KEY ISSUES
TRANSITION PORTFOLIO
The purpose of the transition portfolio is to compile information about the
child and family in preparation for transition from SoonerStart to other
services or supports within the community.
The portfolio is meant to provide a
receiving program with an overview of the child from the child and family's
perspective.
The transition portfolio will be the standard assessment report format for
the transition assessment.
- Development of the transition portfolio must begin 6 to 12 months prior to
the child’s third birthday.
- The resource coordinator will have the primary responsibility for coordinating
the development of the transition portfolio and insuring that the portfolio
is completed, however, the portfolio is the child's and the family's,
therefore, it is important for the family to be directly involved in the
development of the portfolio. The resource coordinator and other team
members may contribute to the development of the portfolio.
- The transition portfolio may contain: identifying information about the
child and family, child strengths, activities, schedules, diagnoses,
medications, precautions, family concerns/hopes/dreams, skills that are
developing, friends, resources, and thoughts or other information from the
early intervention service providers and other care providers. The portfolio
may contain anything the family believes is important for the Part B program
to determine eligibility and/or for a receiving program to know about their
child. The family may also exclude anything from the portfolio that they
consider irrelevant or unimportant.
- With parent permission, the transition portfolio will be shared with the
Part B program at the transition planning conference.
SoonerStart
Transition Portfolio
Purpose
The purpose of the transition portfolio is to compile information about the
child and family in preparation for transition from SoonerStart to other
services or supports within the community. The portfolio is meant to provide a
receiving program with an overview of the child from the child and family's
perspective.
Timeline
The transition portfolio will become the standard format for the transition
assessment beginning September 1, 2000 for currently enrolled children who are
thirty months of age or younger. For all other children development of the
transition portfolio may begin at 12 months or earlier, but no later than 6
months prior to the child's third birthday.
Responsibility
The resource coordinator is responsible for coordinating the development
of the transition portfolio and insuring that the portfolio is completed. The
portfolio belongs to the child and family, therefore, it is important for the
family (and anyone else they choose) to be directly involved in the development
of the portfolio. The resource coordinator and other team members may, however,
contribute to the development of the portfolio.
Format
Families decide on the format of their portfolio. The team members may provide
suggestions and ideas to assist the family in deciding on the format that is
best for them. The portfolio may be handwritten or typed. It may include family
photographs - computer scanned or taped on the page, pictures from magazines, or
no pictures as all. The portfolio may be developed on typical 8 1/2" by
11" white, colored, or novelty paper; it may be on construction paper or
poster board; or it could be formatted in a photo album or scrapbook. The
portfolio may be a single page or multiple pages and it may include stickers,
cut-outs, cording, felt letters, or whatever the family chooses to use to depict
their child and family. The text may be written from the child's point of view,
i.e. "My name is Stephanie Dawn Smith. I like to eat raisins, mashed
potatoes, and anything I can find within my reach on the floor," or it can
be written third person, i.e. "The Transition Portfolio of Stephanie Dawn
Smith. Stephanie's favorite foods are raisins and mashed potatoes. It's
important to watch her carefully because she puts everything in her mouth."
The transition portfolio should be as unique and creative as each child and
family. No two portfolios will ever be exactly alike.
Content
Families choose what is to be included or excluded from the portfolio. Sample
content areas and the content may include:
- Child/ Family/ Special Friends
- Name and nickname (if any)
- Picture of child
- Birth date and age
- Family members - names and ages of brothers and sisters
- Family pictures - immediate and extended family
- Pets
- Information and/or pictures of special friends
- Routines/ Activities
- Daily schedule
- Favorite activities, i.e. talking on the phone, singing, bathtime, dance
class
- Favorite toys and/or books
- What You Need to Know/ Special Things About Me/ I am Unique
- Diagnosis and/or significant hospitalizations or incidents
- Medications
- Precautions, i.e. seizures (what to expect and what to do/not do)
- Special equipment, i.e. adaptive spoon or cup, picture board, seat insert
- Hearing/ How I hear
- Vision/ How I see
- Feeding/ How I eat and what I like to eat
- Communication/ How I get my needs met - My words and gestures (and what
they mean)
- Learning
- Strengths
- What I'm learning right now
- Learning needs
- How I learn best
- Things that motivate me
- Emotions
- How to tell when….(I'm mad, I'm being shy, I need to be left alone)
- Resources
- Past team members to contact
- Reference materials
- Community programs/ agencies
- From My Parents
- Successes
- What we would like to see happen this year
- Our hopes and dreams
- The best ways to communicate with me (us), i.e. when we come to pick our
child up, by phone, scheduled parent conferences
- What we would like to know from you and how often
- What we can do to help
- What you can expect from me (us)
- From My SoonerStart Friends
- What we have done together
- Successes
- What we have been doing
- What I've (we've) learned about (child)
- What we hope for (child)
Examples
Examples of transition portfolios are available on the Lee Mitchener Tolbert
Center for Developmental Disabilities website at http://www.ah.ouhsc.edu/tolbert/Portfolios/Index_Portfolio.ASP