ACE'ing The Spectrum: Transition Planning for High School Seniors

Join AutismTN for a presentation from Community Partner Transition Tennessee on how parents/caregivers and teachers can plan and support their high-school age students as they graduate and move from school-based services.

This event is being held in-person and online.

About Transition Tennessee:

Transition Tennessee is a website that provides high quality and on-demand professional development, resources, and transition-focused student activities. The mission of TransitionTN is to make sure that all students with disabilities in Tennessee have access to the best opportunities, instruction, supports, and services to help them achieve their goals for after high school. We address this goal by:

• Equipping transition professionals (e.g., teachers, school leaders, Pre-ETS providers) with research-based practices and effective policies
• Connecting transition professionals with practical and relevant resources
• Delivering high-quality professional development
• Engaging student lessons that cover a wide range of transition topics
• Information and links to important outside agencies to support students in transition
• Practical tips sheets for families

About the facilitators:

Leah Burgess is an Education Consultant in the Department of Special Education at Vanderbilt University. Her previous work history has focused on serving individuals with Serious Mental Health, Intellectual and Developmental disabilities. She has worked with Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) to ensure that adults and youth with disabilities receive Supported Employment Services. Through working with VR, she has focused on transition-age youth receiving Pre-Employment Transition Services (Pre-ETS) and provided services in classroom and individual settings. She successfully placed youth into paid summer work experiences that reflected their job interests.

Hope Armstrong is an Educational Consultant in the Department of Special Education at Vanderbilt University. She received her Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education and Master of Arts in Education in School Counseling. Her previous work has focused on serving youth in various settings. She has provided Pre-Employment Transition Services to youth and young adults in the high school and postsecondary education settings. She worked in partnership with Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) to help these individuals reach their goals. She also has experience working as a teacher, intervention specialist for a family preservation program, and program manager of a therapeutic foster care program.​

​Have questions about this event? Contact us at outreach@autismtn.org or call our HELPline at (615) 270-2077.