For students with special needs, advance planning is not a luxury; it is essential. The additional supports and strategies that are needed in order for youth with special needs to transition successfully, requires additional time devoted to the process. This process is referred to as “Transition Planning” and it is a requirement for all students beginning at the age of 14 who receive special education services in public schools.
Transition Planning is a good process in which to engage all youth, in order to make educational experiences more meaningful to them. The process of Transition Planning assists youth in the acquisition of all of the guiding principles of Maine’s Learning Results. Additionally, assisting a young person to plan for their future is simple common sense.
The content of this website is also available in the printed booklet, The Future is in Your Hands: Youth in Transition Leading the Way, compiled by the Maine Transition Network/Committee on Transition (MTN/COT), a statewide system that provides information, training, and technical assistance to youth with disabilities and those with whom they work as they transition to adulthood.
The stories on this site, as told by youth, young adults, their families, and others with whom they work, were gathered in order to share the joys and challenges in planning for the future. The stories tell of the success of a comprehensive approach to transition planning developed by the COT, as well the personal struggles when critical supports and services are not available.Funding for The Future is in Your Hands: Youth in Transition Leading the Way was provided by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) to Maine Department of Education. (Contract #H323A010015-02A).
Any Opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Department of Education or any agency of the U.S. Government
At the time of publication, all information was represented correctly to the best of our knowledge. Please contact the MTN/COT office with any corrections to the information contained within this site.
Please contact the MTN/COT central office at 800/328-9549 or cot@mainetransitionnetwork.org for additional information or to be connected to a regional transition office.
Acknowledgements
The members of the Maine Transition Network/Committee on Transition would like to sincerely thank everyone who contributed in any way to the development of The Future is in Your Hands: Youth in Transition Leading the Way, the sub-committee members; the reviewer, and especially those who contributed their stories to be shared. In addition, a special thank you is given to Samantha Leavitt for her countless hours of editing and formatting.
The University
of Maine Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies (CCIDS) and
Maine's Healthy and Ready to Work Projects—the Maine Adolescent
Transition Partnership (MATP) and Maine Works for Youth! (MWFY!)—are
pleased to assist the Maine Transition Network/Committee on Transition
(MTN/COT) in promoting stories about youth in transition by hosting the
Transition Stories website.
CCIDS and MTN/COT have worked collaboratively since 1996. CCIDS' role with
this publication is assistance with dissemination. The contents of Transitions
Stories are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not represent
the official views of CCIDS, nor does publication constitute an endorsement
by CCIDS.