Master of Science / Department of Communications and Agricultural Education / Lauri M. Baker / The purpose of this study was to identify the needs of Kansas' agricultural producers in relation to financial and legal matters at a local level. The following research questions guided this study: 1) what services, identified by local producers, are needed in communities across Kansas to assist producers in times of financial and legal distress; 2) what are the perceptions among producers of the Kansas Agricultural Mediation Services (KAMS); 3) what brand attributes, names, and taglines would appeal to producers for an organization addressing their financial and legal distress; 4) how can organizations effectively market financial and legal services to producers? A qualitative study design was used in order to assess the research questions. Six focus groups were performed throughout the state in three different geographic locations. Participants were selected using purposive sampling in order to have one group of people familiar with the organization (KAMS) currently helping producers with their legal and financial issues and one unfamiliar group in each location. Grunig’s excellence in public relations model served as the conceptual framework for this study. Results of this study concluded that rural Kansas’ communities see a need for service organizations similar to KAMS. Participants value assistance with family farm transition planning as well as financial assistance. Participants saw marketing and promotion of the current services offered just as critical as having the services themselves. Participants felt these services should be marketed through two-way communication channels, such as social media, an organizational representative for face-to-face interaction, and collaboration with extension. Additionally, participants voiced strong opinions about various brand attributes.

In this case study, we explored how an adolescent with social-emotional and cognitive disabilities and her parent came to a shared understanding of transition goals and a vision for the future. We interviewed a 20 year-old woman with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and anxiety and her mother separately about their hopes and how they discussed the future. Directive content analysis was used to identify themes and subthemes from the interviews. The findings indicated that the mother’s and daughter’s hopes for the future differed slightly, with the daughter’s hopes being more ambitious, narrow and concrete, while the mother had a more fluid and abstract vision. We found that the mother used a person-centered approach in speaking with her daughter about the future by having a good understanding of her daughter’s hopes, following her daughter’s lead, and sharing control over decision-making. They discussed the future in small naturally occurring increments. The mother constantly evaluated when to push her daughter, when to step back, and when to gently make suggestions about the future. She also tried to balance her hopes for her daughter’s future independence with the reality of keeping her daughter safe. Implications include the need for communication between student, parent, and school personnel, and for supporting person-centered transition planning. / 2017-07-01T00:00:00Z

No description available.

The foremost aim of this study is inherent in my primary research question which asks how the families of adult children with intellectual disabilities understand and experience the transition that takes place when their children age out of high school. In order to achieve this goal, I turned to the families themselves and asked participants to recount their lived experiences during this important transition. Throughout my data collection and subsequent analysis, I relied on methods common to interpretative phenomenology to guide my process and ensure its viability. To this end, I have conducted a phenomenological analysis of participant narratives and provide a comprehensive portrayal of how parents experience and understand the transition that takes place when their adult children with intellectual disabilities age out of school. I have strived to embed this study within the framework of the existing literature and policy pertaining to this transition. I have enhanced this research with an original content analysis of news articles pertaining to the post-school lives of adults with intellectual disabilities. Finally, I undertook interviews with community and government representatives. When taken together, these elements illustrate how difficult it is for the parents of young adults with intellectual disabilities to replace the services and supports that they lose when their adult children age out of high school in Ontario.

No description available.

In the local state special education transition aged postoutcome survey measurements, high school students with disabilities (HS-SWDs) continue to demonstrate problems with unemployment, independent living, and postsecondary education as they transition to adult life. HS-SWDs receive instruction from transition planning teams (TPTs) to address educational attendance, independent living, agency collaboration, and employment skills. When these knowledge and skills are not acquired, HS-SWDs cannot gain employment or attend postsecondary institutions. The purpose of this qualitative, bounded case study was to explore the TPT members' perspectives of the transition planning process. Kohler's transition taxonomy guided this study. The research questions were used to identify TPT members' perspectives of the transition planning process. A purposeful sample of 3 special education teachers, 2 general education teachers, 3 district administrators, 3 agency representatives, 2 graduated HS-SWDs, and 3 parents volunteered and participated in semistructured interviews. An inductive approach was used to analyze the interview and data were coded using open and thematic coding strategies. Participants identified challenges in student-centered planning related to family involvement, student development, support and resources, and TPT team collaboration. Based upon the findings, an electronic meeting preplanning tool was created to increase team member participation and input in the transition planning process. These endeavors may lead to positive social change when TPT members increase participation in student-centered meetings to provide quality transition planning that results in HS-SWDs' success in attaining employment or postsecondary education as well as adult independence.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / There is a dearth of literature about post-secondary transition experiences of Black women with dis/abilities (BWD). In this qualitative study, I explore transition experiences of five post-secondary BWD from high school to college in order to privilege her chronicles and narratives as knowledge. In addition, two urban public high school transition coordinators (TC) participated in the study. Three inquiries guided my dissertation: (1) features of educational experiences narrated by BWD, (2) features of transition services provided to students with dis/abilities, including roles of and approaches as described by the TCs, and (3) how BWD narratives may be leveraged to critique and extend transition services as the TCs described them. I engaged in three semi-structured interviews with six of the seven participants (one interview with the seventh). I drew from Disability Studies/Disability Studies in Education (DSE), Critical Race Theory, and Womanist/Black Feminist Theory and their shared tenets of voice and counternarratives and concepts of social construction and falsification of consciousness to analyze the narratives of BWD participants. I drew from the DS/DSE tenet of interlocking systems of oppression, DisCrit tenet three, race and ability, and constructs of Inputs and Outcomes in work on Modeling Transition Education to analyze the TCs’ narratives and in connection to the narratives of the BWD. Across both sets of participants, three themes in the form of Truths emerged; they were terrible and sticky experiences of racial/dis/ability oppression for the BWDs and, imposing of whiteness and normalization within the transition education practices described by the TCs. For the BWD, those terrible and sticky truths took three forms: (a) Pathologization; (b) Disablement; and (c) Exclusion. Another type of truth in the BWD’s narratives, however, was Subverted Truths: (re)defined identities and radical love, (re)placed competence and knowledge, and (revalued sisterhood and community, the ways of pushing back and resisting the Truths and their effects. I discuss implications for BWD post-secondary transition-planning-and-programming theory, research, policy, practice, praxis, and spirituality.

Students with an educational classification of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) make up 1.1% of the total enrollment in public schools and 8.3% of the total number of students receiving special education services and is the fastest growing disability classification (U.S. Department of Education, 2016). As more students with these unique needs begin to age out of the educational system, the demand for quality transition planning services that address the spectrum of ability in this population increases. While IDEA (2018) provides some basic guidelines, there is significant room for interpretation and individualization within these mandates. As such, practitioners are often left searching the available literature to determine the best way to provide students, families, and school personnel with some guidance in interpreting and implementing federal law. Furthermore, the best practices literature is limited and often does not address some of the unique needs of students with ASD, given the core features of the classification (Wehman, 2013). The current study evaluates school program variables that predict postsecondary outcomes in education/training and employment for students with ASD and considers the individual student and family variables that vary with this relationship. Consistent with the literature (Kohler & Fields, 2003), results suggest that student focused-planning, student development, and interagency collaboration correlate with postsecondary education/training and employment outcomes. In addition, consistent with what we know about the broader population of students receiving special education services (Landmark, et al., 2010) and the theoretical work (Wehman, et al., 2014), the current study demonstrates that inclusion in the general education setting in an academically rigorous content area is also related to postsecondary success in education/training and employment. These findings not only highlight the importance of including students with ASD in the general education classroom as part of their transition programming, but it also speaks to the need for additional research about inclusion practices as part of the child’s transition plan for students with ASD. / School Psychology

Transition education is a distinctive aspect of special education that extends well beyond the boundaries of the school building, engages partners from all corners of the local community, and addresses so many different life domains. In the midst of a pandemic, creative strategies are needed to equip students with the skills, knowledge, experiences, supports, and relationships that prepare them well for a future of flourishing in adulthood. In this article, we describe key features of high-quality transition education and illustrate some of the ways each area might be addressed remotely or at times when being present together is not possible. In addition, guidance is provided on how to ensure educators and service providers are well-prepared for their roles, as rural districts and communities seek ways to equip students and support their transitions using these new approaches.

Individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) experience difficulty with transitioning to competitive integrated employment following high school. Addressing this disparity in transitioning to competitive integrated employment can be supported through a high school transition program with community-based work experiences for students with IDD. The Schools United in Collaboration with Community-based Experiences for Employment Development (SUCCEED) Program and School Collaboration for Optimal Parent Education (SCOPE) are proposed transition programs for students with IDD and their parents to help bridge the gap towards competitive integrated employment. The SUCCEED program for high school students with IDD includes both classroom-based functional skills training and community-based work experiences. The key components of SCOPE include: parent education on resources, services, and agencies available in Ohio to navigate the path to competitive integrated employment; collaboration and sharing of experiences; and support to build advocacy and empowerment skills. This doctoral project is a presentation of the program proposal, theoretical base to understand the problem, a review of the evidence base of the current approaches and methods to address the problem, theories guiding the development of the program, the description of the proposed program, and the program evaluation research plan. Additionally, information about the funding and dissemination plan for stakeholders are discussed.