Transition Services

Transition services for a child with a disability are a set of coordinated activities “designed to be within a results-oriented process” and focused on improving the disabled child’s academic and functional achievement in order to “facilitate the child’s movement from school to post-school activities,” including post-secondary education, vocational education, employment, continuing and adult education, adult services, independent living, or community participation.  

The purpose of transition services is to help students with disabilities bridge the gap from school to post-secondary activities, preparing them for adult life and providing them with skills that they will need to obtain gainful employment, if appropriate.  Transition services emphasize the acquisition of functional skills and hands-on knowledge, enabling students who can enter the workforce or continue education or training to do so and assisting students who can do neither to live as autonomously as possible, given the extent of their disabilities.