Think College Transition

This Insight Brief #38 provides dual enrollment staff, specifically college coordinators and transition specialists, an overview of effective transfer practices and policies between sending and receiving institutions to support students with intellectual disability and autism. These practices include advising, orienting, and support services, as well as providing opportunities for academic and social integration. Building ongoing relationships with transfer destination partners will be key to developing successful transfer programs.

This Insight Brief #37 outlines the kind of information and suggested activities that can help parents during four stages of an inclusive college-based transition experience. The stages include introducing college-based transition services, supporting parents as students prepare for college, maintaining parent engagement through the transition to college, and engage and inform parents of adult services available once students age out of transition services.

This Think College Transition Student Profile features Pete, a student at Bristol Community College, and how the decision not to attend the traditional transition program offered through his high school led him to having a variety opportunities at college and in his community that has helped prepare him for a career working in animal health.

This Grab and Go Practice is part of a series helping students, parents, teachers, and job developers create customized employment opportunities for students with disabilities. This issue outlines the importance for job developers to develop an employer network that can lead to job opportunities for students. This publication discusses different strategies that can be used to develop networks and the positive results that can occur as a result.

This Think College Transition Student Profile features Morgan, a dual enrollment student at Holyoke Community College who went on to transfer to Westfield State University. Morgan developed and used self-determination skills to self-direct her transition experience with the support of her college advisors, school transition specialist, educational coaches, peer mentor, and family. This profile highlights the positive outcomes that can be achieved from collaborative planning and fading supports.

This Grab and Go Practices #9 provides an overview of numerous ways that team members are capitalizing on dual enrollment college experiences that students are participating in to develop IEPs that reflect comprehensive transition experiences, and that communicate the progress students are making on measurable postsecondary goals.

This Grab and Go Practice is part of a series helping students, parents, teachers, and job developers create customized employment opportunities for students with disabilities. Career counselors highly recommend that students research both the jobs that they are interested in and local employers within those fields. This guide reviews how to research employers. This ready-to-use chart accompanies Grab and Go Practices #8, Customized Employment-- Employer Research.

This Grab and Go Practice is part of a series helping students, parents, teachers, and job developers develop customized employment opportunities for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. For students who have difficulty obtaining paid work through traditional methods, a customized employment approach can provide a more thoughtful, individualized plan that meets the needs of both the job seeker and the employer. This publication focuses on the the discovery phase, which is the foundation to customized employment.

This Grab and Go Practice is part of a series helping students, parents, teachers, and job developers create customized employment opportunities for students with disabilities. Learning about a student can help team members identify specific career focus areas that can be explored further through career exploration activities. It is important that students explore different types of jobs and career fields so they can make an informed decision on what type of work they want to do in the future. This publication provides guidance in how to do this.

This college planning timeline was created by the Think College Transition team to help teachers, families, and students prepare for college. It includes tasks that should be considered throughout high school, as well as for specific grade levels.