The importance of transition planning for special needs students

• Autor(a) principal: Patton,James R.
• Data de Publicação: 2016
• Outros Autores: Kim,Min Kyung
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://scielo.pt/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0871-91872016000100002
• topic: Transition; Transition planning process; Post-school outcomes; Adult functioning

This article discusses the transition planning process for students with special needs who are preparing to leave secondary school. The importance of doing this has strong face validity, as one of the outcomes of education should be preparing students to become productive and contributing citizens. A systematic transition process contributes to the probability that students will have better post-school outcomes. This article addresses five major areas. First, an explanation of what might be considered successful adult functioning is offered. Second, the key elements/concepts associated with the transition process are discussed. Third, a brief summary of the literature on transition is provided. Fourth, a model for considering how to conceptualize the transition planning process is presented with the idea that following a system like the one discussed can be very useful for addressing the transition needs of students. Lastly, a list of how the school, family, and student can contribute to this process is provided.