"Parent involvement in the transition process of children with intellectual disabilities: The influence of inclusion on parent desires and expectations for postsecondary education"

     Wow, that was a long blog title!  It's actually the title of the article.
     The reason I chose this article is because the transitioning process is so key for families of students with intellectual disabilities as well as the students themselves.  What is also interesting is the fact that this article highlights a more recent trend in families with students who have intellectual disabilities.  It seems that more and more parents want to have some type of post secondary education experience for their child (Martinez, Conroy & Cerreto, 2012). 
     Now, since I worked at private school that included education and transition programs that helped provide services to people with disabilities from ages 3-22, I'm aware of a handful of transition options.  I have less knowledge of post-school options and resources like college classes for students with intellectual disabilities. I'm interested to explore what that looks like in context.  Also, from experience, I have heard comments from parents with regard to their fears, concerns, and then triumphs when they find a right-fit placement for their young adult.  
      According to Martinez et al., "while parents may desire an outcome for their
 young adult, professionals offer preselected "realistic" options often placing  parents in the dilemma of selecting compromises that differ from their original expectations and desires (Cooney, 2002)(Martinez et al., 2012)."  As a teacher and special education advocate, I would like to educate myself so I don't find myself in the same position.  That position being, doling out preselected, 'realistic' options.  I think that the options vary on a student by student basis.  I think it's important to seek out information and be a great resource for parents wading through the transition process, which can be stressful, emotional, and very challenging.
       This article shared a survey given to parents to assess three areas of concern which had to do with parental access to adequate resources for their students as well as researching any correlation between parental involvement, time included in a general education curriculum, and a parent's desires and expectations for transitioning programs.
       This article seemed limited in that they created a survey based on data from a 2007 census.  The survey was limited to be completed in 30 minutes of time, and some of the questions seemed to lack room for parents to be able to expand to give a greater depth in their answers.  For example, because the survey was brief and had to remain simple , it collected only the perceptions of the parents of the time their kids were included in the general education curriculum (Martinez, 2012).  Perceptions are subjective and not something to solely inform your decision making.
        I appreciated the concern that Geenen, Powers, and Lopez-Vasquez's (2001) study found.  They stated that materials for transition planning and resources must be accessible to parents in multiple formats and also reflect cultural values.  Their study showed that, "reported school staff perceived culturally and linguistically diverse parents as unresponsive and uninvolved though the parents reported active involvement in their young adult's transition outside the realm of school-based planning (Martinez, 2012)."  It's very important to remember what a diverse, global world we live in.  Resources need to cross cultural boundaries and be inclusive.

- i

Martinez, D. C., Conroy, J. W., & Cerreto, M. C. (2012). Parent involvement in the transition process of   
         children with intellectual disabilities: The influence of inclusion on parent desires and expectations for 
         postsecondary education. Journal Of Policy And Practice In Intellectual Disabilities, 9(4), 279-288.