

This website provides very helpful information for families regarding the different assistive technology systems that are available to children with disabilities. It provides resource reviews about hundreds of technology resources that are available to help families chose the one that works best for their student. It also provides a search engine based on state to help families locate organizations in their area who work with students with certain disabilities. This site has a link to discussion forums where families can talk and connect with others who have students with similar disabilities. The Family Center on Technology and Disability has created this site to be helpful and informative for families. It is very easy to navigate and user friendly. As a special educator, I would use this website as a way to help families connect with organizations and other families in the area who have students with similar disabilities. Disabilities can be very challenging not only for the student but also for the families who are supporting them. Having someone else to talk to about any possible struggles they may be having and having someone else to relate to can be very helpful.

This website provides many different links about different types of assistance technology. Each link has a short summary about the tool which gives a person in need of assistance an idea if the type of technology is necessary or not. Each resource provides a wide range of topics such as introductory fact sheets and CEU's for practitioners and educators. This resource is also important for families who are new to the transition phase of a child's life. These tools can support children who are very young as well which means it can provide assistance to a wide range of families.

"Knowing where to begin and how to proceed can be daunting though. We're here to help. Funded by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs, the Family Center on Technology and Disability provides a wide range of resources on assistive technology, from introductory fact sheets and training materials to in-depth discussion of best practices and emerging research. Try setting aside 30 minutes a day to review an FCTD resource. Before you know it, you'll know a lot more about assistive technology and the ways in which it can improve the lives of the children and youth with disabilities. Of course, we're here for your just-in-time information needs as well. We hope you'll visit our site often!"

"For families of youth with disabilities, the transition from high school to employment, postsecondary education, and life in the community presents a variety of significant challenges. PACER's National Parent Center on Transition and Employment website offers innovative tools, reliable research, and interactive training to help address the needs of families across the country."

"It is important for students to have a voice in decisions about their transportation use, and the decisions that students and their families make about transportation mode must be aligned with students' preferences. Parents and educators may want to talk to students about their preferences, related to both social and sensory factors, to identify transportation options that best align with these personal interests."

"In our professional development, we work with interdisciplinary teams to increase their capacity to implement three elements necessary to support college and career competencies (CCC) for all students: Collaboration between all stakeholders (e.g., administrators, general and special educators, counselors, service providers, families, etc.) Multi-tiered instruction and intervention Effective use of data to inform decisions at multiple levels"

This article describes the need for parents to be equal partners in the transition programming of their disabled child. Even after a student has transitioned from high school, their parents often remain a very strong and important part of their life. The article explores reasons that some parents may be less inclined to participate in the transition planning for their child. The authors then go on to suggest ways include parents more in the process. Professional Practice: It is very easy for us educators to get frustrated when parents aren't as involved in important processes for their children such as IEP planning and Transition planning. This article does a good job a explaining the different reasons that parents might not be as involved. This article will remind me of the unique perspective that parents have, and will help me in my effort to get parents more involved.

Excellent choice on this article Krystin! I find that the role of parents in the transition processes is very important and I think that it would be beneficial for parents to read.

Nice article. I like that there is a resource that discusses advocacy for the students. I feel that much of the time we talk about self-advocacy, which is extremely important, but I feel that it is equally important to have family support and involvement.

"Welcome to the LD@School online learning module for educators. This learning module has been created to provide course materials in a logical, sequential order, guiding you through the content and assessments in the order specified. You are required to complete content before they are allowed to proceed to the next content. This online learning module takes 45 - 60 minutes to complete. The module is unable to keep track of your progress, so it must be completed in one sitting."

This site has a plethora of information about the transition process and how you can be successful in that process using assistive technology. It is broken into 5 sections that are written in a friendly-manner that is easy to follow, even if you are not familiar with the transition process or assistive technology.  I could see myself referring to this article for guidance when working in the transition stages of a students' education. It is helpful, like a textbook, but is not nearly as lengthy.

"FCTD Family Information Guide to Assistive Technology & Transition Planning This 50-page guide offers families information and resources to effectively prepare for and participate in periods of transition in their children's lives. In family-friendly language the guide discusses transition plans and the role of AT in them, offers checklists and suggestions. and provides a range of resources aimed at helping students make successful transitions to higher education, employment and independent living. The guide can be accessed online in both Spanish and English"

This website provides information about transitioning out of school. It talks about who can provide helpful services, where to find a job, and how to live independently. The home page of the website is divided into three sections; students, families, and transition professionals. Each of these three sections is then divided again on their own. The student section provides information on living within communities, managing health, and managing money. This information is given in a very friendly manner that is simple to understand. It is provided in both written form and verbal form with pictorials included. The family section is divided into 9 categories. These categories range from self-determination to employment to organizations that can help with the transition process. Each of these nine categories provides a brief description and alternate resources for further information. The section for transition professionals provides online courses and links to informational websites. As a special education teacher working on transition and career development, I would share this website with both students and families because the information is presented in a very clear way. I would work with students to help them read about and learn the information being provided and then create an activity as a follow up. For example, I would help the student navigate their way through the managing money portion of the website and then have the student complete a series of activities having to do with money and budgeting.

"With each Check & Connect training we conduct, we feel (and often hear) the same frustration when it comes to parental involvement in school. What is interesting, is that after we discuss Check & Connect's belief in family engagement versus parental involvement, I hear new and creative ways that school staff are reaching out and engaging families, often without even realizing it."

"This guide has practical strategies that work for helping children of all ages who may be struggling with an at-home learning task. Families may find these strategies useful when helping their children complete various reading, math, and/or behavioral tasks at home."

This resource provides assistive technology training and help using a computer. Each topic has a link connected which gives a few paragraphs describing the area of interest. There are more links provided after you click on "assistive technology training" or "help using a computer". Some of these links are occupational therapy, youth services, scholarship& award programs and social services. Since there are so many topics covered on this website, it can assist many different families and individuals in need of a variety of support services. This resource could be useful in my life as a special educator by allowing secondary students to explore it and learn step by step how to use a computer if they don't know how to already. It can also be useful to parent who are in need of special services for their families. Many students are not aware of the services that are available to assist them, therefore, by reviewing this website, they can become more aware.

This online resource begins by explaining Indicator 13 and 14 which is important because many parents and students are unfamiliar with the term. The opening page also gives families an overview of agencies that specialize in special education transition services. There are several links that provide important information that can be very useful to families in this situation. In my opinion, this website is full of wonderful information and at times seems a bit overwhelming. Some of these important areas are; occupational therapy, early childhood, funding, physical therapy and parent partnerships. I would use this resource as a guide to parents and teachers who are in the process of transitioning a student/child to middle or high school. I would have a meeting with the student and parents to discuss the transition process and ask the parents to view the website to that they have an understanding about the different agencies involved to help.

This link offers a list of organizations that parents can contact in search of grant  money or other funding to help get the assistive technology that their child needs. It can be a place to start in to order to "improve a child's mobility and educational opportunities." As a special educator I want to be able to offer whatever support I can to the families I work with. If a family is struggling to help their child once they leave school, I hope to be able to point them in the right direction in improving their child's way of life.