(inspiring music) - One of the things we're really good at as special educators is identifying our students' needs and struggles and providing the instruction and supports that address those kinds of deficits. That's part of what we do as special educators is really addressing the needs and challenges of our students. And that has an important place. But as we get into transition, the most important thing to know about someone isn't what they can't do but what they can do, the strengths that they possess, the gifts that they might bring to a community or to relationships and the talents that they possess.
So as we move from young, early adulthood or early childhood into the transition years, our accent has to shift from what students' needs are to what their strengths are. And this is really important because when you think about the connections that we make into the community, particularly employment, employers don't hire people based on what they can't do or what they struggle to. They are looking for people who would bring talents and strengths to their workplace. And the great thing about the students we work with, students with autism and intellectual disability and other disabilities, is they have incredible gifts and talents.
What we have to do is do good assessments so that we learn what those things are and that we become really fluent at telling and sharing those gifts with the community that surrounds our schools. I think like lots of corners of our society, expectations are sometimes low when it comes to people with disabilities. And so we have to challenge those prevailing views and give people a different portrait of who the students we are serving really are.
The special educator's job is to identify student needs and supports. With transition, focus on the things that students CAN do.
