Helping Children with Disabilities Achieve their Goals After High School Graduation

On May 9th, the CBS Transition Planning team propped up their tables inside Spackenkill High School, ready to represent their Transitions and Resources opportunities at the school fair, detail their services, and tackle the plethora of questions coming their way. The verdict after the event’s completion: they were quite the success in doing so. 

Spackenkill’s students of different abilities and their families wandered from table to table from 4:00pm to 7:00pm, exploring the extensive and diverse facets within the Transition Planning Service’s streamlined and person-centered process. The families learned that the program supports their child with opportunities to:

At age 12,

• Access career planning and work-based learning opportunities
• apply for various eligibility and medical programs

At age 15-17,

• develop self-advocacy skills
• engage in career-identification processes
• identify travel services
• apply for a driver’s license, non-driver’s ID and more

And when they hit the 18+ mark,

• apply for college
• secure job and volunteer opportunities
• plan financials
• tour adult service agencies
• explore healthcare and insurance plans

…and beyond to smoothly transition from academic life to adulthood. 

Many families spoke highly of the fair, sharing how it was very helpful and informative. The Smith family in particular mentioned how it’s oftentimes hard to get help given the lingering obstacles of the pandemic, but they mentioned that “coming here and speaking to these people really opened their eyes to all the resources that are available.”