Engaging Parents in Employment Preparation By Kelly Von Lehmden April 28, 2015

Parents Don’t Know What We Don’t Know

 Early Planning and Experiences to focus student career preferences  Early and ongoing collaboration  Paid work experience  Support and Follow-up needed to Stabilize Employment  Source: Iowa Department of Education Essential Systems Elements for Employment

 Educate parents on why planning is important and why their involvement is needed  Never to0 early to start discussion with parents (no later than when student turns 14)  Discuss expectations of employment (some parents aren’t aware that competitive employment is possible)  Encourage parents to start thinking and talking about likes and dislikes of son or daughter Early Planning and Experiences to focus student career preferences

 Work with parents to Identify skills needed for employment  Encourage parents to reach out to other parents  Inform and encourage parents to attend a training on transition  Engage son or daughter in the process!  What can they be doing outside of school (volunteering, community skill building, group memberships etc..) Early Planning and Experiences to focus student career preferences

 Empower parents by educating and encouraging participation in the process  Identify “team”  Parents, Voc rehab, Discovery Services, Case Manager, IEP team members, family members and friends  Identify role of team members and communicate this  Work with team in identifying skills needed for employment so parents can be involved in this at home and in community Early and ongoing collaboration

 Communicate expectations on paid employment in high school  Include parents in discussion on potential employers  Communicate about paid work experiences (lessons learned, skills still needed etc…) Paid work experience

 To know why something is relevant  To know employment is possible  To hear information more than once and in different formats  To know who can answer our questions  Effective and timely communication (without the “jargon”) Parents need:

At the end of the day, the most overwhelming key to a child's success is the positive involvement of parents. Jane D. Hull