Families Supporting Transition Activities

Not every valuable transition support is a formal transition service. In fact, many activities leading to skill development can occur from the support given to the student by family and friends outside of the formal IEP transition services. This in no way replaces or alleviates the need for school and agency service, but these can be a valuable addition to the process of preparing the student for adulthood. The table below offers a few ideas of how families can support the postsecondary adult goals.

Postsecondary Goal	Transition Support Activities for Families
Education and Training	Talk about the value of lifelong learning- formal and informal education Explain the type of education or training that family members and friends received to prepare them for their jobs. Visit college campuses Review the courses offered in adult education classes near the family's home Highlight the education or training that the student's 'heros' or those in the 'dream jobs' received to help make them successful. Reinforce the learning or studying efforts of the youth and not only the successful outcomes. Point out the variety of ways that people learn skills and knowledge and help the youth recognize his or her most successful learning style(s). Have the youth practice explaining to the family the types of accommodations her or she will need before advocating to the school or other adult learning environment.
Employment	Reinforce the value of employment. Highlight work not only as income, but also as part of a meaningful adult life. Support the youth to create an Ohio Means Jobs backpack or if he or she has created a backpack in school, review and discuss what was discovered (https://jobseeker.k-12.ohiomeansjobs.monster.com/seeker.aspx) Explore the current and past jobs held by family members and friends Point out different jobs in familiar community settings Assist the youth to recognize the types of jobs and careers that he or she would like and those that would not be motivating. Discuss the types of employment that the family sees as a match for the youth's skills and talents. Draft possible steps for the youth's path to employment and share with the team to formalize and support Have early conversations with transition teams for work options in middle school.
Independent Living/ Community Membership	Apply for and connect with the local county board of developmental disabilities to discuss the vision for the youth's adult life and the associated needs. Create a vision with the youth of where he or she would like to live as an adult and what type of support may be needed to achieve and sustain that vision Recognize the characteristics of living environments where the youth is comfortable. Record this information and review it with the youth and team to use in planning. Identify the household chores and personal responsibilities the youth is able to complete independently or with support. Target a new household task that needs to be developed and support the youth to learn. Once comfortable with this skill, add another Assign household chores and expect them to be accomplished Discuss the responsibilities of adult living and community membership. Engage the youth in a discussion of what responsibilities they are ready for and which will require more skill development Request from the team a list of priority skills that a family can help support as part of the team. As a family, select several and communicate those target skills to the school team.