What You Might Not Find in a Typical Transition Plan! Some Important Lessons From Adults Who Rely on Augmentative and Alternative Communication

Increasingly, parents of students with complex communication needs have high expectations for life after school. To respond to these high expectations, professionals must ensure that, among other skills, these students have three key supports: (a) access to needed socially-valued adult vocabulary, (b) rich social networks, and (c) strategies to increase personal safety and to reduce the risk of becoming a victim of a crime. This paper provides both first-person accounts, as well as descriptions of the results of innovative strategies for the acquisition of skills needed for living full, active, and socially valued adult lives.