A systematic review of the involvement of students with autism spectrum disorder in the transition planning process: Need for voice and empowerment.
Students with autism stay silent in transition IEP meetings unless you teach them how to speak up.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Roshini and her team looked at 15 studies from 1994 to 2016.
They asked one question: How much do students with autism speak up in their own transition IEP meetings?
They counted who talked, who made choices, and who just sat there.
What they found
Across all 15 studies, students with autism stayed quiet.
Most sat through meetings while adults made every decision.
Few students knew the meeting was about their own future.
How this fits with other research
Gandhi et al. (2022) shows why this silence hurts. Their study of 20 transition IEPs found only 3 goals on average and almost no social-skills goals. When students do not speak, the plan stays weak.
Tullis et al. (2019) gives a fix. They say run a quick preference assessment before the meeting. Ask the student where they want to work, shop, or live. Write those choices into the IEP.
Afsharnejad et al. (2022) proves teens can speak up. In their study, autistic teens clearly shared what helped them in social-skills groups. The same teens could learn to speak up in IEP meetings with the right coaching.
Why it matters
You can change this pattern in one school year. Teach your learner what an IEP is. Role-play one question they care about, like job site or lunch spot. Bring that answer to the meeting. A five-minute prep gives the student real voice and makes the plan stronger.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) typically struggle with post-school employment, post-secondary education, and independent living outcomes. This may be due to their limited input on the goals that are set for their future during the transition planning process. AIM: The aim of this systematic review was to investigate the extent of involvement of students in their IEP transition planning meetings in published research on the topic to date. METHOD AND PROCEDURES: The authors reviewed articles published between 1994 and 2016. Searches were performed in ERIC, ProQuest Education Journals, PsycINFO, and Scopus databases, resulting in 15 articles meeting the inclusion criteria. OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: Out of the 15 articles included in this review, five were survey research articles and ten were intervention studies. The overall results of the studies revealed that students with ASD had minimal active involvement in the transition planning process. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: It is essential for teachers to educate students about the transition planning process to increase their awareness of the purposes and procedures of the transition planning meeting. There is a pressing need for a more student-centred approach in transition planning to empower students and support them in becoming better self-advocates.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2018 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2018.07.011