Is it really student-focused planning? Perspectives of students with autism

Student-focused planning has emerged as a primary indicator of post-school success. However, without mandated policies or procedures in place for transition planning in Australia, students with autism will continue to be minimally engaged or completely disengaged from the transition planning process in schools. This is likely to significantly impact post-school outcomes for these students. While previous studies have investigated the extent of student involvement in their IEP transition planning meetings, none of these studies considered the views of students with autism, despite research suggesting that children are experts of their own experiences and their own lives.

The aim of the current study was to determine how involved students with autism were in the transition planning process.

Interviews were conducted with 18 students with autism aged 15-18 years. Interviews were analysed using inductive content analysis.

The results revealed that students lacked knowledge of the transition planning process, however many students expressed the desire to be significantly involved in the process. The majority of students reported that they only contributed minimally during meetings. Numerous students reported being unaware of existing transition practices (i.e., work experience opportunities) that were in place for them.

There is an urgent need for transition planning to be mandated in Australia to allow students with disabilities to receive appropriate support in school (i.e., schools and teachers should actively advocate person-centered planning and support students to develop self-determination skills).