Webinars
My Life, My Goals, My Future
Elevating the Student Self-Advocate Voice and Fostering Self-Determination in the Youth-to-Adulthood Transition Process to Employment
The third in our three-part webinar series, “My Life, My Goals, My Future: Elevating the Student Self-Advocate Voice and Fostering Self-Determination in the Youth-to-Adulthood Transition Process to Employment”, was hosted on Wednesday, April 28th 2021.
Description:
All too often, efforts to improve education, service delivery, and employment outcomes for individuals with disabilities fail to empower the individuals themselves to play a key role in improving their own lives. This webinar will address this and offer valuable takeaways to help elevate the student voice. Practical strategies that promote self-determination will be shared, with a particular focus on competence, relatedness, and autonomy. Everyday opportunities to strengthen choice-making and goal-setting will be discussed. Featured will be a “Learning Lab” model that brings self-advocates together and positions them as key decision-makers. Finally, self-advocates will share their employment experiences and offer tips to better engage individuals through the employment process.
Session Participants were be able to:
- Increase knowledge of effective interagency practices and resources.
- Gain knowledge of virtual and distance learning cross-system collaboration strategies, resources, and activities for students to achieve successful postsecondary outcomes.
- Discuss potential state and national resources to support families and transition-age students, including students with complex needs.
Session Presenters
Dr. John McNaught
Co-Director - Virginia Department of Education’s Training & TA Center
Dr. John McNaught is the Co-Director of the Virginia Department of Education’s Training and Technical Assistance Center (TTAC) at James Madison University where he focuses on behavior, transition, and self-determination. Dr. McNaught will explore the research to practice gap specific to fostering self-determination in students with disabilities by examining the relationship between Self-Determination Theory, implementing interventions with fidelity, and generalizing the self-determined behaviors across different environments.
Karin Grandin
TA Liaison - Vocational Rehabilitation Youth TA Center
Karin Grandin is currently serving as a technical assistance liaison for the Institute for Educational Leadership’s (IEL) Vocational Rehabilitation Youth Technical Assistance Center (Y-TAC). Karin will provide participants detailed information about a Learning Lab model that IEL has tested and validated that brings youth with significant disabilities and families together to focus on improving the self-advocacy and self-determination skills of the participants and create a vehicle for them to exercise their voice regarding their goals, dreams, and future pursuits.
In addition to these two speakers, participants will hear directly from a panel of self-advocates, who will describe the positive – and negative – of their transition from youth to adulthood and employment. The self-advocates will also provide tips on how to effectively support youth and young adults in the pursuit of a career.
