Children and Youth with Special Health Needs (CYSHN)Youth and Young Adults Planning for the Future |
All youth with special health care needs should receive services necessary to make transitions to all aspects of adult life, including adult health care, work and independence.
The following is a list of materials and links that may assist youth and young adults with special health needs in transition:
| TRANSITION RESOURCES |
- This article is about some of the beginning steps that can begin the process of transition into adult health care. Starting as an adolescent, this article lists small easy changes that can make this step a smoother process. Written by the Youth Leadership Network, Children and Youth with Special Health Needs Program Tips for Planning for the Future: Becoming an Informed Healthcare Consumer (PDF: 2 pages / 41KB).
- This factsheet lists commonly asked questions about transition Youth Leadership Questions on Transition (PDF: 2 pages / 115KB).
- Talking with your Doctor and Other Health Professional's: A youth-friendly website offering young people with chronic conditions the "Give, Listen, Ask, Decide, Do" approach for talking to the healthcare provider. Videos of live conversations between doctors and youth utilizing this strategy offer practical examples for youth to emulate. The site emphasizes strategies such as keeping a medical diary, writing down questions for the provider, playing an active part in decision-making, and agreeing only to plans youth are willing and able to follow. http://hctransitions.ichp.ufl.edu/gladd/decide.php
- This article focuses on what a person after reaching adulthood at age 18 should have accomplished regarding the transition process. It gives helpful tips on choosing and getting accepted to college and planning your future, and also insurance and disability issues are addressed. Things you need to Know about Transition (PDF: 4 pages / 178 KB) (an excerpt from the "Who Pays? - Taking the Maze out of Funding" training manual)
- This article explains techniques on how to teach a child about the caring for their condition and disabilities. This article is good to read because it not only explains how to do the techniques, but it also gives explanation on what the outcome will be. Teaching Self Care Skills to Your Child with Special Health Needs (PDF: 1 page / 151KB)
- This article is about the steps you take to make a smooth transition into high school. You should read this because it gives you many helpful tips on the steps you need to take to make the transition go smoothly. Making the Move to High School (PDF: 2 pages / 265KB)
- This article is about the important issues you need to consider while you or your child transitions into adulthood. You should read this article because it gives tips on continuing education, healthcare, employment and other important elements that affect your life as an adult. Ten Tips That May Ease Your Child's Transition to Adulthood (PDF: 2 pages / 227KB)
- The article on education funds summarizes different plans set up by the government and other agencies. This article is for young people who are in a special needs home, who are in high school and are between the ages of 18 and 21 years old. Education Funds Available to Youth Who Were in Out of Home Placement (PDF: 2 pages / 345KB)
- This article on estate planning is about setting up trust funds and other different medical programs for the future such as Medicaid. The article also talks about setting up bonds for the future to ensure the wellbeing of people with special needs. Future and Estate Planning from the American Academy of Pediatrics National Center of Medical Home Initiatives for Children with Special Needs
- This article has a wealth of information on planning to attend postsecondary education, as a student with disabilities. It had six detailed chapters, used like a college prep handbook, prepared by the University of Nebraska. It explained that we should review our own case file with our parents and IEP, to better understand our disability and its effect on learning. I need to become a "Self-Advocate" for myself, because I need to communicate my needs in a logic-positive language. To know how my disability affects my learning and at college level, I am solely responsible for requesting support services. My parents aren't necessarily involved with my education; most colleges prefer to work directly with me, the student. I learned to explore my career choices. I should think about my main interests, favorite subjects, hobbies, clubs, after school activities, and perhaps, shadow jobs of interest. Independent reading would increase my vocabulary or listening to textbooks on tape, if reading is hard. Volunteering and a part-time job can teach me responsibility, reliability and teamwork. This could identify a career interest and goals, to learn which career areas, I would like to pursue. The last section and most important, was an article dealing with my legal rights, and this would increase my equal opportunity and chance of success in college. The ADA American with Disability Act is a civil law and states that public institutions cannot discriminate against persons with disabilities, and the law requires schools to make appropriate accommodations, so we can fully participate in he same programs and activities that are available to students without disabilities! "College Planning for Students with Disabilities" (PDF: 19 pages / 1,749KB)
- A resource guide to look at ways that can help support people with developmental disabilities. Decisions, as hard as it may seem, none of us would give up the freedom to make them in our own lives. We should support people in the choices they make about their life. The IPP Individual Program Planning Guide was written so that people with developmental disabilities can become more involved in writing their own service plans. We shoul=d share information about the student's strengths, needs, hopes, dreams, and plans that will help move towards a preferred lifestyle now and in the future. "It's My Choice" (PDF: 90 pages / 3,140KB)
Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, Vocational Rehabilitation Services:
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Vocational Rehabilitation
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About College and Vocational Training
- School-to-Work Transition Services for Youth and Young Adults
Perceptions and Expectations of Youth with Disabilities: The National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 (NLTS2), funded by the National Center for Special Education Research at the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, was initiated in 2001 to provide a national picture of the characteristics and experiences of youth with disabilities, including their perceptions of themselves, their schooling, their personal relationships, and their hopes for the future. This report presents findings drawn from the first time data were collected directly from youth on these topics; they were ages 15 through 19 at the time (2003).
Perceptions and Expectations of Youth with Disabilities (August 2007)
Healthy and Ready to Work National Center Health Impacts All Aspects of Life. Success in the classroom, within the community, and on the job requires that young people with special health care needs stay healthy. To stay healthy, young people need an understanding of their health and to participate in their health care decisions. The Healthy and Ready to Work National Center provides information and connections to health and transition expertise nationwide - from those in the know, doing the work and living it!
Project C3 (Connecting Youth to Communities and Careers) is a partnership between several organizations who offer many different kinds of services to youth and young adults. Their goal is to help young adults in transition become successfully employed or to continue their education in high school, colleges or universities.
Kids as Self Advocates (KASA): a national, grassroots project created by youth with disabilities for youth. They are teens and young adults with disabilities speaking out. KASA knows youth can make choices and advocate for themselves if they have the information and support they need.
National Youth Leadership Network (NYLN): the national voice for young leaders with disabilities. NYLN's mission is to promote youth leadership and education.
The National Center on Secondary Education and Transition (NCSET) coordinates national resources, offers technical assistance, and disseminates information related to secondary education and transition for youth with disabilities in order to create opportunities for youth to achieve successful futures.
National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (NICHCY) developed a section of their website devoted to transition issues, resources, and best practices. It will help you learn more about transition ---what the law requires, what information a typical transition plan contains, how transition plans are developed, and so on. Because transition is such an enormous topic, they have organized the information as a "suite" of pages that break the topic down into some of its distinct aspects.
Children and Adolescents with Special Health Care Needs Knowledge Path information compiled by the Maternal and Child Health Library at Georgetown University which includes a section on Adolescent Transition. It points to recent, high-quality resources for health professionals and families about caring for children and adolescents with special health care needs.
