In the United States' technologically advanced society, high school students should be educated in life skills to help them understand the context and impacts of decision-making that will assist and develop a more effective transition to young adulthood. Life skills have been largely defined as skills and abilities that improve behavior, critical…

The U.S. education system provides 12 years of public education, but with the main focus on academics, graduates may not know how to complete the many adulthood tasks required of them when they exit high school. This quantitative study investigated the health, money, home, and travel skills high school graduates from 2010-2020 learned from their…

Texas educational curriculum standards are implemented within all general and special education classrooms. This qualitative phenomenological research study explores the perceptions of 12 high school life school servicing student with an intellectual disability (ID) within a self-contained classroom. This study provides district stakeholders such…

High school students are currently transitioning out of an autism program at the author's school, without functional life skills. This impacts their ability to live independently and reduces their employment opportunities. Life skills are "skills or tasks that contribute to the successful, independent functioning of an individual in…

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore how high school marching band instructors described extra-musical life skills teaching strategies in Northern California within the Western Band Association (WBA) organizational circuit. Theoretical foundations of this study were social emotional learning (SEL) based on the seminal…

Students of all ability levels, including those identified with intellectual disabilities (ID) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD), can benefit from improving their ability to take their knowledge out of the lower-order learning realm and transferring or applying into higher-order learning. Practical application of knowledge is important for…

High school sport has often been considered a viable context for promoting youth development of life skills and character (Turgeon et al., 2019). So much so that key stakeholders, including coaches and athletic directors, have been charged with meeting the mission statements of these education-based sport programs (Camire et al., 2009). However,…

Fundamentally, the aim of education is to empower students to live better lives. By "better" it is not merely meant that students will find gainful employment and be more civic-minded, but also that on an individual level a student will engage the examined life and fulfill their potential. This process of self-discovery addresses three…

This literature review discusses the importance of proper transition support for students in special education and the correlation between their postsecondary success. The transition from K-12 to postsecondary education is essential to student success after graduating from high school and completing higher education programs. Students who need a…

This study investigated the effects of a method to support higher levels of independent performance and generalization of skills using a structured work system with a visual schedule when teaching online task completion skills to high school students with ASD and intellectual disabilities. Students with ASD and intellectual disabilities are…

This qualitative descriptive study focused on how high school special education teachers describe the influence of color-blindness ideology on transition plans for Black students with an intellectual disability into the workforce. Transition plans are required for all students that receive special education services at the age of 14 or 16…

This dissertation is an exploration of the experiences and perceptions the behavior support plan (BSP) had on individuals placed into residential services or an independent living facility through a state waiver in Indianapolis, Indiana. Autistic high school graduates were addressed in this study to look at the various behaviors they faced when…

This phenomenological study examines the experiences of Navajo students with intellectual disabilities as they transition from high school into life as an adult. Cultural perspectives, disability, and family expectations are factors that affect transitional outcomes. The current literature around transition programming holds a limited view of…

Autism spectrum disorder rates are climbing in the United States. Because this population is growing, research is needed to understand how to assist these individuals in pursuit of postsecondary educational and employment opportunities. The purpose of this qualitative study, as reflected in the central research question, was to investigate how a…

This case study explores the life experiences of adults with learning disabilities who participated in a work skills program during high school and later transitioned into adult life post-secondary education. This empirical research analyzes the issues related to the transitional outcomes of eight adults who are learning disabled (LD) post-public…