Importance of Transition Planning in High School

As discussed in the previous post, most people are concerned with students p-12 with special needs. However, there are many students who have special needs further their learning to higher education. The previous post discussed the difference of laws once a student is in higher education. The IDEA Act does not cover students in the higher education programs, they need to be under the ADA. The barrier and protection barriers between IDEA and ADA have a huge gap and do not offer the same technology access for the students. Therefore, these differences make transition planning in high school especially important for students in special education who want to attend college. To help students prepare for this transition, IDEA provides transition planning starting at age 16. The students will have two to three years to develop the skills to succeed in college. They will need to gain the skills in assistive technology skills for independence and self-advocacy skills.

Source:Dell, A., Newton, D., & Petroff, J. (2012). Assistive Technology in the Classroom. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.