Engaging Families Effectively: Results From a Forums and Facebook Group Qualitative Research Study

Attendees learned how families have modeled employment and advocated for their children to have early work experiences similar to those of their peers without disabilities. Attendees heard how the service system and families have tried to engage across language barriers and socioeconomic differences. The strategies that currently exist to inform families about transition and employment will be discussed, and juxtaposed to the common themes found throughout focus groups and interviews around what they proposed would be the best timing of engaging families about transition services, the best methods of disseminating transition process knowledge, the knowledge gaps, and the strategies that families think would be most useful to develop to smooth the transition process to employment. Eric McVay provided his perspective about the research findings and how this process can more closely align with Self Advocates’ goals around getting better jobs in the community.