The Autism Society Event and Education Recordings Archive

“What do you want to be when you grow up?”  As children mature, their answers evolve from the fantastic (“I want to be Batman!”) to the idealistic (“I want to be President”), and ultimately to the realistic (“I want to be an engineer”).  Daily successes and failures come together until as young adults, increasingly aware of their own abilities and interests, they focus on achieving specific educational or vocational goals.

For students with ASD, the question becomes more fraught.  Whereas typical students may participate in a range of social, athletic, or creative activities, children with ASD may instead spend their out-of-school hours engaged in therapies or tutoring sessions. (National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability, 2008)  Students may reach adulthood without sufficient life experiences to answer the question, “What do you want to be?”

Further complicating this decision is the reality that students who have been involved in intervention programs since early childhood may have never been given adequate opportunity to choose how they spend their time.  Unlike their typical peers who use their success/failure experiences growing up to guide their goal-setting for adulthood, students with ASD are not permitted to quit when an undertaking is consistently frustrating, with the result that they may reach the end of their schooling without genuinely understanding what they are – or are not – suited to do as adults.

Meaningful decisions reflect the values of the decision-makers, are based on data, and can change over time as appropriate.  Youth need support to understand and accept their academic, developmental, or functional challenges, but also benefit from direction regarding further education, career exploration, and long-term planning. (Borgen & Amundsen, 1995)  Thus, the need for timely and appropriate Transition Assessment.  But what, exactly, is a “Transition Assessment” and how does it differ from the multi-disciplinary and triennial assessments schools regularly conduct?

A “one size fits all” approach is ineffective given the enormous gamut of needs of students on the autism spectrum.  However, basic tenets exist which can be applied to a wide range of students.  First and foremost is the use of scientifically validated measures, and how to measure progress.

The fields of psycho-educational and vocational evaluation already support a range of appropriate tools and methods of collecting information to ensure that every transitioning student should benefit from meaningful Transition Assessment.  By identifying and adhering to the clearly defined requirements for appropriate transition assessments already present in our legal and policy frameworks and educating parents and professionals about the elements of appropriate assessment, we who work on behalf of students with ASD can ensure a marked improvement in the transition experiences of the youth and young adults we serve.

Session participants will be able to state at least three legal requirements of a formal transition assessment under IDEA, learn the names of at least three different formal tools which are scientifically validated, and leave prepared to use knowledge about individual student needs to help craft tailored evaluations that encourage and allow data based progress monitoring.