Age 14 to 15

Age 14-15

If you’re age 14 or 15, you are already working toward long-term goals, even if transition planning in your IEP has not officially begun. You should be choosing goals that matter to you. That means deciding where you want to be and what you want to do. An Education Development Plan, or EDP, is designed to help you identify possible careers and the education you’ll need to meet your goals.

State law requires schools to begin developing an Educational Development Plan (EDP) while students are in grade 7. Every student is supposed to have an EDP before high school. EDPs are updated as student interests and abilities become clearer and more focused. The EDP shows educational and career goals, a way to achieve these goals and the activities accomplished to help meet them. This information can be used to inform transition planning as you age.

Here’s some more information on EDPs:

Additionally, informal tools can be used by families to gather information to share with the IEP team. Here are a couple of them:

Work is an important part of adult life. Work is a meaningful way to spend the day, and it can give you a feeling of worth by contributing to society. Work is also a place to learn social skills and responsibility, as well as combat isolation, loneliness and depression.

However, people with disabilities are more likely to be unemployed than people without disabilities. Work experience during school, postsecondary education and family involvement will help you succeed as you transition to adulthood.

Here’s some more information from the Michigan Developmental Disabilities Council: Paid Work During Transition.

Students should talk with family members, educators, counselors and other support professionals about employment opportunities and services that can help them plan and prepare for adult life and career pathways.

One of the first steps is to explore what careers match your strengths, preferences and interests. Students likely have completed an Educational Development Plan (EDP) at school. State law requires local schools to begin developing an EDP in grade 7, and every student is supposed to have one before high school. The EDP shows educational and career goals, a way to achieve these goals and the activities accomplished to meet them.

Here are some helpful EDP-related links:

More getting-started resources:

Vocational rehabilitation (VR) programs can help you prepare for a future career — while also earning a paycheck. VR programs provide employment services for students, youth and adults with disabilities, empowering them to engage in competitive, integrated employment and achieve economic self-sufficiency.

You can find more information at these links:

Pre-Employment Transition Services are available through MRS and BSBP to students with disabilities who are age 14-26 and are in a secondary or postsecondary school. These services, which are designed to offer an early start at job exploration, include:

  • Job exploration & counseling
  • Work-based learning
  • Postsecondary exploration
  • Workplace readiness training, including social skills and independent living
  • Self-advocacy instruction

Some helpful links:

If you plan to explore employment, you’re going to need a Social Security card and a state-issued photo identification card.

  • Contact the Social Security Administration if you need help getting a Social Security card: Social Security number & card | SSA.
  • Make an appointment with Michigan’s Secretary of State to get a state-issued photo identification card. On the appointment page, you can request accommodations at your appointment, such as a sign language interpreter or quiet waiting area. Scheduling an office visit (michigan.gov)
  • At your Secretary of State appointment, you may also ask about a disability parking placard. For more information on disability parking placards and to print out a copy of the application, visit the State of Michigan website: Disability parking placard. Note that a physician’s signature is required on the application.

Life skills are abilities that help a person adapt to everyday activities and make decisions. Making decisions for yourself is called “self-determination.”

Self-care means protecting your own physical, mental and emotional health. Self-care includes things like brushing your teeth twice a day, scheduling a check-up with your doctor, joining activities that you enjoy and taking a break to reduce stress.

Life skills and self-care are both necessary for independent living, and these skills can be learned over time. The website Complex Care at Home for Children suggests age-appropriate activities to help with this type of skill-building.

Other helpful resources:

In addition, many organizations have skill checklists and resources related to life skills and self-care:

Youth who have an IEP at school can have learning-specific life skills as annual goals in their IEP. Youth and adults who have an Individual Plan of Service (IPOS) with their Community Mental Health organization can also have learning life skills as their goals.

It is never too early to start learning how to advocate or speak up for yourself. Like many other important life skills, self-advocacy is a critical tool for achieving goals, increasing self-sufficiency and becoming a successful young adult. It is a lifelong process that begins with watching a parent be a good advocate. Self-advocacy means taking the responsibility for communicating your wants and needs in a clear manner. It is a set of skills to learn. Self-advocacy includes:

  • Speaking up for yourself
  • Communicating your strengths, needs and wishes
  • Being able to listen to the opinions of others
  • Having a sense of self-respect
  • Taking responsibility for yourself
  • Knowing your rights
  • Knowing where to get help or whom to go to with a question

Here’s some more information and advice about self-advocacy:

Several resources are available from PACER Center to prepare yourself for an IEP meeting:

Every person can make choices and has a right to make decisions. Supported decision-making can give you the assistance you need to make decisions for yourself. For example, family members and friends can help point out risks, advantages and consequences of a decision. They might be good at explaining things in a way that you can understand, giving you information for making the choice.

  • LIPA Leaders in Policy Advocacy is a leadership development program for adults with developmental disabilities and parents of minor children with developmental disabilities. The goal of LIPA is to train and support participants to become leaders in disability advocacy.
  • Michigan Disability Rights Coalition
  • Michigan Developmental Disabilities Council (DD Council) works to support people with developmental disabilities to achieve life dreams. The 21-member council is appointed by the governor and supported by a Lansing-based staff. Council meetings are public — anyone may attend.
  • Michigan Statewide Independent Living Council promotes a philosophy of independent living through consumer control, peer support, self-help, self-determination, equal access and individual and systems advocacy to maximize the leadership, empowerment, independence and productivity of people with disabilities. This includes the full integration and inclusion of people with disabilities into the mainstream of American society.
  • Partners Advancing Self-Determination provides free state-level technical assistance, training and support to help make sure people are able to direct their own services.
  • Possibilities Video Series The Michigan Developmental Disabilities Institute’s (MI-DDI) award-winning “Possibilities” series of videos focuses on the lives and accomplishments of individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities. Each four-to-seven-minute video highlights the journeys of different individuals, along with their family and friends, and illustrates the lives possible for all people as they mature, become independent and pursue their life’s dreams and goals.
  • Self-Advocates of Michigan is a statewide organization led by leaders with developmental disabilities. It promotes the values of diversity, inclusion, equal rights and the self-determination of individuals with disabilities.
  • Youth as Self Advocates is a national, grassroots project created by youth with disabilities for youth. YASA knows youth can make choices and advocate for themselves if they have the information and support they need.
  • A Guide to Legislative Advocacy for Youth With Disabilities is a guide from NCLD Action Center to help youth communicate about the importance of a policy issue or law to people who are in a position to change it.
  • Self Advocacy Online Find self-advocacy groups, view stories from self-advocates, learn about self-advocacy and find news you can use.
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