Transition Planning to Prepare Our Youth for Success

This is the fourth blog in a series of blog posts on secondary transition from the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS).

Successful Transitions for All Blog Series - Post 4 - Transition Planning to Prepare Our Youth for Success!

Expect, Engage, and Empower: Successful Transitions for All!
Blog Post #4

In previous blog posts, we’ve discussed the importance of self-determination and student-led decision making as critical skills children and youth with disabilities need to develop for successful transitions to post-secondary opportunities and greater independence. In our symposia, students, young adults, and parents, and educators and vocational rehabilitation professionals shared their own transition stories — how they have successfully transitioned to life beyond high school or how they have supported youth who have made that journey.

In this post, we continue to delve into the transition planning process, to ensure that youth and their families are empowered to experience successful post-high school outcomes.

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OSERS Welcomes Danté Q. Allen as Commissioner of the Rehabilitation Services Administration

Dante Allen

In December, the U.S. Department of Education welcomed Danté Q. Allen after the U.S. Senate confirmed him as the commissioner of the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) in the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS).

In his role as RSA commissioner, Allen will oversee an administration that provides leadership and resources to assist state and other agencies in providing vocational rehabilitation and other services to individuals with disabilities to maximize their employment, independence, and integration into the community and the competitive labor market.

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Voices from the Field: Interview with Connie Hall

The Importance of Kindergarten

Connie Hall

Connie Hall is a Kindergarten teacher in Sparks, Nevada and was named the 2023 Nevada State Teacher of the Year, the 2019 Certified Employee of the Year for Washoe County School District and has received two Certificates of Commendation from United States (Nevada) Senator Catherine Cortez Masto. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Early Childhood Education and a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from Oakwood University in Huntsville, Alabama, as well as a Master of Education degree in Curriculum and Instruction with a Minor in Common Core State Standards from Concordia University-Portland in Portland, Oregon. In addition to teaching, Hall serves on the school Leadership Team, is the Director of Comprehensive Children’s Activities: Global Coordination & Early Childhood Interest for Messages of Hope International Ministries, serves on the Nevada State Superintendent’s Teacher Advisor Cabinet, is a Nevada Kindergarten Think Tank member, and Washoe County Early Childhood Advisory Council member.

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Self-Determination

This is the third blog in a series of blog posts on secondary transition from the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS).

Successful Transitions for All Blog Series - Post 3 - Self-Determination

Expect, Engage, and Empower: Successful Transitions for All!
Blog Post #3

“No one rises to low expectations.”
Les Brown

December is a busy month. Preparing for and enjoying the holidays. Planning, shopping, baking and decorating. Traveling and spending time with family and friends in the community and places of worship.

December is also an important month for secondary transition for youth in their last year of high school.

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Building Bridges Between Tribal Vocational Rehabilitation Projects and State Assistive Technology Act Programs 

American Indian Vocational Rehabilitation Training and Technical Assistance Center (AIVRTTAC) logo

By: American Indian Vocational Rehabilitation Training and Technical Assistance Center (AIVRTTAC) and Assistive Technology Training and Technical Assistance (AT3) Center

The American Indian Vocational Rehabilitation Training and Technical Assistance Center (AIVRTTAC) recently started collaborating with the Assistive Technology Training and Technical Assistance (AT3) Center to build bridges between tribal vocational rehabilitation projects and state Assistive Technology (AT) Act programs.

AIVRTTAC helps improve the capacity of American Indian Vocational Rehabilitation Services (AIVRS) projects to provide culturally appropriate vocational rehabilitation services to all eligible tribal participants. AIVRTTAC is funded by the Rehabilitation Services Administration in the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.

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Registered Apprenticeships for Additional Career Pathways for Individuals with Disabilities

 

National Apprenticeship Week 2023

 

The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) celebrated the 9th annual National Apprenticeship Week, Nov. 13-19.

National Apprenticeship Week spotlights the value of registered apprenticeship, an “industry-driven, high-quality career pathway where employers can develop and prepare their future workforce, and individuals can obtain paid work experience, receive progressive wage increases, classroom instruction, and a portable, nationally-recognized credential,” according to Apprenticeship.gov.

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Student-Led Decision-Making in Schools

This is the second blog in a series of blog posts on secondary transition from the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS).

Successful Transitions for All Blog Series - Post 2 - Student-Led Decision-Making in Schools

Expect, Engage, Empower: Successful Transitions for All!

Blog Post #2

Educators, vocational rehabilitation professionals and families must engage students with disabilities in secondary transition services.

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Protactile Language: Creating Equity for DeafBlind Individuals

NOTE: October is Blind Awareness Month

Protactile Language Interpreting icon. National Education Program

By: Heather Holmes, Protactile Language Interpreting National Program co-director; CM Hall, Protactile Language Interpreting National Program co-director; and Kristen Rhinehart-Fernandez, Rehabilitation Services Administration project officer

The Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) is working to advance diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility and systems change through its Training of Interpreters for Individuals Who are Hard of Hearing and Individuals Who are DeafBlind program.

In October 2021, RSA funded seven projects to provide training to working interpreters in specialty areas to develop a new skill area or enhance an existing skill area to effectively meet the communication needs of individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing and individuals who are DeafBlind receiving vocational rehabilitation services and/or services from other programs, such as independent living services, under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended.

One of the project’s funded is Western Oregon University’s Protactile Language Interpreting (PLI) National Education Program. The program trains sign language interpreters working with DeafBlind consumers who are using a new language, Protactile, in a variety of settings such as vocational rehabilitation, post-secondary education, professional and business-related events, and medical settings.

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