Transition is more than 'a job'

Employment, says Anne Carlsen Center for Children Community Integration Manager Laurie Skadsem, is often the primary focus of transition planning for young adults with disabilities.

“Often, if a person fails at his or her job, it’s because of other areas,” she says.

Skadsem has developed a workshop with a list of tips and resources to help people who are supporting transition-aged individuals.

Those areas, also categories of IDEA, are:

Home Living

purchase a phone with large buttons that can be customized with pictures and program numbers into those buttons.
Develop cue cards for money use. A card that has a movie symbol and a symbol for $10 will help an individual easily know how much to bring to the movie.

Community Participation

Ask for picture menus at restaurants. Many large chains like McDonalds have special menus.
Encourage active participation in a church or community organization. “Don’t just join and never participate,” Skadsem says. “Where can the person be a servant?” Maybe it’s delivering meals on wheels or passing out church bulletins.

Rec and Leisure

Don’t wait for friends to come to them. Encourage the person to invite someone for dinner or remember a person’s birthday.
Help them develop a hobby. Maybe it’s scrapbooking or rubber stamping.

Post-Secondary Education

When attending college, Skadsem says, the biggest hurdle is to seek out disability services. “There is no IEP team. Often people fail at secondary education attempts because they’re too proud to ask for help and accommodations or assume people know they have a disability.”
Seek out alternative education opportunities. An example, Skadsem says, is Burdick Jobs Corps in Minot where people learn a very specific skill similar to a technical college but even more compressed into the specific course of study.

Helping a person in all areas of transition, Skadsem says, helps boost self-esteem and chances to be more independent.

Skadsem recommends developing a self-advocacy folder, a portfolio of information that provides all of a person’s life information, divided into sections that mirror the transition areas.
“It can be as detailed as needed to best help the individual.”