And Why Plan For Transitions Between Programs Or Schools?
Students, like all of us, often have difficulty adjusting to new situations. Transitions to new grades or to new schools, or between classrooms and schools, can be very difficult for students. What is needed is perseverance and an attitude of "together, we can make this work" on the part of educators and families.
One elementary school teacher relates the story of a fourth grade student with autism, who was being served for the first time in a regular classroom in his neighborhood school. That first year was rough for both him and his teachers, and many questioned the appropriateness of placing a child with autism in a regular class. Comments such as "he needs to be in a self-contained BD unit" and "what is he learning anyway?" could be heard around the school. But everyone hung in there, and things finally did improve.
By fifth grade, his teachers were commenting that he "was now doing all the work, with some help", that "he is now listening to instructions and following them", that "he is not disruptive at all", that "he is going to lunch by himself and doing well", and that "the other kids help him out and like to be with him", and that they "are really proud of him." His special education teacher has noted how close this student's team came to pulling him out of the regular program, and yet how much was gained by their staying with it. While none of us can achieve success in all situations, certainly some of our greatest accomplishments come simply because we don't give up, and work together to find new solutions!
The story of Corey, another student with significant disabilities, illustrates how important it is to plan for transitions. Corey had spent his first four years in an elementary school in a self-contained classroom for students with moderate and severe disabilities. At the start of fifth grade, his family and the others on his Admissions and Release Committee team agreed that he could move to his neighborhood school to be included in a regular fifth grade class. The move was certainly not without its problems - Corey evidenced a number of behavior problems throughout the year, including pinching and grabbing. Yet he also made some very important gains. His mother describes his experience this way:
Even though it was an extremely hard year on everyone, some pretty amazing things did happen. Some peers began to interact with Corey. They always spoke to him in the hallway. The principal of the school encouraged all the students to learn the sign for hello and to use it each time they saw Corey in the hall. Recess was a time when he was suddenly surrounded by friends who wanted to be with him.
By the end of the year he went on his first field trip. On graduation day, I looked around the gym and noticed tears on the faces of his grandparents and also the teachers who had worked so hard to see Corey walk across the stage alone. What a GREAT DAY!
But, Oh no! Middle school!! At least that was how I felt. Now another hurdle! We had just survived possibly the worst and the best times of Corey's school life and now more new challenges. We would have to meet new teachers, a new instructional assistant, a new principal, and with two elementary schools merging, there would be new students....
Yet Corey's middle school experience has been a success!
He has been fully included in all the classes with appropriate modifications,
and his behavior problems have decreased dramatically: but this would not
have happened without careful planning between his family, his elementary
school teachers, and his receiving teachers in middle school.
As many students are transitioned for the first time into regular classes with their peers, or as they are transitioned from familiar school surroundings to challenging and bigger school programs at the next age level, we need to be especially sensitive to providing the supports to make it work. Having the staff from the student's present school provide information to his new school on what works well for the student, what is particularly difficult for the student, and what kinds of supports that the student has required in the past, is a very worthwhile strategy in easing that transition. Ensuring that all the teachers who will work with the student in his new school receive that information and have an opportunity to meet with the student and his family beforehand is also important.
Listening to the priorities of the family, and gaining insights from
their knowledge of what works best for their child, is essential. Finally,
using the MAPS and Circles of Friends tools with the student
and with some of his friends who are also making that transition,
and allowing them to visit their new school together, are other strategies
for ensuring that the student will have continued support from the other
students who have come to know him or her best.
