Who Chooses?

An article I read recently by Pryce et al. (2017) was about how grown children with disabilities felt about their life choices as their parents aged. The children's disabilities were more severe than those I usually discuss in this blog, but there are always elements that overlap when talking about transition. The program Whose Future is it Anyway? ( Wehmeyer et al., 2004) comes to mind when thinking about choices faced by many students with disabilities. The program is meant to teach students with disabilities to understand, participate, and eventually lead their IEPs. It is also considered a predictor for students with disabilities to experience positive postsecondary school outcomes. While I have not taught the program, I believe it has its merits in transition.

A student learning about their Individual Educational Program (IEP) and the steps that go into creating it has the opportunity to determine their transition goals and the activities that are relevant and appropriate to reaching them. It can also lead them to discover how inclusion classes and time outside of school may impact their lives after high school. For example, if students learn to self-advocate and know what to advocate for, they can ensure they get what is in their IEP program in their regular education classes.

Students can also participate in what classes they need to move toward their goals and decide what they want to do during non-school hours. Luckily, Whose Future is it Anyway? is a free program. The primary description is provided by Wehmeyer et al. (2004).

"Whose Future Is It Anyway? is a transition planning process emphasizing student preferences, needs, and interests. The curriculum provides opportunities for students with disabilities to explore issues of self-awareness and acquire problem-solving, decision-making, goal-setting, and small-group communication skills. The outcome of this process is that students learn how to be meaningfully involved in their transition planning process. The Whose Future Is It Anyway? curriculum is based on the conviction that: 1) students who are involved in planning for their future will more likely be full participants in the planned educational activities resulting from that plan; 2) students of all abilities can learn the skills to be involved; and 3) students who believe that their voice will be heard will be more likely participate in the planning process and ongoing educational decisions." (Wehmeyer et al., 2004, p.4)

Luckily, the program is still free. It is located where other programs I have mentioned, such as ME!, are located. Here is the link: Whose Future is it Anyway? If you are a student, have a child, are a teacher, or are an administrator who has used this program or is considering using it, leave me a comment. I would love to hear how it works or how you expect it to work.

As always, thank you for reading, and please leave a comment. I am also looking for a parent to review this blog. If you are interested, please let me know.

Neal Lieberman

Doctoral Student

Pryce, L., Tweed, A., Hilton, A., & Priest, H. M. (2017). Tolerating uncertainty: Perceptions of the future for ageing parent carers and their adult children with intellectual disabilities. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 30(1), 84–96. https://doi.org/10.1111/jar.12221

Wehmeyer, M., Lawrence, M., Garner, N. Soukup, J. & Palmer, S. (2004) Whose Future is it Anyway?