Parent involvement during the transition planning meetings prior to graduation was aligned with real student success in post-secondary outcomes of work or education. When parents were not aware or had access to resources for supporting successful transitions, special needs students suffered, specifically of African American culture. This study aimed to address the research problem of graduated African American students with special needs transitioning to work and/or post-secondary education in North Carolina, and to fulfill the research purpose by identifying barriers and helpful resources in the transition planning process following graduation from high school. In this study, purposeful and snowballing sampling were used to recruit four graduated African American students with special needs and four parents/guardians of graduated African American students with special needs to identify barriers and helpful resources during the transitional planning process in NC. Findings revealed that many of the parents and graduates lacked resources and knowledge of where to seek information to successfully transition to post-secondary outcomes of work or education. In addition, many parents stated that they just were not informed of services being offered following graduation, such as the Vocational Rehabilitation Agency. Through self-determination skills, graduates found resources needed to independently live on their own. As well, parents researched community support to aid in the transition process. Graduates reported that the school's courses allowed them to gain skills needed to succeed in the job market. Recommendations for further research include exploring graduated special needs students from other races and ethnicities, using a larger sample size, and exploring graduates' from different states. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]