Student involvement in transition planning: Unheard voices

Despite over a decade of attention to transition from school to adult life, relatively little has been written about the involvement of students with disabilities in transition planning, especially those with more significant disabilities. This qualitative research study involved eight students with labels of moderate, severe, or multiple disabilities and focused on the na ture of their involvement in transition planning during their final year of high school. Teachers end parents made little investment in preparing stud ents for their transition planning meetings. While these students were phys ically present for formal transition IEP meetings, none were active partici pants with designated roles. School personnel controlled meetings and inter acted primarily with parents and other professionals. Adults spoke about st udents rather then with students. Information shared at these meetings ofte n focused on student deficits. Student voices were often lost and their exp ressed interests were not always realized. While adults considered student transition outcomes to be positive, they had little or no connection to per sonal student goals. Recommendations are offered for increasing the involve ment of students with disabilities in their own life planning.