Jessica Awsumb and Hilary Travers are co-leads at Transition Tennessee

Timeline:

2:15 Introduction

3:15 Hilary's work at Perkins School of the Blind and what led her to Vanderbilt and transitional planning

5:00 Jessica's pathway to transitional training and employment for students with IDD.

8:13 How do we prepare for transitions (legal and evidence-based practice), which starts at Age 14 in TN. Key points mentioned:

- 4 future goals in transitional planning are: post-secondary education, employment, community involvement, and community living.

- A Course of Study (9th to 12th grade) is a selection of classes that are needed and individualized to a student to reach their post-secondary goals.

- Annual goal to build competency for life skills.

- Transition Services- a coordinated set of outcome-based activities to supplement after-school goals ( assigned to parent or third-party provider).

18:00 Job Exploration- What would you like to do for work? Your areas of interest? Explore the skills needed for the job in the community.

21:14 Thinking about employment as a family.

23:09 Support of job coaching vs natural supports- team-based approach.

28:24 Job experiences and work-based learning: rural vs urban. What are students' skills? What is their motivation? What are their supports? It will influence their experience. Another consideration is full vs part-time, self-employed.

32:27 VR for formal supports, faith communities are informal supports (these are non-paid opportunities), the Chamber of Commerce, who know the local businesses, and career fairs.

35:00 CTE courses are based on local community needs assessment, and if they align with students' interests, this is a great way for students to gain job skills.

37: 00 Helpful Resources: https://transitiontn.org/ Empowering Youth with Vision Impairments - free resources