Answered Questions is a monthly resource for the Spanish language Disability Community that fills an information need. This month’s question is: As a parent, how do I help my child transition from school to work? This edition of Answered Questions includes items that discuss improving supports for youth and young adults with serious mental health conditions; discuss research on transition services for people with blindness or other visual disabilities; provide lesson plans for teachers and parents to help students with disabilities develop social skills in all their environments; present the findings from community conversations organized to identify the needed and existing resources for transition-age youth with emotional or behavioral disorders; provide information to parents on transition and children with disabilities; discuss improving the integration of people with disabilities into the workplace; and discuss a study that analyses the adequacy of Transition to Work Plans. More about Answered Questions.
NIDILRR-Funded Projects:
The Learning and Working During the Transition to Adulthood Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (English) (90RT5031) aims to improve the supports for youth and young adults between 14-30 years old with serious mental health conditions to successfully complete their education and training and move toward rewarding work lives. The Center also includes Youth Voice (English), a place for teens and young adults with mental health conditions to find the resources and information they need to lead independent lives, and publications in English and Spanish.
The Disability and Rehabilitation Research Project on VR: Transition Services that Lead to Competitive Employment Outcomes for Transition-Age Individuals with Blindness or Other Visual Impairments (English) (H133A070001) conducted research on transition services that lead to competitive employment outcomes for transition-age people with blindness or other visual disabilities through four projects that helped to identify, develop, demonstrate, and evaluate the effectiveness of two interventions. The project’s website includes news and research, training and resources, including the transition calendar From School to College: A Transition Activity Calendar for Students who are Blind or Visually Impaired (in English) and the primer Career Advantage for V.I.P.s: An Employment Preparation Primer for Individuals who are Blind or Visually Impaired (in English).
From the NARIC Collection:
The manual, Helping students with disabilities develop social skills, academic language and literacy through literature stories, vignettes, and other activities: A secondary and post-secondary emphasis (English) (R09429), provides teachers and parents with lesson plans complete with literature stories and other activities to help students with disabilities develop social skills in all their environments. This manual assists parents to effectively support their child with disabilities as they negotiate the many challenges in making the transition from school to the world of adult living.
Community conversations: Engaging stakeholders to improve employment-related transition services for youth with emotional and behavioral disabilities (English) (J74430) presents the findings of three community conversations organized to identify existing and needed resources for transition-age youth with emotional and behavioral disorders. The results identified five important areas of service for transition-age youth with disabilities. The study re-established the need for further research on the potential of community conversations to address key challenges facing diverse populations with disabilities, their families and communities, service providers, educators, researchers, and policy makers.
Education:
The guide, Planning the transition from school to adult life: Considerations for students with disabilities from ASAH, provides information to parents of children and youth with disabilities on transitioning from youth to adulthood, when to start planning for transition, when transition services should begin, and more. It also includes transition planning strategies, considerations for students planning to attend university, and transition resources.
Developed at a special needs education center via a First Vocational Qualification Program (PCPI in Spanish), the article, Quality of life and social and vocational integration of young people with disabilities, presents a person-centered job placement itinerary and discusses research that aims to offer a model of good practices that will enable other groups to continue working to improve the integration into the workplace of their students. This article also offers a reflection on what PCPIs have meant up to now for people with disabilities or those at risk of social exclusion.
Employment:
The article, The transition to work plans: An inclusive training option for people with disabilities, discusses a study to analyze the adequacy of Transition to Work Plans (PTT in Spanish), an educational program offered by local agencies as a non-segregating training space for people with disabilities. The study found that the organizations can improve the philosophy and design behind PTTs implemented in working environments using inclusive approaches. This study also provides documentation of the beneficial factors of these programs as identified by people with disabilities who have completed them.
Resources:
- Transition to Adulthood (Center for Parent Information and Resources, US) provides information and resources in Spanish for youth with disabilities transitioning into adulthood and their families. This includes basic resources and information on a person’s rights under federal law, support systems, exploring postsecondary education, and exploring the world of employment.
- Transitioning from School to Adulthood (The Arc of King County, Washington, US) is a factsheet that helps people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) and their families familiarize themselves with the most important aspects of transitioning into adulthood, including benefits and resources for youth with I/DD living in King County. This factsheet also provides a general overview for those living outside of King County.
- ThinkCollege (in English) (US) is a national organization that develops, expands, and improves research and practice in inclusive higher education for people with intellectual disabilities and serves as the National Coordinating Center for the 27 federally-funded Transition Postsecondary Education Programs for Students with Intellectual Disabilities (TPSID) projects. It also provides training and technical assistance and collects and shares resources related to postsecondary education. Their website includes a searchable college directory (in English), a resource library that includes articles in Spanish, and a state-by-state listing of what’s happening in that state (in English).
Further Research:
REHABDATA:
PubMed:
International:
About Answered Questions
Each month, we look through the searches on our blog and through the information requests made by our patrons who speak Spanish and pick a topic that fills the largest need. Each resource mentioned above is associated with this month’s information need. We search the various Spanish language news sources and feeds throughout the month to bring you these articles. With the exception of the NIDILRR Projects, From the NARIC Collection, and Further Investigation, all the linked articles and resources are in Spanish – any that are in English will be clearly marked.
Collection Spotlight from the National Rehabilitation Information Center 