Transition Goals: Finding a Path that Fits Each Child

   I have three amazing kids.  I one is starting her career as an educator.  My middle child is starting student teaching, something I would never have dreamed of in a million years, before he continues his education in the field of historical archiving.  Finally, my youngest is starting her second year of college on the road to becoming an occupational therapist.  These are all paths I would not have pictured for my children when they were in middle or even high school. All children have to navigate through life to find their own way and interests.  What is difficult with special needs children is guiding them to what is practical and realistic with their abilities, issues and needs. As parents and caregivers it is our responsibility to help guide them to realistic goals while still helping them to reach for their dreams.

   Everyone has interests, strengths, and preferences when it comes to work and work environments. There are many ways to find out what kinds of things interest a child. You can find surveys for them to fill out if they are capable.  If not you can show the child pictures of different items and let them point to the things they like: animals, plants, people, computers, stores, office, outside, inside, alone or with others. Help the child make a chart that shows them what their work interests are and create a work profile for them.  Once they have this work profile, you can help the child to find jobs or careers that would fit that profile and their desire for further education.  This will help eliminate things like a doctor, but you can possibly put in medical assistant or child care if it is taking care of people they really like. If they wanted to be a veterinarian, you can explain the schooling and then give them the options for veterinary technician, pet groomer or pet store worker. Depending on the level of the child, there are usually jobs that will fit for their interests if you think creatively. The important thing is to help the child see a future and see a goal to fit the learning.

    Setting these goals helps the entire family.  Parents and siblings start to see the future of the child.  How will the child get to and from work? How will they choose clothing? How will they record and remember and schedule? How will they communicate information from work to home? These are all things that caregivers need to start planning for.  The school system will not always be there to support the child.  It is the school system’s job to help prepare the child as best as possible for after school. This includes teaching the child and family not to depend on the school as an intermediary. Starting in middle school the parents need to start taking responsibility for getting information from the school websites rather than expecting the teacher to give them information made available to all parents. It should become a weekly if not daily habit to check the school website for updates and information on coming events and activities. Teachers need to make sure that parents are given this information at the beginning of the year, so they are aware of this responsibility. With general education students, the parents and students usually both do this and it slowly transitions to be more and more the student’s responsibility.  Like much with special needs children, this responsibility will stay with the caregiver the rest of their life.

  Starting in Middle school the job of educators becomes complex.  We are responsible for academic growth, but also for transition growth.  We need to look at the future of the child and the family after school.  What are the goals for the child and how can we help them get there.  Helping to choose a career goal and setting up communication is just the start of this transition planning.