People with autism spectrum disorders respond better to transition and change when it is supported by a planning process with involvement from parents/carers, teachers, allied health professionals and the student themselves. Many schools provide ‘orientation’ opportunities where new students and their families may visit the new school and meet with staff and become familiar with the physical environment. Transition plans are a more detailed plan of how the student will be supported to change environments and when and who will implement this plan.
What is a transition plan?
A transition plan (TP) is a critical document in supporting anticipated changes in a student’s environment. It focuses on gaining a shared understanding of needs by all those involved to ensure individual student requirements are met successfully. TPs can be succinct or extensive, depending on the level of forewarning and planning around change required by each individual, as this may vary greatly.
Transition points include key milestones of:
Transition points also include:
Other key transitions that can have an impact on the student at school are things that happen in the family such as:
Transitions also occur on a daily basis:
Who can complete the transition plan?
The TP is completed by a student/child’s support team and will usually include parents/carers, school staff from the settings involved (e.g. current and receiving schools) and where applicable, allied health professionals and the student themselves.
What does a transition plan do?
A TP helps a team to develop a schedule of tasks required to facilitate a successful change in the student’s learning environment. A TP:
What are the components of the transition plan?
It is important to identify and decide what type of TP best suits each school context and student need. For this reason, no two TPs will be the same. Generally, a well designed TP will include the following:
Why use a transition plan?
A well developed transition plan sets the student up for a successful move to another environment, accept new staff members and cope more readily with change.
Considerations when developing a transition plan:
It is important to consider and develop a clear process to support a student’s transition. Steps include:
|Click information icon to access a copy of the Positive Partnerships Transition Plan form.|