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Federation webinar spotlights youth-led transition projects and student-directed IEPs
Summary
A webinar hosted by the Federación para Niños con Necesidades Especiales highlighted youth-led projects across several states that produced videos, toolkits and training to support young people with disabilities in the transition to postsecondary education and work; presenters emphasized accessible materials and student self-advocacy.
The Federación para Niños con Necesidades Especiales convened a webinar of regional parent centers and youth advisory boards to showcase small, youth-led projects aimed at helping students with disabilities transition to adulthood.
Daniel Dautri, the federation’s "coordinadora de conexión," opened the event and described a newly formed youth advisory board that includes 10 members from Massachusetts who receive monthly stipends to advise on content and events. "Recibieron un estipendio mensual de 50 dólares," he said, describing the board’s role in organizing panels and conference programming.
Elines Balon, codirectora del estado de Nueva York del proyecto colaborativo de PTIC, described video work produced with youth that will be distributed online. "Tenemos un website y estamos distribuyendo esto a 12,000 personas," she said, noting the team created a 22-minute version plus shorter edits and that videos were edited and subtitled for accessibility.
Student presenters gave first-person accounts of their transition experiences and the value of self-advocacy. Emmit, a 20-year-old student, described the student-directed PEI/IEP as a tool to present strengths and needs to school staff and families: "Es un PEI dirigido por el estudiante," he said, explaining it helped him communicate accommodations and later succeed in postsecondary steps.
Heidi Freeman, a transition specialist who worked with Ohio partners, emphasized direct youth involvement in helping shape local practice. "Cuando las voces se escuchan, cambio real ocurre," she said, describing months of collaborative work connecting youth and staff to create meaningful materials for Ohio.
Presenters from Nebraska and North Dakota described classroom-based projects that prepared seniors for employment through communication tools and two-sided handouts (one project labeled "Mis zapatos"), while Vermont partners described producing a short film with diverse representation and accessibility features such as audio description and simplified language.
Organizers also noted accessibility measures used during the webinar itself: closed captions, Spanish interpretation and sign-language interpretation. The hosts said all videos, PowerPoint slides and a recording would be posted to host websites in the coming days.
The webinar concluded with thanks to participating organizations and youth; organizers invited attendees to submit remaining questions via the chat Q&A for follow-up.
