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Health literacy is a foundational independent living skill for transition-age students. The ability to understand, communicate, and act on health information supports safer decision-making, self-advocacy, and autonomy in adult life. Teaching health literacy early helps students prepare to manage their own health once they leave school.

What are basic health literacy skills?

  • Finding basic health information, including knowing when, where, and how to seek help.
  • Understanding instructions from doctors, pharmacists, and caregivers.
  • Asking questions to clarify information to ensure understanding.
  • Using health information to make personal health decisions, practice prevention strategies, and advocate.

For young adults with disabilities, this includes improving communication skills, identifying helpful supports for managing health needs, and knowing where to find assistance.

Put theory into practice with these hands-on activities:

1. Teach students how to speak up and actively participate during medical appointments.
Encourage students to practice describing their symptoms. Use the following sentence starters and prompts:

  • “My pain is…” (Is it sharp or dull? Is it mild or strong?)
  • “It started when…” (When did you first feel sick?)
  • “It gets better/worse when…” (What makes you feel better?)

Students can practice these prompts with a partner. Pretend one person is the doctor, nurse, or pharmacist, and the other is the patient.

2. Create a personal health profile (PHP).
Have each student create a simple, one-page health profile including:

  • Allergies
  • Medications
  • Emergency contacts
  • Preferred communication style
  • Supports or accommodations they need

This profile becomes a transition-ready resource for adult appointments.

3. Build medication literacy skills.
Use everyday classroom objects (such as candy or colored beads) to simulate medication and teach essential safety skills. This hands-on approach helps students practice:

  • Reading labels
  • Dosage instructions
  • Timing
  • Safe storage
  • Safety and expiration labels

This activity can be adapted for any cognitive level. Use visual aids, checklists, and step-by-step guides.

4. Teach students how to use everyday health technology and tools.
Practice reviewing:

  • Emergency contacts
  • Calendar reminders for appointments
  • Apps or devices to track sleep, hydration, or movement
  • Patient portals (with family support)

Technology proficiency helps students do more things for themselves. With practice, students can solve problems and feel more confident.

5. Build self-advocacy through question stems.
Teach students the “Ask Me 3” questions for any health appointment.

  • What is my main problem?
  • What do I need to do?
  • Why is it important for me to do this?

This aligns perfectly with supported decision-making skills.

Resources

March is National Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month, making it a great time to focus transition practices on what matters most: recognizing and leveraging student strengths as you help them plan for their future. Person-centered planning (PCP) offers a practical framework to ensure seamless transition plans reflect a student’s authentic preferences, abilities, and vision for their emerging adulthood identity.

Why it Matters

Strength-based planning fosters student and family engagement, increases self-determination, and provides a shared starting point for interagency partners. When teams understand what a student does well and what motivates them, they are better prepared to design supports that lead to meaningful postsecondary outcomes. Strength-based planning includes:

  1. Preparing for Student-Led IEPs

    Encourage students to take the lead in their IEP meetings. Students can start by sharing their strengths, interests, and goals. Even small actions, such as introducing the participants or presenting their strengths, can help build their confidence and sense of ownership. Prepare students in advance by asking questions like, “What are you most proud of this year?” or “What helps you feel successful?” This approach sets a positive, strengths-focused tone and models authentic student leadership.

  2. Using Family Interviews to Fill in the Gaps

    Families often recognize strengths in their children that may not be evident in school settings. Interviewing both the family and the student can create enthusiasm as they explore interests, routines, skills, cultural values, and community roles. This information can significantly enhance and influence the transition plan. Additionally, the findings from this activity can serve as an authentic assessment.

  3. Turning Strengths Into Actionable Goals and Activities

    If a student excels with hands-on tasks, explore Career and Technical Education (CTE) courses or work-based learning. If a student thrives with visual supports, incorporate them across employment, education, and independent living goals, as well as transition services and activities.

  4. Reinforcing Strengths Across Settings

    Share what works with related service providers, general educators, agency partners, and the student and their family to ensure that effective strategies are understood, applied consistently, and reinforced across all settings. This approach strengthens communication, builds collective confidence, and helps the student experience more predictable and meaningful success.

Ready to learn more? Explore INSTRC’s Seamless Transition Toolkit for additional strength-based planning resources.

Summer is more than just a break; it is a pivotal window for students to explore careers, sharpen skills, and build a foundation for postsecondary success. As an educator, you can help families pivot from a “stagnant” summer to one of profound growth.

The Impact of Summer Camps

Camps offer a low-stakes environment for students to try new things, build peer confidence, and develop independence outside the classroom. To help your students make the most of the season:

  • Encourage Early Action: Popular programs fill up fast. Advise families to research and register now to secure their spots.
  • Remove Barriers: Many camps provide financial aid or sliding-scale tuition to ensure affordability.
  • Prioritize Inclusion: We have compiled a list of inclusive camps with trained staff and adaptive programming for students with disabilities.

Sharing the resources listed below during upcoming parent-teacher conferences can be the catalyst a student needs to stay engaged over the break.

Bradford Woods

  • This camp provides a variety of accessible, therapeutic summer programs tailored to youth and adults with physical, sensory, chronic, or developmental disabilities.
  • Phone: 765-342-2915
  • Address: 5040 State Road 67 N., Martinsville, IN 46151

Noble Summer Day Camps

  • An inclusive day camp where youth with and without disabilities can have fun together through music, dance, and social skill-building activities.
  • Phone: 317-254-6621
  • Address: 7701 E. 21st Street, Indianapolis, IN 46219

Summer@CIP (College Internship Program)

  • A two-week residential program focused on building independence, enhancing social skills, and providing a taste of college life.
  • Phone: 812-323-0600
  • Address: 204 N. Morton Street, Bloomington, IN 47404

Camp Sharing Meadows

  • A transformative overnight camp with programming that emphasizes independence and self-esteem while fostering fellowship among participants.
  • Phone: 219-778-2585
  • Address: 6357 N. County Road 300 E., LaPorte, IN 46350

Camp Millhouse

  • An inclusive day and overnight camp fostering self-discovery for individuals aged 7 to 75+ with diverse physical and developmental needs.
  • Phone: 574-233-2202
  • Address: 25600 Kelly Road, South Bend, IN 46614

Diabetes Youth Foundation: Camp Until A Cure

  • A day and overnight camp for children aged 5 to 15 with type 1 diabetes.
  • Phone: 317-750-9310 or 317-695-6485
  • Location: 5050 E. 211th Street, Noblesville, IN 46062

Anderson Woods Summer Camp

  • A nature-based overnight camp focused on dignity, safety, and personal growth.
  • Phone: 812-639-1079
  • Address: 3966 Adyeville Road, Bristow, IN 47515

The search does not have to stop here. We recommend the Indiana Disability Resource FINDER to discover additional events or opportunities.

Special educators navigate the complex demands of individualized instruction daily. Focusing on a single skill, such as vocabulary, reveals a wide range of strategies within a professional teaching toolkit. As you know, vocabulary connects students to the world around them. It serves as the bridge between students and their environment, facilitating reading comprehension, active listening, and both receptive and expressive communication. However, balancing person-centered delivery with diverse learning profiles can often make significant vocabulary growth overwhelming.

The Frayer Model

The Frayer approach isn’t new. In the 1960s, Dorothy Frayer and colleagues at the University of Wisconsin were credited with its development. Similar to the transition portfolio, which uses four domains to highlight and summarize student characteristics, the Frayer Model is a graphic organizer using four general teaching “buckets.” Each bucket represents something about the target vocabulary or word that you want the student to learn.

A graphic organizer representing the Frayer Model for vocabulary building. The image features a central white rectangle labeled "Target Word" with four colored quadrants surrounding it: • Top-left (Pink): Labeled "Definitions". • Top-right (Yellow): Labeled "Characteristics". • Bottom-left (Blue): Labeled "Examples". • Bottom-right (Green): Labeled "Non-Examples"

  • Definition: The formal meaning of the word.
  • Characteristics: Specific traits or qualities.
  • Examples: Correct applications or synonyms.
  • Non-Examples: Antonyms or common misconceptions.

Versatility in Special Education

The Frayer Model’s inherent flexibility ensures student-centric application across various instructional settings. Educators can easily adapt the framework to suit specific accessibility requirements and individual needs.

  • Digital Integration: Utilize Google Docs or interactive slides for technology-driven lessons.
  • Tactile Support: Incorporate teacher-created physical images or manipulatives for hands-on learners.
  • Auditory Adaptation: Use audio prompts to guide selection and reinforcement for auditory learners.
  • Traditional: Apply standard paper-and-pencil methods for direct instruction.

This model supports both independent progress and collaborative team goals. It proves particularly effective for students transitioning into employment, independent living, or postsecondary education, where mastering specialized terminology is critical for success.

Explore the following links to access self-guided learning modules and Frayer Model templates designed to enhance your vocabulary instruction.

Resources:

Why It Matters

Early planning for life after high school is vital for students with disabilities. Transition planning under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires educators and families to prepare students for life after high school. Exploring postsecondary employment, education/training, and independent living options ensures students with disabilities have equitable access to college, career, and independent living opportunities.

Postsecondary Pathways

Four-year colleges and universities offer bachelor’s degrees and may provide programs catering to diverse needs, such as Think College. You can search for programs by state and disability. It's important to discuss higher education options with families. Connecting them with campus disability services offices early on can help address any necessary accommodations.

Community colleges are often affordable, flexible, and frequently have strong disability support. Encourage students to research inclusive programs and dual enrollment opportunities.

Trade and technical schools offer hands-on training for a variety of in-demand careers, including those in healthcare, information technology (IT), and other skilled trades. It's important to encourage students to look for programs that are ADA compliant and offer assistive technology. A great starting point is to explore the Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs available in your area.

Apprenticeships and internships can be a good way to earn while you learn. Help your students explore inclusive apprenticeship and internship programs available in your state and through the Department of Workforce Development. Some examples from Indiana are:

Military and service programs offer education benefits and structured training in a variety of specialties. Review eligibility and discuss accommodations for service-related roles with students and their families.

Key Planning Tips for Teachers

Various transition assessments, Person-Centered Planning models, and other frameworks can help educators support students during their transition to adulthood. One helpful resource in this area is the LifeCourse Framework.

The LifeCourse Framework can help people of all ages think about what they want their life to look like and identify the supports, skills, and experiences needed to get there. It emphasizes that every person, regardless of disability, background, or circumstance, has skills and abilities shaped by daily experiences, environments, and opportunities. For educators, this perspective encourages a shift from focusing solely on academic performance to understanding the broader context of a student’s life.

A key element of the LifeCourse approach is the idea of trajectories or the paths students are currently on and the paths they want to be on. When educators intentionally design learning experiences that nudge students toward positive trajectories, they help students build the confidence, skills, and networks needed for long-term success. This might involve exposing students to early career exploration, integrating real-world problem-solving into lessons, or helping students reflect on how their choices today influence their future options.

Another powerful component is the use of LifeCourse tools such as the Trajectory Worksheets and the Integrated Supports Star. These tools help students articulate their goals, identify what is working or not working in their lives, and map out the supports they need. When educators use these tools in classrooms or transition planning meetings, they empower students to take ownership of their futures. This builds self-determination, one of the strongest predictors of positive postsecondary outcomes.

For educators ready to explore the framework more deeply, the LifeCourse Nexus offers free tools, examples, and training materials that can be used in classrooms and transition programs. You can explore these resources on the LifeCourse Tools website.

Bonus Tips:

In the new year, we remain committed to providing robust support through professional development and technical assistance, including:

  • Explore the new and improved Transition Miniseries. This 7-course miniseries is a free online training from INSTRC. Each course is designed to help you become more familiar with the components of the cyclical planning process and support you as you create quality Transition IEPs and Portfolios with your students. Register today.
  • Enroll in the Transition Educators Facilitating Employment course. A 10-week, comprehensive online training that gives educators, specialists, Pre-ETS providers, transition coordinators, and other professionals the foundation, techniques, and effective strategies necessary for successful adult vocational transition. Register today.
  • Join Virtual Open Office Hours every Thursday from 2:30 to 4:30 PM Eastern Time. During these sessions, you can speak with subject matter experts in dedicated breakout rooms. Our staff can address inquiries concerning transition portfolios, Individualized Education Programs (IEPs), Social Security Work Incentives, Vocational Rehabilitation, and other transition-related topics. To join, use the Zoom link.

CTE programs are an important bridge between high school, postsecondary education, industry, and workforce development. These programs can open doors to hands-on learning, industry-recognized skills, and meaningful employment opportunities. For students with disabilities, CTE can build confidence in specific skills, foster independence, enhance career exploration, and connect classroom learning to real work experiences and future careers.

Why it matters for students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs):

  • A multi-state study conducted in Indiana and Minnesota found that special education students who participated in CTE programs were more likely to become “concentrators,” those who complete multiple courses in a single career-oriented track. Those students also achieved higher employment rates within the first five years of graduation compared to their non-participating peers.
  • Research across Massachusetts, Tennessee, and Washington indicates that CTE concentration is linked to improved graduation rates. Furthermore, in most of these states, students who focused on CTE experienced higher employment rates one year after high school.
  • Another study confirms that students with IEPs who engage in CTE programs achieve better graduation, college enrollment, and employment outcomes than their peers who earn fewer CTE credits.

To ensure students find programs that support their long-term goals, educators should introduce CTE options early during transition planning. CTE programs are specifically designed to help students with disabilities achieve their IEP goals through tailored instruction. By earning microcredentials, students can formally demonstrate their proficiency, giving employers greater confidence in their technical skills.

CTE Pathways Microcredential Pilot Project

We invite you to pilot CTE microcredentials in Automotive Technology and Early Childhood Education. Additional programs in Culinary Arts and Hospitality will be available soon. These microcredentials validate skills students acquire through practical experience. They offer a portable, competency-based method for students to demonstrate their talents to future employers. This collaboration between special education and CTE programs ensures that all stakeholders succeed.

Interested in joining our pilot project or learning more? Email us today at instrc@iu.edu!

Supporting students with disabilities during the transition to adulthood is most effective when educators stay connected to high-quality resources and supports. National organizations offer tools that help teachers understand best practices in transition planning, from employment preparation to independent living skills. Explore the websites listed below for strategies, materials, and training opportunities that will strengthen your transition programming.

The resources below will also help you stay informed on evolving policies, supports, and inclusive postsecondary opportunities. Whether you are developing transition IEP goals, coordinating work-based learning, or helping students explore postsecondary options, these national agencies offer reliable guidance. Integrating these tools ensures that students with disabilities receive the support they need to thrive in adulthood.

The list below includes key agencies and online supports. Use it as a starting point to build your own teaching toolkit.

What happens when a student’s potential is primed to soar, but their home life lacks the support to achieve it? For students with disabilities, the lack of affordable technology and reliable internet creates more than just an inconvenience; it creates the special education homework gap. This is digital inequity in its rawest form. True digital equity means every student has the technology, high-speed access, and digital literacy required to participate fully in the classroom and beyond.

Since the end of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) in 2024, this divide has only deepened, leaving our most vulnerable learners further behind.

The Digital Divide

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Educational Technology identifies barriers, or divides, to equitable information and communication technologies (ICT). These barriers include:

  • Digital Use: refers to the disparity between students actively or passively using technology throughout the learning process.
  • Digital Design: refers to the often-inadequate ability of educators to design effective instruction and learning for students through the use of technology.
  • Digital Access: refers to reliable, affordable physical access, including knowledge use, to ICT.

There is no "quick fix" for systemic inequity, but the first step toward closing the gap is understanding its depth. We invite you to dive deeper into these digital barriers. By engaging in self-directed learning, we can begin to design new remedies that ensure no student is left offline and unheard.

Resources:

Bonus Tip:

Registration is now open for the 10-week Transition Educators Facilitating Employment course! This $250 online, self-paced training covers essential strategies for successful vocational transitions, including customized employment, marketing, and assistive technology. Ideal for educators, specialists, Pre-ETS providers, and transition coordinators, it provides the foundation needed for effective adult vocational support. Enroll today!

Celebrate 2026 by making transition fun for you and your students! One effective way to achieve this is by helping students set goals using LifeCourse Tools! The LifeCourse Framework provides a structured, person-centered way to help students and families plan for the future.

Why use LifeCourse Tools in your classroom or transition program?

  • They empower students to express their preferences and priorities, ensuring that goals align with what is most important to them.
  • They help students identify short-term goals and a plan to reach their long-term postsecondary goals across life domains like education, employment, and community living.
  • They provide visual tools. Reference the Exploring Life Domains, Person-Centered Portfolio, and the Integrated Supports Star to make planning interactive, easy to understand, and fun.

5 Tips for Effective LifeCourse Tool Implementation

  1. Pair the LifeCourse Tools with creative activities contributing to students’ transition portfolios, digital planners, or vision boards. This will keep students and their families motivated and engaged.
  2. Explore the Life Domains to get students thinking, families exploring, and educators bonding and connecting to activities with meaningful outcomes.
  3. Facilitate discussions to encourage students to share what’s important to and for them with their transition team.
  4. Break goals into actionable steps to help students choose one or two priorities for the next few months.
  5. Review progress regularly for transition check-ins, not just in IEP meetings.