The Effect of Person Centered Planning Activities On the IEP/Transition Planning Process

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of person centered planning activities on several variables associated with the student's transition planning and Individualized Education Program (IEP) meeting.

Person centered planning activities consisted primarily of (a) development of a personal profile, (b) creation of a vision of a desirable future lifestyle, (c) clarification of action steps / responsible parties to achieve this future vision, and (d) identification of necessary changes in the current service system.

Person centered planning had a significant effect on parent participation in transition planning/IEP meetings, but not on discussion of post-school issues during these meetings. Although other meeting character-istics were similar across groups, parents in the treatment group reported perceptions of increased prepared-ness, participation, student participation, and preparedness to discuss action steps. Treatment group families reported high levels of satisfaction for the person centered planning process.

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