Preparing for adulthood

School transition planning

Federal law (IDEA) requires transition services in the IEP no later than the first one in effect when a student turns 16. Tennessee’s own special-education rule goes further: the first IEP in effect when a student turns 14 must include “appropriate measurable postsecondary goals” covering training, education, employment, and — where appropriate — independent living skills, plus annual IEP goals aligned to those.

Ask specifically for the transition plan by name if the school hasn’t raised it by 14 — it doesn’t always happen automatically even when it’s required.

Summary of Performance

When a student’s special-education eligibility ends because of graduation with a regular diploma or aging out, federal law requires the school to provide a Summary of Performance: a summary of the student’s academic achievement and functional performance, with recommendations for meeting postsecondary goals. Ask when it will be prepared and request a copy for your own records — adult service providers and colleges often ask for it.

Important records to keep

Start a folder — paper or digital, whatever will actually get used — and keep copies of:

• Every evaluation and IEP, especially the most recent
• Medical records, current diagnoses, medications, and specialist contact information
• SSI or other benefit determination letters
• A state ID or driver’s license
• A Social Security card
• A birth certificate
• Voter registration status, if applicable and wanted
• The Summary of Performance, once issued

Several of these — a state ID, a Social Security card’s number, a birth certificate — get asked for repeatedly across SSI, VR, ECF CHOICES, and healthcare applications. Gathering them once saves re-requesting them under deadline pressure later.

Decision-making

At 18, decision-making authority defaults to the adult unless something else is in place. Three tools cover most situations, roughly from least to most restrictive:

• Supported decision-making — the adult keeps every right and formally chooses trusted people to help think decisions through.
• Power of attorney — the adult voluntarily grants specific authority without a court removing anything.
• Conservatorship — a court removes specific rights and assigns them elsewhere. It is sometimes genuinely necessary, but it is a last resort, not a default, and Tennessee courts are expected to consider less-restrictive options first.

This is a decision worth making with the autistic person involved, in whatever way they communicate, and with enough lead time to avoid deciding it in a rush right before a birthday. Full detail: Legal and Financial Planning.

Healthcare transition

Pediatric practices age patients out, usually somewhere in the late teens to early twenties, and adult-side healthcare works differently — different consent rules, different provider search, often a different building entirely. Got Transition, a federally funded resource center, organizes this into six core elements that pediatric and adult practices use to plan the handoff:

1. A written transition policy, shared with families around ages 12–14
2. Tracking and monitoring progress toward transition, roughly ages 14–18
3. Assessing transition readiness — how much of their own healthcare the young person can manage, and what support they’ll still need
4. Planning ahead, including a medical summary the new provider can use
5. Transferring care to adult-focused providers, typically ages 18–21
6. Confirming the transfer succeeded, typically by ages 18–23

Ask your child’s pediatrician directly when they expect to transition patients and whether they have adult-provider recommendations already. More on finding adult providers: Adult Healthcare, Therapy, and AAC.

Service applications

• SSI at 18. Supplemental Security Income stops counting a parent’s income once the applicant turns 18, and Social Security runs a fresh “age-18 redetermination” using the adult disability standard. Some applicants — including youth in foster care — can start the process before the birthday; ask Social Security how early you can begin in your situation.
• Vocational Rehab and Pre-ETS, ages 14–22. Free job exploration, work-based learning, and self-advocacy training for students with an IEP, 504 plan, or documented disability, run through Tennessee VR while still in school. See our Vocational Rehab guide.
• ECF CHOICES or other DDA intake. TennCare’s long-term services and supports for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Capped by funding, so apply as early as eligibility allows rather than waiting for a specific age.
• TennCare. Coverage rules and pathways can change once income is assessed based on the adult rather than the household. Confirm current coverage doesn’t lapse across the transition.
• ABLE TN. A tax-advantaged savings account a disabled adult can own without risking SSI or Medicaid. Details: our ABLE TN guide.

Transportation

School buses stop when school eligibility ends, and getting to work, day programs, or appointments becomes its own project. A few starting points:

• MCHRA / Murfreesboro paratransit. Murfreesboro’s ADA paratransit is operated by the Mid-Cumberland Human Resources Agency: wheelchair lift-equipped, origin-to-destination service, $2 per one-way trip, scheduled a day ahead. Eligibility runs through the city’s Eligibility Coordinator, 615-801-3039; to schedule a ride once approved, call MCHRA at 615-890-2677.
• WeGo Access. Nashville/Davidson County’s ADA paratransit, for families in that service area — door-to-door, $3.70 per trip, operating 4:45 a.m. to 1 a.m. daily. Eligibility: 615-880-3596; scheduling: 615-880-3970.
• Driver rehabilitation. For an autistic adult who may be able to drive, a certified driver rehabilitation specialist can evaluate readiness and recommend adaptive equipment where needed — ask a rehab hospital or occupational therapy provider for a referral.
• Learning routes deliberately. Practicing a specific bus route, rideshare pickup spot, or walking route repeatedly, before it’s needed for a job or program, tends to work better than learning it under first-day pressure.

More local and regional options: Find transportation services in the Resource Directory.

Planning for the end of school-based services

Tennessee entitles a student with a disability to special education and related services until the student earns a regular high school diploma or reaches age 22 — and a student who turns 22 during the school year keeps services through the end of that school year. After that, school-based services end regardless of how ready anything else is, which is exactly why the planning above is dated years ahead rather than started at 21.

What’s typically lined up before that last day:

• An employment, day program, or continued-education plan already in motion, not started from a blank page
• Project SEARCH, a school-to-work program that trains inside a real business rather than a classroom — Tennessee runs it at 17 sites statewide, including one at Embassy Suites with Rutherford County Schools in Murfreesboro. Ask a full year ahead; seats are limited.
• Continued Pre-ETS or a completed VR employment plan
• Adult healthcare, transportation, and (where relevant) ECF CHOICES or DDA services already applied for, not just considered

More on the options themselves: Employment, Day Programs, and Community Life.

• Is a transition plan already part of the IEP? If not, can we add one today?
• What postsecondary goals are listed for training or education, employment, and independent living, and who set them?
• What does the timeline look like between now and age 22?
• When will Pre-ETS start, and which service areas will we use first?
• Who is our assigned VR counselor, and how do we reach them directly?
• What will the Summary of Performance include, and when will we receive it?
• What happens to related services like speech, OT, or PT as the transition plan moves forward?
• Is Project SEARCH or a similar work-based program an option, and when should we apply?
• What records will we need copies of before graduation or exit?