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Transition on the IEP means

the parents, teachers, other team members,

and most importantly, the student start to think about

and plan for what happens after high school graduation.

After high school graduation

is now called post-school years.

Transitions may look different

for deaf and hard of hearing students.

Some may plan to work right after high school,

others plan to attend college

and need to learn about disability services,

and others might attend a transition program

before turning 21.

Self-advocacy skills and language need

to continue to be strengthened.

However, self-realization is a process

throughout lifetime.

It's important to remember that this happens in stages,

sometimes starting in middle school

or even high school.

For those students who receive little direct service time

from a teacher of deaf/hard of hearing,

it is important to think about information they need

in different places,

such as work and college.

Students may also need more frequent contact

from a teacher of deaf/hard of hearing

in their junior and senior years

when they need to learn about scholarships,

disability services,

programs and colleges for deaf

and hard of hearing students

as well as receive instruction about

how to communicate their needs.

For other students, they may need

to have work experiences

to help them figure out what type of work

they would like to do after high school.

Students may need help planning and practicing

and writing down words to say during the work day

and how to connect with coworkers

and advocate on the job

for interpreters or CART and other services.

Some hard of hearing students in middle school

and early high school years

stop using assistive listening devices in the classroom

and prefer to only wear their personal hearing aids.

They do not want to look different,

especially if they are the only

hard of hearing or deaf student

in class or even in the school.

In middle school and 9th and 10th grades,

sometimes students turn down support

so they feel more independent.

They may also feel more fatigued from listening

and not do as well academically.

During those years, social connections

and appearances are more important.

As they mature, they may be more interested

in remote captioning,

using an assistive listening device in specific classes

especially when they are thinking about

and visiting colleges, vocational training programs

or work situations

that require them to be more responsible

for information they are learning.

It is important that students in middle school

and high school

continue to have different demonstrations

and trials happen in classrooms.

Sometimes they do not want to try specific services

in high school,

but are interested about that service in college.

The pace and rigor of college classes,

as well as some advanced or

honors high school classes,

may cause teams to reconsider what access is available

and services, such as remote captioning,

may need to be added.

Many schools are using teacher-created videos

that are streamed into classrooms.

Sometimes these are called flipped classrooms.

This means the teacher videotapes the lesson

and the students watch it at home.

Even students who say they can hear videos

without captions

should still have captions,

especially when they are learning

new academic vocabulary.

They cannot recognize words that they struggle

to hear fully.

This is an adaptation that should be discussed

on the IEP team.

It is also important that students ask

disability services in colleges

about captions for online videos for different classes.

It is important students and parents understand laws

that relate to training and work after high school.

Support and encouragement does not end

at high school graduation.

Students need to be able to explain the challenges

they have in classrooms for disability services in college

as well as for the Department of Employment

and Economic Development (DEED)

which some students also call Department of Vocational Rehabilitation (VRS).

Students at all levels benefit from role-playing

to prepare them for different scenarios

in college and on the job.

High school students often know

that they should advocate

or say something, but they don't know what to say.

This also includes students in honors

or advanced placement courses.

Although they may succeed academically,

they continue to need a wide variety

of advocacy language modeled for them.

Teachers of deaf and hard of hearing students

can provide many resources to students

and their families,

including modeling communication

with disability services

and making connections

with vocational rehabilitation counselors.

It helps teams to think about different items

that students need to know to prepare

for post-school years.

Review the sample transition checklist

that Metro Deaf School created in Appendix VI,

also found on page 46,

to help students create a portfolio.

That portfolio can be modified depending

on the student needs.

The Minnesota Commission for Deaf,

Deafblind and Hard of Hearing's

transition-age collaborative group

produced a transition guide

with webinars which are also a good resource for teams.

Check out this link.

We hope that the prompts from the transition section

will help parents and teachers on IEP teams

to plan for the future,

starting in middle school.

We also hope this helps the student

and others

to understand that transition is a process.