Transferable Work Skills: recognize when assistance with new tasks is needed and seek support.
Welcome back, Deanna Heuring, with Graceful Transitions, as she continues to discuss Employability Skills and the Local Industry standards. We will continue to explore ways to support your individual NOW for competitive employment. A common issue in transition education is that individuals often expect others to recognize their need for help, assistance, or accommodations, such as task lists or alternative directions. This topic specifically addresses how to encourage them to ask for help on their own.
Transferable Work Skills: recognize when assistance with new tasks is needed and seek support.
Home Ideas:
Allow your individual times to struggle; obviously, monitor them, but give them the space to problem-solve and recognize when they need to seek assistance instead of always providing it. Yes, this will initially make tasks take longer, but it will pay off more in the end.
Make a point of showing them when you are seeking help. Adults seek help almost every day, even if they are not specifically asking for it. For example, the population cannot change their own car oil, so they make an appointment to have their car serviced.
Allow them to practice interactions in public, seeking help. A few examples of this are asking where the bathroom is in a public place or asking an employee at a store to help them locate an item.
Support your individual's school team to encourage your individual to seek help in all settings.
School Practice Ideas:
Ensure your individual's IEP team understands that you want them to seek help independently, as appropriate, rather than having things done for them. Demonstrate how you go about this at home so the team knows what it looks like and what you are comfortable with.
Peers are amazing people and, in most instances, are inclusive and supportive of individuals, but they also provide a lot of hidden, unrequested assistance. Please work with the individual's classroom to understand they don't always need help.
Encourage and require appropriate communication, if they use a device be patient and wait for them to use the device to ask for what they need. In whatever form individuals communicate, ensure it is an ongoing expectation that they communicate their needs as best they can.
Deanna Heuring, Ed.S., has been an educational professional for 18 years, with 16 of those years dedicated to Special Education. For the past 12 years, Deanna has devoted her career to Transition Education. Under Federal Guidelines, Transition Education is the period between the ages of 16 and 21. Based on her own experience as both an educator and an advocate for families, Deanna discovered that life after formal education begins long before the age of 16. In June 2023, she established her own business, Graceful Transitions, with the specific intent of supporting families, IEP teams, and fellow educators in creating an environment that produces the best possible outcomes for individuals undergoing profound life transitions.
For more information about Deanna and her work, visit https://tinyurl.com/GracefulTransitions
Transition Education in Missouri, and most states, is considered the time period between the ages of 16 and 21. It refers to planning for life after graduation from K-12 education. Deanna believes families can prepare for "transition" long before age 16, which is the basis of the creation of Life Transition Services for Individuals with Disabilities.
https://sites.google.com/view/graceful-transitions-llc/home?authuser=0
