Transition 101 #3: The 3 pillars of the Transition Process- An Overview

In last week’s post, I gave the breakdown of the steps that we as a family took to get L towards the self direction model and some transition planning checklists. The first 4 steps of our self direction planning post are a part of EVERY student’s transition planning, regardless of what adult service model that they will eventually go to. The upcoming posts are going delve into the details related to the different parts of the transition planning process. Today’s post is going to discuss the 3 pillars of transition.

When learning about transition, in addition to knowing the laws related to transition planning and services, it is important to know WHAT transition is and what it means for your student. As discussed in the previous post, in Massachusetts, transition services begin at 14 years old (or sooner) for student’s who have an IEP to explore what they would like to do post high school.

There are 3 pieces to the transition process that the team will look at. They are:

1. Education: academic and/or non-academic coursework
2. Vocational: employment and/or volunteer objectives and training
3. Independent and Community Living skills

Let’s talk a little bit more about each section

1. Education: Every student will be on a different “track” depending on what their future goals are, but education is at the top of the list. If the student’s goal is to graduate with a High School diploma, this time should be used to take the required academic classes that will fulfill this requirement and take (in MA) the MCAS. If your child will not be pursuing a high school diploma, they should still be taking academic related classes (some districts call them “functional academics”) that focus on reading, math, science and other academic areas of interest to the student. And don’t forget about taking elective classes during this time….if your student enjoys art or photography or music, see if your school has these as electives and work with the team on how your student can participate in these classes. 
2. Vocational: when you first hear “vocational” your mind may automatically go toward full-time, paid employment. But under this umbrella, vocational is referring more to those skills (both job related and those “soft skills”) needed for working, whether it be traditional employment or volunteer based. During this transition time, students should be exposed to different vocational options via job inventories, video series, visiting different job sites in the community and participating in volunteer activities. This is also where you can set goals related to self-determination and self-advocacy.  Your school can also do a referral to MRC’s Pre-ETS program for additional job training services, like how to write a resume, how to participate in an interview and other skills related to obtaining employment. 
3. Independent and Community Living skills: this section focuses on those skills that are needed so that your child can live as independently as they can. The wording here is important…..”so they can live as independently as they can“. Every person will have a different level/range of what independent living will look like, and as a team you will work together on identifying those activities of daily and community living that you want your student to be working on during this transition period. Some examples are ADL’s (activities of daily living) like cooking and household chores, travel training, moving safely around the community, and recreation and social activities that they may want to get involved in that will continue on post public education. 

The next step in this process is to discuss this information during your child’s IEP meetings, starting at age 14. In January 2024, DESE MA unveiled a revised IEP form which has some updates to the transition planning form. In a future post, we will take a look at this new IEP layout and where the transition pillars are listed. 

-Cheryl