This book describes research-based practices and provides strategies for transition of adolescents and young adults who use AAC in a variety of areas, including educational, vocational, and social domains. This book is volume 6 in the ""AAC"" series and provides information on transition issues for professionals who support individuals who use AAC. It covers the entire range of planning for transition in high school through post-secondary education, employment, independent and community living. This book will bring together experts from the fields of special education, transition planning, voc-rehab, communication disorders, and AAC. Each chapter opens with a preface by an AAC user describing his or her personal transition experience. New developments in AAC technology and educational services have changed the long-term expectations of individuals who use AAC and their significant others. Positive outcomes in employment, independent living, and the opportunity for adult social relationships have provided models of what is possible, but to date these benefits have been enjoyed by only a limited number of individuals. This book will help to disseminate not only success stories as a first step towards raising the expectations of those who work with individuals who use AAC.
David B. McNaughton, Ph.D., is a professor of education at The Pennsylvania State University. He teaches coursework in augmentative communication and assistive technology and collaboration skills for working with parents and educational team members. Dr. McNaughtons research interests include literacy instruction for individuals who use AAC and supports to employment for individuals with severe disabilities. He is a partner in the Rehabilitation Engineering and Research Center in Communication Enhancement (AAC-RERC), funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR).
David R. Beukelman, Ph.D is the Barkley Professor of Communication Disorders at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Director of Research and Education of the Communication Disorders Division, Munroe/Meyer Institute of Genetics and Rehabilitation at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, A research partner in the Rehabilitation Engineering and Research Center in Augmentative and Alternative Communication, and a senior researcher in the Institute for Rehabilitation Science and Engineering at the Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital. With Pat Mirenda, he co-authored the textbook, Augmentative and Alternative Communication: Management of Severe Communication Disorders in Children and Adults. He served as editor of the Augmentative and Alternative Communication Journal for four years.
The authors transcend most books focused on this age group by addressing the whole person, and by moving transition planning away from simple compliance and paperwork to the impacts of real-life outcomes.
