Transition Happens

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Transition Happens!

• Hank Bersani Jr.
• Western Oregon University
• 503-383-8687
• bersanh_at_wou.edu
• www.wou.edu/bersanh
• GAPS March 31, 2009

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Three goals for my time

• 1) A shameless plug
• 2) A short exercise
• 3) Lessons Learned

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Shameless plugWOU offers

• Graduate programs in Special Education and
  Rehabilitation Counseling always seeking
  qualified applicants
• For high school graduates with a standard diploma
  we have some of the best supports for students
  with disabilities in the state public or
  private.

4
A short exercise

• Totally voluntary
• You dont have to disclose anything too personal,
  but play along as much as you are comfortable.

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How old were you when you first earned money for
work, and how much were you paid?
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What was your first job, and do you still do that
work today?
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How did you get that first job?
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From that first job, do you still use any of the
skills you learned on that job?
9
How old were you when you left home?

• (married, college, kicked out, jail, ran off
  with the circus.)

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At what age did you start learning how to drive?
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Between the ages of 14 and 24, did you

• crash a car, get picked up by the police, go into
  debt, buy something you could not afford, flunk
  out of school, get fired, hang out with the wrong
  crowd.

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Yet, you are all here tonight

• Transition happens!

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Lessons Learned
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How old were you when you first earned money for
work, and how much were you paid?
15
Paid work is a formative experience your work
experience is part of who you are today
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What was your first job, and do you still do that
work today?
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Your first job was just that, your FIRST job.
You learned a lot since then and have moved on.
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How did you get that first job?

• Many jobs (most first jobs) come from the
  informal employment network.

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From that first job, do you still use any of the
skills you learned on that job?
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Job specific skills may not carry over, but the
basics of being a good employee do. They are
useful in future jobs
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How old were you when you left home? (married,
college, kicked out, jail.
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Most of us move out somewhere between age 16 and
age 24.

• Not everyone, not everywhere!

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At what age did you start learning how to drive?
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You begin learning adult skills even as a 2-3
year old it is a 20 year process that cant
wait until you are 21.
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Between the ages of 14 and 24, did youcrash a
car, get picked up by the police, go into debt,
buy something you could not afford, flunk out of
school, get fired, hang out with the wrong crowd.
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Even bad experiences have their value. We learn
from our troubles at least as much as from our
successes
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Transition Happens

• Transition from high school is difficult for
  everyone.
• It is even more difficult for students with
  disabilities.
• So its all the more important that it be a well
  planned, coordinated set of activities that
  include transition into all of the domains of
  adult life employment, housing, friends,
  continuing education, recreation, interpersonal
  relationships, etc .
• Planning needs to begin early not at age 20,
  not at age 16.

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Transition Planning

• Not just a good idea, its the law