Welcome to the Transition Planning Series, where we will be exploring the transition between high school and what comes next. 

In Part 1, we will be exploring a concept that might feel like it should be self-evident - involving students in their own plan.

After all, who wouldn’t want their student to be in control of their own future? But student involvement is more than just an attitude - it is a proactive approach that seeks to ensure that a student not only has the opportunity to participate in the discussion but that they feel like they can have a discussion on their own terms.

As a teacher or professional, you have the experience to present important practical considerations when needed and play an important role in showing students all that the transition from high school to what’s next can entail. You also have the opportunity to create an environment where students know their aspirations, wants, and needs will be taken seriously, even if there are other important choices to be made.

You may have also encountered students who have expressed a disinterest in participating in their own transition plan or their own planning meetings. Students who don’t wish to participate in the process should not be forced to, and the purpose of engaging with students about their transition plan in this context is to offer some new approaches or frameworks to see if they want to participate in that way. 

We hope this post will offer some helpful starting points for students who are excited to participate in their own transition plan and to seek out different ways of earning real engagement from students who feel alienated from the traditional process.

So let’s take a closer look!

One important reality of planning for our future is recognizing that it is a form of executive functioning, and everyone has their own style that helps them function best. 

As helpful as a formal transition planning meeting might be in the big picture, it may or may not be the way to engage a particular student in their own goals. While it is important as a professional to adhere to all the legal requirements associated with transition planning, there is nothing stopping us from finding different additional ways of engaging with our students to ensure we are on the same page. 

Would it make more sense to have your own separate meeting with your student where they can set the agenda? Or to make it a part of day-to-day activities? 

Taking some additional steps to meet your student halfway can go a long way toward building a more informed transition plan.

“What do you want to do after school?” can be such a difficult question to answer. After all, the entire rest of our lives come after school! 

Our goals and ambitions might not be fully congruous with the steps we need to take immediately after high school, and some students might not even feel sure of how they are “supposed” to answer, let alone what immediate next steps they might want to take toward their long-term goals. 

By creating an environment where broad picture ideas feel accepted, we can break the ice and make it that much easier to begin breaking down those big picture goals into smaller steps and practical considerations.

One of the quickest ways to disengage someone from a process of self-improvement is to insist they must work on something that they don’t recognize as an issue. 

In the context of transition planning, we must be careful not to expect students to summon an incredible amount of intrinsic motivation to work on goals that are imposed from the outside. That is not to say you can’t have an opinion on what goals might be most helpful for your student! 

Rather, it is important to both make that case to your student and listen to their most pressing concerns so you can be on the same page about what is most important to work on now. 

The more you can be on the same page as your student, the more it can be treated as a shared process rather than just another assignment.

One reality that many Autistic students face is a sense of social pressure to conform one way or another. Some might feel a sense of pressure to achieve complete independence, and any support they receive is indicative of a problem they must solve. 

Others might feel like they’re not supposed to seek out greater independence, even though they want to. Because the experiences of Autistic people can be so varied, it can be difficult to predict the ways that words like “independence” or “support” might be stigmatized or lionized in their own lives. 

One thing we can do, however, is work to erase the stigma of both words and encourage students to think in terms of how being more independent or having more support might serve their needs in a given situation, rather than how it might fulfill the expectations of others. 

So, even as you may encourage taking steps toward independence, make sure to recognize that it is great both to pursue independence in a particular area and to recognize when you need support and act accordingly!

We hope this post has offered some helpful starting points and frameworks for starting the conversation around including your student(s) in transition planning, including students who might not initially seem fully interested in the process. 

If you would like to share your own experiences working with students on transition planning, or if you are a student/former student who would like to share your own experience, then we would love to hear from you! Just drop us a line at hello@autismgrownup.com and stay tuned for Part 2, where we will talk about bringing the community into the transition plan.