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Hi Everyone 

This week we are going to move to the family engagement section of the Taxonomy of Transition Programming. The family engagement section is broken down into three subcategories. They are; family involvement, family empowerment, and family preparation. In the next few weeks we will share resources and explain which subcategory they fall into. Also check out the flyers at the bottom which are for a program from Kent State for Foster Students. 

It Starts with Families 

• We have shared this document multiple times prior to today but it is hard to discuss family engagement without first grounding ourselves on the impact that having a child with a disability has on the entire family. This document is full of statistics and information that shows the child with disability is not the only person impacted by being identified. This will set the groundwork of making sure our engagement strategies do not add on to these stressors but remove or address them in order to get true family engagement. 

Charting the Lifecourse Questions Booklet 

• We have already shared some of the Charting the LIfecourse materials when we were discussing student centered planning. The reason Charting the Lifecourse is such a powerful tool is because it not only focuses on student centered planning but also how to engage families in the transition planning process. This tool fits into both the family empowerment and family preparation sections of the Taxonomy. The booklet has questions, written from a student or adult with a disability perspective. The questions are meant to guide families to activities they should be engaging in at a specific life stage in order to benefit the student or adult with a disability.

AIR Parent Self Determination Scale

• We know the importance of Self Determination as well as know that it is a predictor of post school success. When determining a student’s self determination needs it is important to get the family input as well. This form, from the Zarrow Institute, not only allows a parent to provide their input but also empowers them in order to know what self determination is as well as learn key terms associated with self determination. Linked below is the student and educator scale which both can be used together with the parent scale to determine a student’s self determinatio needs. 

  • AIR Student Self Determination Scale 

  • AIR Self Determination Educator Scale 

Kent State First Star Academy 

Kent State First Star Year in Review