Living with learning disabilities at University

We posted several articles recently about helping students with transitions - both in the early high school grades and in the final years of high school.  We also shared some information on how Bridgeway supports students preparing to transition to public or post-secondary school programs.  Today, we're thrilled to offer some insight into life at university with learning disabilities from guest blogger Kim Musgrave of MSVU's Disabilities Services team.  Please share this post with anyone you think might benefit!

Rhonda & the Bridgeway team

Students with Disabilities at Mount Saint Vincent University:

A Brief Overview of Procedures

 

How do students obtain accommodations?

Upon acceptance to the Mount, students who require accommodations must register with Disability Services as soon as possible, preferably prior to the beginning of term. Early communication will help to ensure they receive accommodations in a timely manner.

This initial meeting is an excellent opportunity for students with disabilities to further develop their self-advocacy skills in a safe and supportive environment. The following questions give an example of what the student can expect in the initial interview with Disability Services.  Practicing these questions will prepare them well for this consultation.     

 

1. Tell me about yourself and your disability history (i.e., when were you diagnosed, what supports have been put into place; what medications are you taking, if any, etc.)
2. Explain your disability.  What do you consider your strengths and weaknesses?
3. How does your disability impact you when studying? In class? In testing situations? During presentations? Etc?
4. What accommodations do you feel you need to support you and why? 
5. What has helped/worked for you in the past?
6. What do you see as your role/responsibilities as a student with a disability in a post-secondary institution as compared to high school?
7. How comfortable are you talking to your professors about your disability, your needs, and asking them for extra help?
8. What are your concerns and questions (e.g., about the university environment, unsure of procedures, anxious about being new to campus, unsure of how to communicate with professors, first time away from home, etc.)?

The more knowledgeable the student is of his/her disability and needs, the better able Disability Services will be to support them. 

The following procedure will then be followed;

1.      The student must provide (preferably at the initial meeting) written documentation that is satisfactory to the University, with respect to the disability.

·         This documentation must be current within five years for learning disabilities (psycho-educational assessments) and within six months for other disabilities.

·         Documentation should contain a diagnosis, impact of disability on the student’s learning and behaviour, and the types of accommodations recommended. 

2.      An Accommodation Agreement is drawn up.

3.      The Coordinator will submit accommodation requests to the instructors.

4.   Students must then discuss their accommodations with each instructor.

5.   Students must make arrangements for accommodated midterm and final exams, in advance of exam dates (there are submission deadlines).

6.   Students must notify Disability Services each term, if they require accommodations.

Is funding available?

Funding grants for equipment and software (i.e. digital recorder, Kurzweil 3000) as well as for note takers and tutors may be available.

The following procedure should be followed;

1. Apply for Student Loan & indicate you are a student with a disability.

·         You do not need to be eligible for a student loan in order to apply for these disability-related grants/funding

·         http://studentloans.ednet.ns.ca/.  Apply early, in June!

 

2. Submit the “Medical Assessment Form” requested.

3. You will receive a letter stating whether or not you have met the disability criteria.

·         If you are not classified as a person with a disability, you can not apply for this funding

 

4. When you receive Student Loan paperwork indicating eligibility or ineligibility, schedule an appointment with Disability Services.

5.      Give Disability Services information needed to complete the funding application.

·         Equipment/software (goods) quotes that you have collected

·         Note taker/tutor (services) information

·         For information about funding grants, go to: http://psds.ednet.ns.ca/

 

6.      Disability Services submits application.

·         We may be able to submit the equipment/software application first, and then follow-up with a services application.

 

7. In approximately 4 weeks, you will be notified about whether or not your funding application has been approved.

 
For more information on Disability Services at the Mount, go to http://www.msvu.ca/en/home/studentservices/disabilityservices.

The Bridgeway Way - Getting students with LD ready for post-secondary

We've shared some advice over the last few weeks from the National Center on Learning Disabilities on how to help your LD child prepare for life after high school.  One article focused on working with students in grades 9 and 10 and the other focused on grades 11 and 12.  Today, we wanted to share some of our own expertise on helping students with learning disabilities prepare for post-secondary education.  Thanks to Cheryl McLellan, the Head of School for our Dartmouth Campus, for sharing her thoughts.


Rhonda & the Bridgeway team

By Cheryl McLellan, Bridgeway

Preparing our students for the great unknown is effectively what a teacher tries to do; to teach our students to go out into the big wide world and experience it for all its worth. For many high school students this means post-secondary education – university, college, training schools, etc.  As teachers, we try to create an environment in which we provide the opportunity for these transitioning students to practice the skills that they will need for the rest of their academic lives.

Students with a learning disability must often practice not only these academic skills to ease the transitions process but many others as well.  At Bridgeway we have made a concerted effort to support our students who are leaving high school and going on to post secondary schools. Besides creating an academic setting where the information is adapted and accommodated, we also practice other transitioning skills daily with the students. Below are just a few of the practices we often put into place to ease the transition for our students.

Start the transition discussion early

Talk to your students about the transition long before it actually happens. I’ve had conversations with students in Grade 10 about issues that may arise in post-secondary only because I knew it weighed heavily on them. The students that I have worked with in the past never seem to be able to focus on their current successes, but the possible problems that may happen in their future.  I’ve yet come across a student that “likes” to be surprised when that surprise has to do with school, classes or credits. By starting the discussion early you are able to openly discuss any anxiety related issues before the transition actually begins.

Practise, practise, practise and practise it again

The one thing I hear over and over again from our past graduates is that if it wasn’t for their ability to advocate for themselves, they would be living a very different life in university / college/ etc. Our students are asked every day and in every way to advocate for their needs in their classes. If a student does not self advocate here then they will certainly feel strained to do it in a more academically stressed environment. Therefore the more practice a student can get self-advocating for anything (doesn’t always have to be academic or class related) the better.

Know your academic strengths and rights

This section falls into two different categories. It starts by making sure that our students know what their strengths are and the accommodations they need. I’ve never been in another educational situation where students will go up to their teachers and give them a point by point summary as to “how” to teach them. The more you think about it, the more it would be amazing if every student everywhere had such an in-depth understanding of their educational profile as our students at Bridgeway do. Next, and I think this is more applicable to students in a post- secondary or public school setting, is know what your rights are. I’m not saying anyone to go out and occupy the Department of Education, but I do believe that every student should know what legally, educators must do for them.

Have someone watching your back

One of the first things we do when we have a student who is transitioning to post-secondary is make sure that they are aware of the Disability Services department at the university or college. Using a resource like this when you go on to post-secondary is the single smartest decision you can make. Disability Services will help you with the above three points but they will also ensure that if any other issue or concern was to arise, that you have a point of contact. Most post- secondary teachers, professors or instructors ( in my experience) have been very accepting of students accommodations, however in the case they were not, Disabilities Services gives you that back up you may need. 

If you're parenting a child with learning disabilities, or know someone who might benefit from Bridgeway's programs, please contact us at 1-888-435-3232.

Life After High School: Helping Your 11th or 12th Grader with Career Preparation and “Fit”

As promised, here is the second article on helping your teen get ready for life after high school, from the National Center for Learning Disabilities website.  We hope to bring you more information about the ways Bridgeway support students preparing for the transition out of high school - and some real-life success stories - in the coming weeks.

Rhonda & the Bridgeway team

Life After High School: Helping Your 11th or 12th Grader with Career Preparation and “Fit”

By Bonnie Z. Goldsmith

As the parent of an eleventh or twelfth grader with learning disabilities (LD), how confident are you about your teen’s plans for the future? Does your teen have realistic job or career goals? Has your teen found enjoyable activities that he is enthusiastic about pursuing as an adult? Has your teen held volunteer or paid part-time jobs? If so, can he see any of his jobs leading to a career that will allow him to be an independent, working adult?

As you well know, a learning disability does not just affect school performance. You have probably seen some of the emotional fallout teens have to weather when they are “different” in some way. Teens with LD, even those eligible for standard diplomas, may suffer from low self-esteem and feelings of inadequacy. They may look to the future with dread. They may be lonely, anxious, or depressed.

Now that your teen is in the last two years of high school, what kinds of help and support can you provide as he or she prepares for the future? First, ask yourself what “success” for your teen means to you. Does it mean the same thing to your teen? Now’s the time to redefine success based on your teen’s unique strengths and interests. Keep in mind that success involves good health and strong relationships, as well as satisfying work.

Four Stages of Career Development

Whatever your teen’s path to the world of work -- through postsecondary education or training, or directly to a job -- it can be helpful to consider four stages of career development. This article will consider the third and fourth stages. A companion article, “Life After High School: Helping Your Ninth or Tenth Grader with Career Awareness and Exploration,” offers suggestions about the first two stages. Despite the division between articles -- and their targeted ages -- these stages aren’t necessarily sequential and frequently overlap.

Stage 3: Career Preparation Means Finding Some Answers

It’s time for your teen to identify a small number of careers or jobs that look interesting and achievable, based on her developing self-awareness as a person with many facets, one of which is a learning disability. Students sometimes neglect a convenient resource for career planning: the school’s guidance department. Guidance counselors have an array of career and vocational aptitude tests and interest assessments. They can help you and your teen understand test results and set realistic goals. Further, guidance counselors have lots of information about postsecondary education. They can tell you about academic and training schools that offer services for students with learning disabilities.

Your Teen Already Has Some Answers

By eleventh or twelfth grade, your teen’s experiences in school will provide valuable career guidance. School records -- grades, test scores, special education assessments, and teachers’ comments -- can help your teen interpret his or her strengths and needs. Your teen may also have a portfolio of work samples accumulated throughout high school. The collection can assist you and your teen as you formulate a clear progress report based on skill development. If your teen doesn’t have a portfolio, junior year is a good time to start one.

The last two years of high school are also the time to request specific feedback from adults who know your teen well: teachers, tutors, supervisors of part-time jobs or volunteer work, coaches, mentors, counselors, and so on. Encourage your teen to ask these people their perceptions of his or her strengths, challenges, and skills. A trusted guidance counselor can help your teen with these valuable interviews and, perhaps, with getting letters of recommendation.

Stay Current on Your Teen’s Transition Plan

Many teens with LD move directly into the job market after high school because they don’t believe they’ll make it in postsecondary education. Yet it’s clear that any training or college classes increase a young person’s chances for a good job at an acceptable salary. Especially in an economic downturn when many people are competing for jobs, your teen’s competitive chances improve greatly when he or she can include postsecondary education on a resume. Educational opportunities after high school can take many forms besides the traditional four years of college: one- or two-year programs, technical schools, trade schools, internships and apprenticeships, online classes, work-study arrangements. Colleges frequently have services for students with learning disabilities. There may be local companies or organizations offering paid employment opportunities for people with LD, including on-site job coaching. You can help your teen see what’s out there.

If your teen has an IEP, the school is required to keep you informed about any modifications to your teen’s transition plan. Be sure you and your teen attend all IEP meetings. If, for example, your teen has decided to pursue postsecondary education in some form, junior year is critical. It’s the time when your teen needs to find out the admission requirements to schools she’s interested in. That information, along with input from you, her IEP team, and other concerned adults, will help her insure that her transition plan includes the program of study expected by colleges or trade schools.

Legal Protections

It’s crucial for you and your teen to realize that when he leaves high school he is no longer eligible for the services guaranteed by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The protections of IDEA disappear, and your teen will have to seek help on his own.

Laws exist to protect adults with disabilities: Section 504 of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Title 1 of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). Both can protect your teen from discrimination in employment, but these laws have restrictions:

• Your teen must be “otherwise qualified” for the job he’s applying for. He must be able to perform the “essential functions” of a job, with or without accommodations.
• Employers are only required to provide “reasonable” accommodations that allow an otherwise qualified employee to do a job if the employee discloses and documents his disability. If your teen decides not to disclose his LD, his employer can fire him for poor performance, even if the problems are related to his disability.

Disclosure Requires Self-Advocacy Skills

While your teen is still in high school, talk together about the issue of self-disclosure. Unless your teen tells an employer about her disability, she isn’t eligible for legal protection against discrimination. However, many adults with LD hesitate to disclose their disability. They’re embarrassed, afraid of being seen as inferior, even retarded. (And, unfortunately, according to the 2010 Roper Poll, learning disabilities are still misunderstood.) They’re concerned that expectations for them will be lowered and their chances of advancement reduced.

Another issue is when to disclose: during the interview or after hiring? Depending on your teen’s disability and career choice, she may be able to work around her LD without officially disclosing it. For example, she might ask a coworker to proofread written work or to repeat complicated instructions. She may be able to move to a quieter work area without informing the boss.

Disclosure is a complicated issue. Your teen can’t really consider the pros and cons, however, if she lacks self-advocacy skills. Ideally, by eleventh grade, your teen understands and accepts her LD, knows her legal rights, and is able to ask for reasonable accommodations. Self-advocacy skills need to be part of your teen’s transition plan and must be practiced. The best time to practice is before high school graduation.

Stage 4: For Career “Fit,” Put a Priority on Real Work Experience

By eleventh or twelfth grade, your teen needs to take a close, realistic look at how his strengths, skills, and learning disability might mesh with particular jobs or careers. Paid or unpaid work during high school gives your teen invaluable experience that may help him get a better job after graduating. Help your teen find real-world experiences that emphasize hard work and skill development. Some schools allow students to work in the supplies store, cafeteria, copy room, or office. Students may assist groundskeepers and janitors. Such school-based jobs offer great experience in work-related skills and allow students to learn in a safe environment. Similar jobs might be answering the telephone in your place of worship or another familiar milieu, helping with planning and staffing community events, and volunteering with children or senior citizens.

Keep current on your teen’s plans and provide reality checks. If, for example, your teen wants to be a reporter for an online news organization, but has serious language disabilities, you’ll want to discuss other, related careers that don’t require as much language facility. Some jobs or careers -- maybe most -- will require your teen to work around his learning disability or find accommodations that will allow him to succeed. This is easier with supportive supervisors and coworkers, in an accepting work environment.

There’s no real substitute, though, for a job outside familiar environments. Your teen needs practice developing a work ethic: managing job stress, getting along with diverse coworkers, dealing with interpersonal conflicts, asking for further or more detailed instructions, and fulfilling employer expectations about punctuality, dress, work pace, motivation, and initiative. If your teen hasn’t had a paying job yet, encourage him to get one before high school ends. Research has shown that working for pay during high school has positive, long-term career impact on people with LD. If possible, see that your teen has an authentic experience in the world of work.

Finding a Good Fit

If your teen is game, role play a job interview or a work-related conflict or question. Talk about how to handle rude, mean, or disrespectful people -- especially those who don’t know what learning disabilities involve. Practice those all-important people skills: being professional and polite, taking turns, giving and accepting compliments, and accepting criticism and correction as a way to get better on the job.

Many students with LD need practice with social skills. Some, however, excel in what researchers call emotional intelligence. If your teen is notably empathetic and emotionally mature, she or he may have an edge in a tight job market. A national survey of hiring managers conducted in 2011 by CareerBuilder.com, an online job-search engine, found that employers rate emotional intelligence highly when they make hiring decisions.

For a good career fit, encourage your teen to find out as much as possible about interesting work, a process that began during the “career exploration” stage described in the companion article to this one. Someone interested in health care can visit or volunteer at a hospital, clinic, or rehab center. Someone interested in working with children can look into becoming a camp counselor or assisting at a daycare center. An artistic or mechanically skilled person might lend a hand at an arts center or welding shop. These experiences can help your teen narrow down career choices.

You can help by checking with your local Chamber of Commerce or community center about businesses willing to work with and train young people with LD. If your teen is amenable to help, make use of your community contacts to find potential jobs for him or her and ask your family and friends to do the same. Get information about how your local Vocational Rehabilitation Agency (VRA) can help your teen during and after high school. (Check NCLD’s Resource Locator to find your local listing.) The VRA is a state agency that provides services to young people with disabilities as they make the transition from school to work.

You can also guide your teen in seeking internships or apprenticeships, perhaps in the summer. Such experiences enable young people to watch and assist workers, learn new skills, and imagine themselves doing specific jobs. Your teen can decide if particular jobs are interesting enough to put up with the occasional, unavoidable drudgery and boredom.

Life After High School

To make a successful transition to the world of work, whether it’s following postsecondary education or directly after high school, your teen needs:

• a realistic transition plan that ideally begins in middle school
• the ability to accept and understand her learning disability
• the willingness to adapt and be flexible in a job setting
• the courage to advocate for what she needs to be successful

Encourage your eleventh or twelfth grader to take increasing responsibility for planning his or her future after high school. All four stages of career development -- awareness, exploration, preparation, and fit -- are valuable parts of a young person’s maturation. With your support, your teen can weather the difficult but rewarding transition from high school student to independent adult.

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Bonnie Z. Goldsmith has worked in the field of education throughout her professional life. She has wide experience as a writer, editor, and teacher.

Life After High School: Helping Your 9th or 10th Grader with Career Awareness and Exploration

Maybe it's because I have just filled in new wall calendars with important dates for the coming year, but I find in January, the school year seems much shorter than it did in December.  In fewer than six months, the kids will be finished another grade and just starting on their summer vacation.  For many students, the end of the school year means the beginning of a new adventure - in college, university or a new career.  Getting ready early is especially important for students with learning disabilities.  Here's some great advice for students in Grades 9 or 10 from the National Centre for Learning Disabilities. 

Rhonda

P.S. There is a companion to this article for students in grades 11 and 12.  If you don't click on the link at the end of this article, have no fear - I'll post it next Sunday.

Life After High School: Helping Your 9th or 10th Grader with Career Awareness and Exploration

By Bonnie Goldsmith
As your child makes her way through school, you, like most parents, worry about what life after graduation will hold. As a parent of a child with learning disabilities (LD), you have extra sources of anxiety. As high school begins, you worry about how strong your teen’s resilience skills are. What should your expectations be for your teen’s future? Should you encourage her to pursue some kind of postsecondary education, even though school has been such a struggle? What kinds of jobs or careers might play to her strengths? How do you help your teen set realistic goals?

You know that having satisfying work and living independently are key elements of a happy life. Just as your child has needed extra help with schoolwork, she or he needs extra guidance and specific action plans for life after high school. Whether or not your teen has begun to contemplate the future and what it might hold, you can help your ninth or tenth grader tremendously during the transition to adulthood.

Four Stages of Career Development

Whatever your teen’s path to the world of work -- through postsecondary education or training, or directly from high school to a job -- it can be helpful to consider four stages of career development. This article will offer suggestions about the first two stages. A companion article, “Life After High School: Helping Your Eleventh or Twelfth Grader with Career Preparation and ‘Fit,’” offers suggestions about the last two stages. Despite the division between articles –- and their targeted ages -- these stages aren’t necessarily sequential and frequently overlap.

Stage 1: Career Awareness Begins with Self-Awareness

One of the first steps your teen must take on the path to adulthood is recognizing that her learning disability won’t go away after graduation. Learning disabilities are not “curable,” but they are manageable. They require strategies and accommodations throughout adult life and must be considered as your teen makes plans for the future. However, you can help your teen understand that her learning disability is only one part of her profile of strengths, abilities, challenges, and needs. It is even possible to see a learning disability as a source of rewards as well as struggles and frustrations. Having a learning disability may be teaching your teen:

• creative problem solving -- working around and compensating for the disability
• persistence -- continuing to try, working through frustrations to reach a goal
• empathy -- supporting and understanding others who struggle

In the first years of high school, your teen needs to become aware of himself as a multifaceted person, regardless of the challenges of his learning disability. Self-awareness leads to the self-acceptance that allows your teen to begin advocating for himself, asking for the modifications and accommodations he needs to succeed. With increasing self-confidence, your teen is ready to think about a career.

Build Independence and Self-Confidence

Learning disabilities have emotional challenges as well as academic ones, as you well know. Help your teen rise from the discouragement and low self-esteem she may feel. You have probably been your child’s strongest advocate, and that role will likely continue for you. But it’s crucial for your teen to practice speaking up independently about what she needs to help her succeed. As your child gets older, you won’t be able to fight all the battles anymore -- nor should you. You want your teen to become an independent adult. Independence requires self-advocacy.

For example, if your teen finds that a teacher is talking too fast and presenting material too rapidly, encourage him or her to politely ask the teacher for permission to record the class, get the information in writing, use a study partner to compare notes with, and try whatever other reasonable accommodations seem advisable. When large projects are assigned, expect your teen to break the task into smaller parts and set interim deadlines independently. Involve yourself less and less, realizing you may need to intervene or help sometimes.

Build confidence outside school hours by allowing your teen more freedom and independence. Expect your teen to take full or substantial responsibility for appropriate chores, such as cleaning his room every week, doing laundry, taking charge of a family meal, providing pet care or yard care, watering plants, babysitting, or supervising younger siblings.

Ninth and tenth graders also need work experience. The responsibility that comes with chores and neighborhood obligations helps build work habits that will much improve your teen’s chances of finding a good job and a rewarding career. Encourage your teen to walk dogs, babysit, help an elderly or infirm neighbor, mow lawns, shovel snow, or do odd jobs. If possible, enroll your teen in babysitting or lifesaving classes.

Stage 2: Career Exploration Means Discovering Genuine Interests

To plan for the future, your teen needs to discover his own genuine interests, passions, and strengths. What does he truly like to do? Sit down together and help your teen make a list of favorite activities and pastimes -- what gives him satisfaction and what he’s good at. If he claims he isn’t good at anything, encourage him by talking about his individual strengths. Does your teen like hands-on work? Does he like to help others? Be outdoors? Take care of animals? Look after younger children? Cook? Sew? Build or fix things? Plan parties or celebrations? Play computer or video games? Make music?

Encourage your teen to begin making connections between enjoyable, interesting activities and a future job or career. Focus on your teen’s personality. Does she love being around people, in the midst of things, or does she prefer to work alone or in a small group, doing quieter activities? To find pursuits that may interest her, seek out classes given at local parks or community centers, such as bird watching or quilting. Encourage your teen to volunteer at a nonprofit organization, such as a food bank or animal rescue group. Specialized stores often put up notices of teachers or clubs for people who like to sew, garden, ski, read to children, play computer games, draw cartoons, and so forth.

Expose your teen to new experiences whenever you can. Offer opportunities to try new things, such as theater (on stage and behind the scenes), music making, filmmaking, drawing, carpentry, papermaking, printmaking, ceramics, tai chi, or yoga. Help your teen “shop” for his passions. Besides suggesting career paths and broadening his view of what people can do with their lives, finding activities he loves can lead to satisfying leisure activities in adulthood. Doing what he does well can offer solace and bolster self-confidence during difficult times. Such activities can point your teen toward mentors, role models, part-time jobs, and careers. He or she will also be developing a support system of like-minded peers.

Armed with a growing understanding of his interests, abilities, and challenges, your teen can consider why people work and what motivates them to pursue certain jobs. Many teens don’t know what kinds of jobs are held by family members and friends and what skills are required by various careers. It can be enlightening for your teen to visit workplaces -- where you work, where your family and friends work -- to see if he can imagine himself doing the jobs he observes. You can help arrange experiences for your teen where he can practice crucial work-related skills.

What Can I Be When I Grow Up?

Does your teen understand why most people want and need to work, beyond the obvious financial incentives? Discuss your own job with your teen. Talk about how work brings a sense of belonging to a larger community. Be frank about the satisfactions and frustrations of your job. Encourage your teen to ask family members and friends about their jobs. Adults your teen knows may be able to help him find jobs or volunteer opportunities in your community.

Take your teen with you to work. Ask friends or family members if she can “shadow” them as they do their jobs. Help your teen get a sense of employment possibilities.

Help Your Teen Develop “Soft Skills”

Your teen needs extra help with academic skills like reading, writing, and math. But other skills, called “soft skills” by some researchers, are just as crucial for life success. Kids with LD need focused attention to master these everyday, commonsense skills important in all aspects of life: skills of communication, getting along with others, making decisions, taking initiative, and accepting responsibility.

Families are especially important in helping young people develop soft skills. Some soft skills are closely related to a work ethic: the importance of being on time, the initiative to seek help or develop one’s own strategies for success, being a valued part of a team, and taking pride in one’s work. Self-control, respecting others, and dealing constructively with conflict are essential for job success. Refusing to follow directions and inability to get along with others are common reasons people get fired.

Recent research has identified six qualities that are characteristic of successful people with learning disabilities. These “success attributes” include nonacademic skills -- soft skills -- essential for a productive adulthood. You play a vital role in supporting your teen’s development of these attributes: self-awareness, proactivity, perseverance, goal setting, use of effective support systems, and emotional coping skills.

Make sure the soft skills your teen needs to practice are included on his IEP during middle school and high school.

The Importance of a Transition Plan

Your teen needs a map for the future. Work with your school to create a detailed, individualized transition plan for your teen. Include both short- and long-term goals for education (e.g., high school courses to take, postsecondary options), skills development, extracurricular and community activities, and employment. Be sure your teen’s transition plan includes specific goals for career preparation. As a parent, you are the expert on your teen’s strengths, interests, challenges, and needs. Become actively involved in formulating your teen’s transition plan, ensuring that the plan includes all the skills (not just academic) he or she needs to work on. For example, you can emphasize the importance of learning self-advocacy. Above all, make sure your teen takes an increasingly active role in developing these plans for the future.

Discuss transition plans and future goals within your family. Involve school staff as early as possible. Even middle school students can begin to work on skills for independence.

The Importance of High Expectations

One of the best ways you can help your teen prepare for the future is to hold high expectations. Research shows that students with learning disabilities whose parents expect them to go on to some form of postsecondary education achieve more in high school. Without losing sight of your teen’s individual strengths, weaknesses, and needs, keep your expectations achievable but keep them high and communicate them frequently to your teen. Even when it’s difficult, be positive and encouraging.

It’s very important that your teen graduate with a standard diploma, rather than a special education certificate, if at all possible. Nonstandard diplomas are usually seen as inferior to standard diplomas and will impede your teen’s job, career, and education opportunities. Find out from your school district the requirements for a standard diploma and make sure your teen’s IEP fully supports his path toward it.

Life After High School

Self-awareness underlies all stages of career planning. The first two years of high school can, with your help, be enlightening and reassuring for your teen as life after high school comes closer. Now that you have a clearer idea about the first two stages of career development, read the next article in this two-part series, “Life After High School: Helping Your Eleventh or Twelfth Grader with Career Preparation and ‘Fit.’”

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Bonnie Z. Goldsmith has worked in the field of education throughout her professional life. She has wide experience as a writer, editor, and teacher.