Transition is the time for students with and without disabilities to plan and pursue their future post-school goals. What can we do to best prepare all students with the skills, services, and supports they need to become successfully employed? How can we build on the successes of our current activities to explore unique and creative employment opportunities that benefit all students including those with significant support needs? What are ways we can contribute to enhancing adult employment services and making that critically important job match? This edWebinar describes strategies for exploring passions, engaging employers, customizing the placement process, and facilitating training and support to promote job success. The goal of the presentation is to share practical strategies for preparing students with a wide range of disabilities for employment before or after they graduate. Viewers will learn about the roles and responsibilities of education and adult employment services, best practices for educators to use in teaching students about work and gaining the essential skills that will assist them with becoming gainfully employed, and tools to help educators in planning and implementing effective transition services leading to positive post-school outcomes. By the end of the edWebinar, viewers will: Gain an overview of the transition process Understand effective transition to employment practices Describe strategies and tools for implementing transition to employment services Demonstrate knowledge of employment services and supports This recorded presentation will be of interest to middle and high school teachers, school and district leaders, rehabilitation counselors, and adult vocational personnel.

1. Planning the Transition to
Employment
Tips, Tools, and Strategies
Dr. Wendy Parent-Johnson | Dr. Laura Owens | Dr. Richard Parent-Johnson

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6. Giveaway
We’re giving away three free
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Transition to Employment!
Three attendees will be selected at random
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Stay active in the chat to increase your chances!

7. Dr. Wendy Parent-Johnson is Executive Director of the Sonoran UCEDD, a Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities and
Professor, Department of Family & Community Medicine, College of Medicine at the University of Arizona. She has 37 years’ experience in
areas of supported and customized employment, transition from school to work, and Employment First policy and practice. Additionally,
research, teaching, and grant development has focused on health care transition, health disparities, interdisciplinary health science
and the integration of health and employment. Dr. Parent-Johnson has conducted presentations and trainings; produced journal articles,
book chapters, and other written products; and developed practical tools related to enhancing inclusion, healthcare access, and
outcomes. She is Editor of the Journal of Rehabilitation and a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation.
Dr. Laura Owens-Johnson is currently a professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning at the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee
(UWM) and the president of TransCen, Inc. (TCI). TCI is an organization based in Maryland that provides direct placement services to
individuals with disabilities, develops and evaluates new service models through research of evidenced-based practices leading to
improved employment outcomes, and provides training and technical assistance to organizations and school districts focusing on the
improvement of educational and employment outcomes for individuals with disabilities. She founded Creative Employment Opportunities,
Inc. (CEO), an employment agency for individuals with disabilities, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1991 and ArtWorks for Milwaukee, a non-
profit jobs-training program in the arts for youth with and without disabilities in 2001. She teaches courses focusing on high school
inclusion, transition from school to work, and customized employment, and coordinates the Graduate Transition Certificate program at
UWM.
Dr. Richard Parent-Johnson retired as a Senior Research Associate in Center for Disabilities in the Sanford School of Medicine, University of
South Dakota. Previously he was a Senior Research Associate in the Center for Research on Learning at the University of Kansas. His
doctorate is in sociology from the University of Kansas. He has been PI or Co-PI on multiple state and federal grants. Recent work focuses
on “systems collaboration” and health care transitions for young adults with disabilities, including interprofessional medical education and
clinical practice. He co-designed and led USD’s Center for Disabilities TransitionInAction Clinic. He continues to consult in these areas.
Other work focused on the iterative design and dissemination of “universal” curricular products and processes that serve transition needs
of persons with disabilities [e.g., the Soaring to New Heights curriculum for high school aged students with disabilities]. Dr. Parent-Johnson
has particular expertise in ethnographic research and qualitative analysis.

8. Planning the Transition to
Employment
Tips, Tools, and Strategies
Dr. Wendy Parent-Johnson | Dr. Laura Owens | Dr. Richard Parent-Johnson

9. Family
School Adult Services
Benefits Planning
Independent Living
Other Supports
EDUCATION TRANSITIONS…
Youth
Goal: Employment…
Post-secondary Education…
Quality Adult Life…

10. Transition is About Possibilities
• Start with end in mind
• Develop plan to get there

11. Have High Expectations
• Engage all youth
• Time for exploration
• Provide opportunities
• Start with work
• Focus on solutions

12. Current
Influences
• Employment First
Initiatives
• Workforce Innovation
& Opportunity Act of
2014
• Centers for Medicaid
& Medicare/HCBS
Regulations
• High Unemployment
Rates

13. As an Educator…
• You are the focal point for coordinating and
programming that ties relevant instruction and
experiences to achieve students’ post-school
outcomes.
Action Implementation Outcomes

14. Collaboration and Competence
• We argue for a shift from a “cooperating” model to a
“collaborating” model of professional practice for supporting
transitions.
• Where a small inter-professional team commits to working
“collectively” to build and support a set of teaching and learning
practices that produce effective transitions…
AND…
• Where each student is actively and consistently engaged in activities
that build and support their sense of competence in making
successful transitions.

15. Collaboration as Collective Effort
• Five elements needed to create and sustain success:
• A common agenda
• Mutually reinforcing activities
• Continuous communication
• Shared measures of success
• A support structure

16. Putting the Student Front and
Center

17. Self-Determination requires Self-Efficacy
• Self-efficacy is the “sense of being capable” of actually doing
what is expected of you.
• The key to transition activities is to find ways to support and
enhance each student’s experience of being capable of doing
what is needed to make successful transitions.
• In particular, 1] “modeling” what is expected, 2] providing role-
playing activities, and 3] providing “elaborated feedback on
their performance are valuable strategies.

18. What is Person Centered Planning?
• Person-centered planning is a process-oriented approach to
empowering students disabilities. It focuses on the individual
and their needs by putting them in charge of defining the
direction for their lives, not on the systems that may or may
not be available to serve them.
• This ultimately leads to greater inclusion as valued members of
both community and society.

19. Best Practices in Person-Centered
Discovery & Planning
Person-centered planning
does not ignore disability, it
simply shifted the
emphasis to a search for
capacity in the person,
among the person’s friends
and family, in the person’s
community, and among
service workers.
-John O’Brien
•Services and supports are based on dreams;
interests, and preferences; strengths and
capacities
•The person with a disability is included in
planning and empowered to lead and make
informed decisions
•The person with a disability has meaningful
choices

20. The individual is the driving force
• What are the individual’s gifts and strengths?
• What works for the individual? What doesn’t?
• How does the individual learn best?
• What are things that the individual needs help with?
Who helps them now?
• People who are close to the Person are invited to
participate in the person centered planning because
• They know the individual.
• They care about the individual.
• They can contribute important information to the meeting, such
as where to connect with opportunities in the community.

21. Components of a Positive Personal Profile
values
interests
support
system
talents, skills,
& knowledge
dislikes
creative
solutions &
accommodations
specific
challenges
learning
styles
positive
personality
traits
life & work
experience
dreams
& goals
environmental
preferences
creative
possibilities
& ideas
21

22. A Useful Tool:
Positive Personal Profile

23. How Can a PPP be Used?
• Developing resumes
• Preparing for interviews
• Developing goals for an individualized education plan
• Determining further assessments or work experiences
• Determining which businesses to approach
• Develop “features” to “benefits”
23

24. PPP Example
Shonda is a 17 year old with an intellectual disability. Her
teachers note that she is not a candidate for employment
because she is lazy, has difficulty focusing on tasks, is
consistently late getting to class and has frequent absences.
When you go to school to interview and observe her
Shonda does not make eye contact, does not answer the
questions (will often just shrug her shoulders), and you
observe her falling asleep in class. Her teachers say she has
never completed a career assessment and her homework is
rarely completed or turned in. Lauren’s mother has not
attended any meetings since she was in middle school (IEP
meetings, parent-teacher conferences).

25. Shonda’s Features Benefits to manager of retail store
Hardworking Will always do what she is asked to
do; doesn’t leave until her job is done
Neat and organized Will keep the shelves and racks in
order; straightens up the store
Attention to appearance Will add extra detail to displays; can
assist customers in picking out outfits
Social Will work will with adult customers;
is a team player with co-workers
Responsible Will arrive on time; will do what is
asked; will not steal or cut corners

26. As the Question Shifts –
So Does Our Role
NOT: Can this student work?
FOCUS ON: How can we help this student work?

27. Important
Considerations
• What does student like and dislike?
• What are their skills and interests?
• How do they learn best?
• What supports are helpful?
• What assets do they bring?
• What opportunities do they have to prepare for
and practice work?
• What are their work environment preferences?
• What do they need to make connections to
employers?

28. What We Know…
Work While in
School
Work After
Graduating School
Leads
To

29. Work Based Learning Experiences
• School-based enterprises
• On-the job training
• Job Shadowing
• Internships & Apprenticeships
• Paid employment
• Career & Technical Education
• Summer & After School Employment

30. Work Based Learning Leads to
Integrated Employment

31. A Useful Tool:
Job Observation Assessment Form

32. Customized Employment

33. Customized Employment Is…
…employment where job tasks are
reassigned from an existing job, restructured
from one or more existing jobs, or created to
match the skills and accommodation needs
of the job seeker and…
33

34. …the Customized Employment
approach MUST help the employer’s
operation in some specific way.
34

35. What Do Employers Want to Hear from Us?
We represent…
• Motivated candidates who are excited about working
• Our candidates have skills sets that add value to their
workforce.
• We can assist with business solutions that improve the
company’s productivity and/or workflow.
35

36. Where to start looking…
• Use your personal & professional networks (and those of your
students!)
• Everyone in your organization is a job developer
• Everyone has family, friends and neighbors
• Link in to other social networking sites

37. Goal of the Informational Interview
I’d like to learn
more about your
company
Do you have any
jobs?
37

38. Informational Interviews…
• Foot in the door
• Low pressure
• Chance to make a great first impression
• Start of working relationship
• Uncover possible opportunities
38

39. During your meeting or tour, find out
about the business…
• Known for; proud of
• Array of skill sets required
• Production/operations challenges
• Are there hiring trends (e.g., seasonal, back to school)
• Possible ways to improve work flow
• Employees bogged down with important yet “non-essential”
tasks
39

40. During your meeting or tour, find out
about the business…
• Core staff who struggle to manage their work loads
• Unhappy customers
• Duties that might be performed in a different way – with the
same or better productivity/quality
• Degree of flexibility of the workplace
• General problem areas
40

41. Steps to Negotiating Employment
1. Recap visit or meeting
2. Present what you saw; identify where assistance might be needed
3. Outline how your candidate can help the business
4. Present potential employer benefits
5. Clarify your role in the process
6. Make the “ask”
7. Reiterate the potential employer benefits

42. The Job Match
INDIVIDUAL
SKILLS
STRENGTHS
EMPLOYER
JOBS
FUNCTIONS
MAXIMIZE
CONNECTIONS
START
HERE
MATCH WITH SUPPORTS
MATCH WITH TRAINING
MATCH
MATCH
NO MATCH

43. On the Job…Now What?

44. • Instructional strategies
• Natural supports and cues
• Technology
• Environmental modifications
• Compensatory strategies
• Employer negotiations
Bridge any Gaps with Training,
Supports, & Accommodations

45. A Useful Tool: Task Analysis

46. And Don’t Forget…
• Promote a work ethic
• Teach self-determination
• Include workplace culture
• Teach work & work-related skills
• Open doors that enable youth to experience/practice what is
expected of them in adult world

47. What’s Next?
• Advocate connections with community & adult services and
supports
• Share assessment information and “what works” with others
• Provide assistance and expertise as needed
• Ensure long-term employment assistance, success, and
advancement

48. Avoiding the “Yes but…”
• Negative bias
• Take action
• Provide opportunities
• Reframe, reassess, & re-evaluate
• Individual is going to work, figure out how
• Sequence
• What questions can you ask?
• How can this situation be reframed?
• What else would you do?
• Examples

49. A Useful Tool:
Implementing Transition Action Plan (ITAP)

52. Giveaway
We’re giving away three free
copies of Planning the
Transition to Employment!
Three attendees will be selected at random
and announced after the Q&A.
Stay active in the chat to increase your chances!

53. Q&A Session
Save 20%
at brookespublishing.com*
Use code: EDWEBPJ
Expires 12/31/19
Questions? brookeswebmeeting@brookespublishing.com
*Not to be combined with any other discounts or offers. Consumer orders only, please. Excludes BOL
training, pre-discounted bundles, and online products such as ASQ Online and AEPSinteractive™.

54. Thank you for attending!
Learn more about Brookes Publishing at www.brookespublishing.com
Give us your feedback on this edWebinar! Click on this link in the chat:
tinyurl.com/edWebinarEval
Dr. Laura Owens, CESP
Professor
University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee
and President of TransCen, Inc.
Dr. Richard Parent-Johnson
Senior Research Associate
Dr. Wendy Parent-Johnson, CRC, CESP
Executive Director and Professor
Sonoran University Center for Excellence
University of Arizona

55. Get your CE Certificate for this edWebinar
Your personalized CE certificate will be
posted to your edWebinar transcript by the
end of the next business day.
Join at: www.edweb.net/ inclusiveeducation
Join the community and go to the edWebinar archives for the
recording, slides, chat log, and any resources after this edWebinar.

56.  Invitations to upcoming webinars
 Webinar recordings and resources
 CE quizzes
 Online discussions
www.edweb.net/inclusiveeducation
You’ll receive the following benefits:
Join our free community  Teaching All Students
To join, go to: