Dysfunctional Career Thoughts and the Sophomore Slump Among Students With Learning Disabilities

The present study sought to underline the need for expanded transitioning college programming to the 2nd year by examining dysfunctional career thoughts among college students with learning disabilities (LDs). Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to examine the mean differences between 93 college sophomores and seniors with LD on the three subscales of the Career Thoughts Inventory (CTI). Findings from the MANOVA showed significant mean differences among groups. Follow-up analysis found that sophomores showed significantly higher dysfunctional career thoughts than seniors. Seniors displayed substantially lower mean scores on the CTI subscales than sophomores. Findings support the need to extend transition programming that includes addressing students’ dysfunctional career thoughts beyond the 1st year to help ease college transition difficulties and thus promote persistence and retention of students with LD. Research and practice implications are presented for career scholars and practitioners working with college students with LD.

Strengthening Transition Partnerships Through Community Conversation Events

Strong collaborations are critical to successful youth transitions. Preparing students with disabilities for life after high school requires extensive partnerships within and beyond the school. However, transition educators often struggle to meaningfully engage the people and programs that exist within their local community. A community conversation event is a practical, fun, and effective way for districts to capture fresh perspectives and identify innovative, local solutions to persistent challenges in transition education. The purpose of this article is to highlight the key steps for planning for a community conversation, implementing the event, and using information gathered to inform improvements to transition programming. We draw from our work supporting 10 Tennessee school districts who hosted their own community conversations to reflect upon and improve their transition practices. We provide resources, materials, and tips for school districts to implement a successful event that leads to improvements in transition programming and student outcomes.

Forgotten but Crucial Aspects of Transition Planning for Inclusion

Transition planning can increase positive post-school outcomes and inclusion for students with intellectual disabilities. Kohler’s Taxonomy for Transition Programming 2.0 is a useful tool for all stakeholders engaged in transition planning for this population. Grounded in research, the Taxonomy highlights five key practices: (a) student-focused planning; (b) student development; (c) interagency collaboration; (d) family involvement; and (e) program structures and attributes. Student-focused planning, and especially the student’s active involvement in transition planning, tend to be forgotten when it comes to students with intellectual disabilities. While transition planning is oriented toward positive post-school outcomes in areas such as employment, independent living, and education, there are still two areas that remain largely ignored for students with intellectual disabilities—self-advocacy and sexuality education. Teachers, parents, and other relevant stakeholders need to provide more opportunities for development of self-advocacy skills, and for sexuality education. Kohler’s Taxonomy for Transition Programming 2.0 can serve as a useful tool when planning on how to integrate these two areas into transition-focused education.

Pediatric to Adult Epilepsy Transition in Ambulatory Care: Benefits of a Multidisciplinary Epilepsy Transition Clinic

Children with epilepsy comprise 3.2% of the estimated 500,000 youth with special medical needs who move from the pediatric to adult care model annually. These 16,000 children who require transfer each year represent a challenging subset of 470,000 youth living with epilepsy in the United States. Transition and transfer of care are complex and require gradual processes. This period for youth with epilepsy is often associated with inadequate follow-up and increased risk of nonadherence. Furthermore, youth and adults with epilepsy are known to have suboptimal social and emotional outcomes compared with peers, with high rates of under education, underemployment, poverty, and struggles with mental health. The goal of improving social determinants and continuity of care prompted the development of formal epilepsy transition clinics. Multiple clinic models exist, sharing the overarching goal of supporting youth while building self-management skills, tailored to age and developmental level. Early evidence shows that transition discussion leads to statistically significant increases in transfer readiness and self-efficacy in young adults with epilepsy. Our center boasts a 100% attendance rate at our transition and transfer clinic and 78% compliance with follow-up, further demonstrating that patients and families value quality transition programming.

Transitions of Students with Autism and Intellectual Disabilities in Inclusive Settings: The Nexus Between Recommended and Actual Practice

Students with autism and intellectual disabilities experience many transitions during their schooling, and a large body of literature is devoted to best practices in transition planning and support. The Taxonomy for Transition Programming 2.0 is a research-based model that provides best practice suggestions to guide the planning of various transitions and contexts. The researchers aimed to use the current qualitative study to discover the transition planning practices used to support students with autism and intellectual disabilities in inclusive school settings when transitioning from primary to secondary schools and from secondary school to postschool life in New South Wales (Australia). The practices that emerged were then examined for alignment with the Taxonomy for Transition Programming 2.0. The inductive content analysis of interviews with 8 parents and 13 teachers indicated that although most of the areas of the Taxonomy are represented in the planning processes, there is room for improvement, particularly in the areas of formal individual education program and transition planning, student involvement, information sharing, and program assessment. The results highlighted the importance of formal student- and family-centred planning processes to the success of both transitions. The results were used to make further recommendations for future research, policy, and practice.

See You in Court! How to Avoid IDEA Transition–Related Mediations and Due Process Hearings

School compliance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) transition services language requirements in this country has been an issue of concern to parents of students with disabilities as well as special education attorneys and advocates for quite some time. Evidence exists in special education case law about court rulings regarding poor transition programming and services provided by school districts to students with disabilities. The purpose of this article is to review literature on these legal cases, describe a small-scale study that investigated the most common transition-related issues mediated by special education attorneys in the state of California, and make recommendations to public school districts on how to avoid transition-related legal disputes on the IDEA transition services language requirements.

What Youth With Special Needs in Juvenile Justice Say About Reentry: Listening to Their Voice

The purpose of this study was to listen to what youth with special needs in juvenile justice (JJ) settings say they need to be successful during reentry. The three instruments used to gain an understanding of their perspectives on reentry and their perceptions of barriers include (a) intake interviews, (b) focus groups, and (c) semi-structured post-release interviews. Major themes shared are related to reentry programming, post-release transition activities, barriers to success, influences, and outcomes. This article also notes the differences between productively engaged and not productively engaged youth. Finally, the article discusses implications of these findings on transition programming and reentry practices for youth and JJ settings.

Considerations for Orientation Programming

While many different college student populations have been studied in the college transition literature, there are few studies investigating homeschoolers' transition to college. This study reports findings from a qualitative study which investigated the experiences of first-year students who were homeschooled. Implications for those working in orientation and transition programming are discussed.