This presentation takes a look at transition portfolios and the post-school transition process and how portfolios can be used to help students move into adult life. It is a vehicle to inform future (post-school) service providers. The portfolios provide a means for students to self-advocate. It provides educators with a way to assist their students in the transition process and parents with an advocacy tool. In addition, students can use their portfolio to have “conversations” with others.
Participants will learn how portfolios can be constructed and can serve as a visual resume. We will look at how portfolios can demonstrate the abilities, skills, and preferences of a student and how this information can be conveyed in a meaningful and permanent manner.
Presenters:
Mary C. Zatta, Ph.D. is the Director of Professional Development at Perkins School for the Blind where she previously served as Assistant Education Director of the Deafblind Program. She is co-author of School to Work: Developing Transition Portfolios for Students with Significant Disabilities and Total LIfe Learning Preparing for Transition: A Curriculum for ALL Students with Sensory Impairments. She is the co-editor of Keys to Educational Success: Teaching Students with Visual Impairments and Multiple Disabilities and a contributing author to Deafblindness: Educational Service Guidelines. Dr. Zatta has given presentations nationally and internationally on various topics related to instruction of children with visual impairments and multiple disabilities including deafblindness.