College is an opportunity for enormous growth in the lives of all students. Setting and working toward meaningful personal goals is one way to maximize those opportunities for growth. College programs for students with intellectual disability may struggle to address the independent living skills component of their comprehensive transition program…

Independence is a critical skill in preparing students with disabilities for success after high school. Secondary special education teachers equip their students toward task independence across skill domains (e.g., employment, independent living), yet there is little guidance regarding a simple and systematic way to do so. MADE 2 FADE (M2F) is a…

Traditional schooling methods and environments are falling short in terms of providing the best access to education and preparing students for productive, engaging futures. Innovation becomes particularly important when working with atypical students, such as the children on the autism spectrum who are served by the Shrub Oak International School…

Located about 80 miles north of New York City, Anderson Center for Autism has long provided comprehensive educational, vocational, and residential services for children and adults with autism spectrum disorder. Rooted in the use of applied behavior analysis and other evidence-based practices, the nonprofit helps children and adults communicate,…

In 2017, Laura Pace, a middle school family and consumer sciences (FCS) teacher from Farmington, New Mexico, contacted the New Mexico Association of Family and Consumer Sciences (NMAFCS) regarding the use of a high school teacher evaluation system developed by the New Mexico Public Education Department (PED) to assess her middle school program.…

Microenterprises in the classroom provide a unique way to incorporate academic goals within transitional skill instruction for students with developmental disabilities. The purpose of this article is to discuss how the principles of microenterprises can be used by classroom teachers to practice these skills as well as an overview of how to create…

Self-reflection assignments were used and assessed in an undergraduate kinetics course. The assignments involved essays where students were prompted to evaluate their proficiency in professional, non-technical skills guided by a self-evaluation rubric, which includes a rating scheme for 10 non-technical skills. The students set goals and tracked…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires that schools assist students with disabilities to develop independent living skills and abilities essential to succeed in most of their life's endeavors. According to the law, each student with a disability must have an individualized education program (IEP), and the IEP must address…

Special education in the United State is based on the concept of access--public schools are open to all children. But access is no longer a sufficient foundation. Approaches and accommodations that lead to academic success are increasingly demanded for those with learning disabilities. Functional, independent-living, and employable skills are…

One common and effective approach used to teach vocational and independent living skills to students with ASD is technology-based intervention (Walsh, Holloway, McCoy, & Lydon, 2017). Such interventions include audio prompting (AP) and coaching, augmented and virtual reality, and video-based interventions, such as video modeling and video…

This book provides an overview of systematic instructional strategies and is written in a format so that teachers and other service providers can immediately put the information to use. It specifically focuses upon systematic instruction for individuals with disabilities (school age and adults) and is generic across age groups as well as…

The UNESCO-UNEVOC Global Forum "Skills for Work and Life Post-2015" took up the vital topics of youth, skills and greening TVET in the context of the post-2015 development agenda. 2015 marks the end of the Education for All (EFA) initiative, and global and regional debates are sharpening the focus of discussions geared towards setting…

The authors accept urban reform as their main calling with their aim being to break the poverty cycle with a multi-faceted, educational, and family-centered approach. The authors speak about providing a broad range of education programs and social services including low-cost housing in comfortable apartments for single mothers, early childhood…

This article describes the new Occupational & Life Skills (OLS) program at Bellevue Community College in Bellevue, Washington. The OLS-Venture program, as it is now called, grew out of a series of continuing education classes in personal finance, cooking, and related life skills for people with autism, obsessive-compulsive disorder and other…

Families in India face many challenges in caring for and educating their children with disabilities. India has enacted a landmark special education law, Persons with Disabilities Act of 1995, which provides schooling and services to all children. For some students with disabilities, however, integrated and special schools are providing schooling.…