A status report on transition planning for individuals with learning disabilities

Employment Experiences among Young Malaysian Adults with Learning Disabilities

The aim of this study was to describe the employment experiences of persons with learning disabilities (LDs) in developing countries, such as Malaysia. Factors associated with respondents' employment were also determined. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among young adults with LD who left the special education programs in secondary schools in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor. Ninety young adults with LD, aged 18 to 25 years were interviewed face-to-face at an agreed upon convenient place on their working experiences after leaving secondary schools. A total of 13 respondents were excluded from the analysis because their intellectual quotient (IQ) score demonstrated a high possibility of intellectual disability with IQ estimation <70. Of the 77 young adults analyzed, 74.0% reported having work experience and 64.9% were working at the time of interview. Statistical analysis showed significant associations between individual, family, and community factors with respondents' employment. Two factors made a unique statistically significant contribution to the model (gender, p = 0.043 and adult service: Financial support p = 0.012). This study suggests the current school-to-work transition program at secondary and post-secondary schools should be improved to better prepare young adults with LD with necessary skills relevant for the current job market so that they could improve their employability.

Facilitating Postsecondary Transition and Promoting Academic Success Through Language/Literacy-Based Self-Determination Strategies

Purpose

As noted by Powell (2018), speech-language pathologists (SLPs) are an integral part of the overarching curriculum for all students in schools, and this holds true for adolescents who require transition planning. The purpose of this tutorial is to focus on transition planning for secondary school students with a language-based learning disability (LLD) and provide a case illustration for how SLPs may use self-determination strategies to facilitate postsecondary transition while promoting academic success.

Method

As students with LLD enter secondary school, they are expected to write and think at more complex levels than ever before to meet post-graduation workforce demands, yet the provision of needed language–literacy intervention services drastically declines. Teaching students with LLD self-determination skills, such as awareness of their own strengths and limitations, self-advocacy strategies, and self-regulation, is found to be related to positive post-school outcomes and can be readily integrated into transition planning by the SLP.

Conclusion

SLPs may ideally support secondary school student language–literacy needs in transition planning by using self-determination strategies to help access the curriculum and experience postsecondary success.

Do Individualized Transition Plans Match the Postschool Projections of Students with Learning Disabilities and Their Parents?

Information recorded on Transition Planning Guides (TPGs) was compared with student and parent perceptions regarding postschool goals and anticipated support needs. Findings revealed little relationship between the postschool outcomes and support needs recorded on TPGs and the postschool outcomes and support needs expressed by students and parents during interviews. Although results indicated that most students and parents concurred that students with learning disabilities would need more support in their postschool lives than would young adults from the general population, there was little agreement regarding the types of supports needed. Data further showed that, although most students and parents expected professionals from adult service agencies to assist students after graduation, these professionals were rarely involved in the transition planning process. Results are discussed in relation to the nature of postschool support needed by young adults with learning disabilities, strategies that actively involve students and parents in the development of transition plans, and procedures by which compliance with the transition planning requirements of public laws can be monitored.