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High School and the Transition to Adulthood

Dan JacketChildren and adolescents in special education continue to be protected by IDEA until they are 21 years old or until they graduate from high school, whichever comes first.  As children with fragile X reach middle school and high school, their programming and least restrictive environment may change, but they are still to have annual reviews, three year reevaluations, and IEPs in place.

The multidisciplinary evaluations and staffings continue to take place, with annual staffings and reevaluations every three years. Vocational assessment is a related service that should be part of the IEP from the middle school or early high school level. Such assessment is provided to students in middle or high school who are beginning to plan their lives after graduation.  Vocational assessment is designed to assess the adolescent's aptitudes and interests as they relate to careers. Some schools provide the assessments at the school; others rely on the local vocational rehabilitation agency.  Vocational assessment usually consists of: work samples, standardized testing, and behavioral observation.

Once an adolescent has graduated from high school, there is no guaranteed program that takes up where IDEA leaves off. States and communities provide a variety of programs, and they are not consistent from state to state.

Gail Harris-Schmidt, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
Saint Xavier University
Chicago, Illinois

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