Planning the Transition to Employment

Wendy Parent, Ph.D., is Research Associate Professor and Assistant Director, Kansas University Center on Developmental Disabilities, a Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities at The University of Kansas. She has more than 25 years of experience in the areas of supported and customized employment and transition from school to work for individuals with severe disabilities. Dr. Parent has published numerous book chapters and peer-reviewed journal articles related to transition and supported/customized employment and has coauthored several books on supported employment. In her efforts to build systems capacity and enhance employment and self-employment outcomes, she provides training and technical assistance to teachers, transition coordinators, families, rehabilitation counselors, job coaches, and individuals with disabilities. She is currently the president of the Kansas Rehabilitation Association and Kansas Association for Persons on Supported Employment (APSE): The Network on Employment and serves on the national Boards of the APSE Foundation and the National Rehabilitation Association. She serves on the editorial board of two journals: Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities and the Journal of Rehabilitation. Her areas of interest and research are supported/customized employment and transition from school to work for individuals with severe disabilities, with an emphasis on creative funding and support strategies, individual and family involvement, job-coach training and leadership, interagency collaboration and service delivery issues, and systems change.

Series Preface
Editorial Advisory Board
About the Authors
Preface
About the Downloads
Acknowledgments

1 Getting Started
Transition to Employment
Importance of Work
What Do the Statistics Say?
Changing the Landscape of Disability and Employment
Upcoming Chapters

2 Strategies to Facilitate Effective Transitions
Teacher Vignette
The Crucial Importance of Collaboration
Grow Your Own Collective Impact Team
Collective Impact: A Practical Application
Integrating Best Practices

3 How Do We Plan for Employment , Support Self -Directed Team Meetings , and Encourage Adult Agency InvolvementTeacher/Transition Coordinator Vignette
Planning for Employment
Ready and Reliable
Employment First
Why Is Person-Centered Planning Important?

4 How Do We Develop Skills, Identify Passions, and Explore Careers?Teacher/Transition Coordinator Vignette
Developing High School Services
Identifying Learning Styles and Preferences
Utilizing Online Career Exploration Tools
Providing Community Work and Internship
Opportunities
Establishing Employment or Post-Secondary Education Areas of Interest

5 Developing Employer Relationships to Develop Job OpportunitiesTeacher/Transition Coordinator Vignette
Competitive Integrated Employment
Knowing the Business Community
Business Knowledge
Networking
Meeting with Employers
Employment Proposals
Preparing Students for Employment Through Work-Based Learning or Internships
Partnership Agreement
Worksite Analysis
Intern Criteria and Job Description
Application and Interview Process
Orientation and Training
Evaluation Process

6 Providing Training and Supports While in School and AfterTeacher/Transition Coordinator Vignette
Teaching Self-Determination
Identifying Instructional Strategies and Support
Instructional Strategies
Natural Supports

7 Ways to Overcome the Yeah, but . . . SyndromeStudent Vignette
Case Studies
Challenges That Teachers Face


References
Index