The Way to Work: How to Facilitate Work Experiences for Youth in Transition

Employment is one of the biggest contributors to quality of life for people with disabilities&;and that means well-planned work experiences should be an integral part of transition preparation for every secondary and postsecondary school aged youth. Make that happen with this practical guide, developed to help educators, transition specialists, and employment specialists facilitate individualized, person-centered work experiences and jobs for high school students and young adults with a wide range of disabilities.

Readers will get the specific, ready-to-use guidance they need to

• uncover students' strengths, needs, and interests through formal and informal assessments
• recruit and retain employer partners who gladly host youth in their workplaces
• help students decide when and how to disclose a disability to an employer
• guide students in advocating effectively for accommodations on the job
• support students and employers in making the most of work experiences
• involve families in supporting the work experience
• collaborate with other professionals to develop and sustain work experiences
• and much more

To help with every step of facilitating meaningful employment, readers will get examples of model programs, stories that illustrate what works and doesn't work, more than a dozen photocopiable tools and forms, and end-of-chapter "Learning Labs" with reflection questions and thought-provoking activities.

Teachers and transition specialists will rely on this strategy-filled guidebook to connect students with the early work experiences they really want&;and make lifelong career satisfaction the rule, not the exception, for people with disabilities.

Includes helpful tools & forms!

• Positive Personal Profile
• Work Experience/Job Search Plan
• Inventory of Employer's Needs and Tasks
• Work Experience Proposal Template
• Youth Performance Feedback Form
• Satisfaction Questionnaire for Employers
• and more!

Richard G. Luecking, Ed.D., is the President of TransCen, Inc., a non-profit organization based in Rockville, Maryland, that is dedicated to improving education and employment outcomes for people with disabilities. Dr. Luecking has held this position since 1987, when he was charged by the Board of Directors as the organization's first employee to create improved linkages between schools, employment service providers, government, business, and families so that youth with disabilities experience improved post-school employment outcomes. During his tenure with the organization, he and his TransCen colleagues have been responsible for the design and implementation of numerous model demonstration and research projects related to school-to-work transition and employment of people with disabilities. He is the author of a range of publications on related topics, including the book, The Way to Work: How to Facilitate Work Experiences for Youth in Transition (Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., 2009).

JD Hoye is President of the National Academy Foundation.

David R. Johnson, Ph.D., is Professor and Director of the Institute on Community Integration at the College of Education and Human Development, University of Minnesota.

LaVerne A. Buchanan, Ed.D., is a senior research associate at TransCen, Inc. Dr. Buchanan has been affiliated with TransCen since 1991, when she joined the staff to serve as director of the Washington, D.C., office of the Marriott Foundation’s “Bridges . . . from school to work†program. During her tenure with the organization she has also provided training, technical assistance, and program evaluation to a number of Maryland and District of Columbia school systems, as well as serving as a member of the Maryland State Department of Education Career Development Council and as a consultant to the D.C. Public Schools High School Improvement Institute. Currently, she works on projects addressing youth connectedness to schools and the community, drop-out prevention for middle and secondary students, and teacher implementation of authentic transition and career development. In addition, Dr. Buchanan is an adjunct faculty member at area colleges’ and universities’ graduate special education transition programs. She has maintained active leadership roles in national professional organizations, including serving on the Boards of the Council for Exceptional Children and its Division on Career Development and Transition.

Meredith Gramlich, M.A., has worked with TransCen, Inc., since 1992 in a variety of capacities helping youth and adults with disabilities find successful career opportunities. She has worked throughout Maryland to facilitate business education partnerships and collaboration among disability service providers in their business partnering efforts. Ms. Gramlich has contributed to expanded customized employment opportunities for people with disabilities who access MontgomeryWorks, Montgomery County&;s One Stop Career Center. She has also written and contributed to a number of publications about business&;education partnerships, customized work opportunities for people with disabilities, and workplace mentoring.

Karen Leggett is a writer/journalist in Washington, D.C. As an advocate for improved special education services, Ms. Leggett chaired PTA special education committees throughout her daughter’s school years, edited newsletters, and wrote newspaper articles. Currently, Ms. Leggett serves on the Montgomery County Special Education Continuous Improvement Team and chairs the Transition Work Group, an organization of parents and service providers working to improve the transition to adulthood for young people with disabilities in Montgomery County, Maryland. In 2006, Leggett wrote The Parent Mentor Partnership: A Toolkit (Southeast Regional Resource Center, 2006) about a groundbreaking mentoring program in Georgia public schools.

Christy Stuart, Ed.D., is a senior research associate at TransCen, Inc. Dr. Stuart has more than 18 years of experience in the fields of special education, schoolto- work transition, and employment of individuals with disabilities, especially those considered to have severe disabilities. She began her career as a teacher assisting transition-age youth with disabilities and their families to coordinate and acquire services and supports as they make the transition from school to postschool environments. She has applied this experience to consulting with various school districts in Maryland and Florida as they strive to improve transition services. Currently, she is the technical assistance coordinator for the Maryland Seamless Transition Collaborative, a statewide initiative to improve postschool outcomes of students with disabilities requiring postsecondary support services. She has published professional journal articles as well as developed numerous products on topics that include disability disclosure and entrepreneurial activities for youth with disabilities, as well as various web-based training materials focusing on accommodations, inclusion, disability legislation, and job development.

George P. Tilson, Ed.D., is Senior Vice President of TransCen, Inc. He assisted the Marriott Foundation for People with Disabilities in creating its youth career program, “Bridges . . . from school to work,†and subsequently became the national director. He has co-developed and directed numerous innovative demonstration and research projects and written numerous articles and book chapters on such topics as career counseling, job development, and accommodation strategies. He is the coauthor of Working Relationships: Creating Career Opportunities for Job Seekers with Disabilities Through Employer Partnerships

(with Richard G. Luecking and Ellen S. Fabian; Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., 2004). Dr. Tilson has conducted training nationally and internationally to corporations, employment service agencies, school systems, student and parent groups, and government agencies. He serves as an adjunct professor of education and human development at The George Washington University. Prior to joining TransCen in 1989, Dr. Tilson was a high school English and special education teacher, career counselor, and program evaluator.