Transition Strengths and Needs of High School Students With Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

A strengths-based approach to transition assessment and planning can ensure that special education services are person-centered. To better understand the strengths and needs of students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD), we compared the perceptions of students and their teachers from three public high schools. A convergent mixed-methods analysis of transition assessments, interviews, and educational documents revealed significant differences between perspectives. On the Transition Planning Inventory–2, student ratings ( n = 8) were higher than teacher ratings ( n = 8) on eight out of 11 domains. Interview transcripts and transition plan documents revealed differences in strengths and needs related to career-related skills, academic subjects and skills, and personal characteristics. Based on these findings, we provide suggestions for further research and implications for practice.

Living at the Friendship House: Findings from the Transition Planning Inventory

<p><em>A residential initiative, named the Friendship House, was created through advocates focused on helping people with intellectual disabilities live independently in affordable and safe housing on a university campus. The Friendship House is a small residence hall where individuals with intellectual disabilities live side-by-side with similarly aged and same gendered university students. Qualitative finding as in resident reports and observational data provides support that the Friendship House experience has been successful. However, to better equip these residents with intellectual disabilities, it is important to assess the program in terms of post school transition acquisition skills. This study focuses on whether the residents with intellectual disabilities are mastering the skills necessary to live successful lives after high school. Hence, the purpose of this quantitative study is to determine the effect of living in the Friendship House on the acquired transition skills (as measured by the nine Transition Planning Inventory skill sets) on individuals with intellectual disabilities. </em></p>