Legal Rights

Transition or school to work planning usually takes place between the ages of 14 and 22.  The purpose of the program is to assist students with disabilities in moving from a school environment to a work or post-secondary education program.  The key federal law requiring transition is the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

IDEA guarantees that every student with a disability who is 14 and older has the right to assistance in moving from the world of school to the world of work.  Under IDEA, the school system is required to provide each student with a disability with a plan to assist in this process.

The Rehabilitation Act, another federal law, also provides specific services that state agencies receiving Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) funding can provide to eligible customers. Under the Rehabilitation Act, the term "transition services" means:

a coordinated set of activities for a student, designed within an outcome-oriented process, that promotes movement from school to post school activities, including post secondary education, vocational training, integrated employment (including supported employment), continuing and adult education, adult services, independent living, or community participation.

The coordinated set of activities shall be based upon the individual student's needs, taking into account the student's preferences and interests, and shall include instruction, community experiences, the development of employment and other post school adult living objectives, and, when appropriate, acquisition of daily living skills and functional vocational evaluation.

If your child is blind or has significant vision loss in both eyes, Florida Blind Services should be part of the team that assists in this process.  Because we serve children of all ages, your child probably already has a counselor.  As your child’s services become more work related, she or he may be assigned a new counselor that specializes in to school to work activities.

You have a right to ask that your counselor attend transition or school to work planning meetings and have us listed as a responsible entity on any agreed upon service that assists in helping your child make a successful transition from school to work or post secondary program.

Return to top of page

DISCLAIMER: Links on the Florida Division of Blind Services (DBS) website that are directed toward websites outside the DBS, provide additional information that may be useful or interesting and are being provided consistent with the intended purpose of the DBS website. DBS cannot attest to the accuracy of information provided by non-DBS websites. Further, providing links to a non-DBS website does not constitute an endorsement by DBS, the Florida Department of Education or any of its employees, of the sponsors of the non-DBS website or of the information or products presented on the non-DBS website.