Dr. Valerie Mazzotti, Roy A. Roberts Distinguished Professor of Special Education
Department of Special Education, University of Kansas

This breakout session will build on the keynote address by providing participants with an opportunity to take a deep dive into the employment and interagency predictors of postschool success. Participants will learn how to assess their school’s transition program using the Predictor Implementation School/District Self-Assessment (PISA) developed by the National Technical Assistance Center on Transition: the Collaborative (NTACT:C). Specifically, participants will have an opportunity to evaluate their programs based on the predictors that support employment and interagency collaboration for youth with disabilities.

Location: Illinois Ballroom

Michelle Bumgarner, Project LIFE Replication Specialist 
Butler Tech

Developing employment and independent living skills is essential for post-school success, yet the equally critical role of community inclusion is often overlooked in transition planning. This session, led by educators from Project LIFE, Butler Tech’s nationally recognized transition-to-work program, will demonstrate practical, adaptable strategies for embedding real-world community experiences into any curriculum. Participants will learn how to evaluate current practices, identify gaps in community engagement, and implement evidence-based methods that increase students’ confidence, independence, and sense of belonging. You will leave with concrete tools, sample activities, and planning frameworks that help students with disabilities build meaningful connections and effectively navigate their communities as they transition into adulthood.

Location: Alma Mater

Samantha Conklin, Assistive Technology Facilitator
Infinitec

Assistive technology plays a vital role in helping individuals access information, stay organized, and work independently, yet traditional tools don’t always travel well. Mobile devices close that gap by offering portable, always-available support. In this session, participants will explore iPhone accessibility features and apps that boost reading access and strengthen executive function, enabling individuals to thrive in the classroom, on the job, and in the community. Competencies to promote independent use of that technology will be shared. Participants will leave the session knowing just where to ‘tap, swipe, and succeed’ to further independence!

Location: Lincoln

Bailey Brammeier, Special Education Teacher, Vocational Coordinator, Transition Specialist 
Jacksonville School District #117 

Facilitating transitional programming in a rural community can be challenging. Lack of transportation, lack of funding, and lack of opportunity are just a few of the obstacles we face. In this session we will explore the evolution of our rural transitional program going from a necessity-based placement to a community-based program with outside job experiences. Through thinking outside of the box and the support ICTW's Targeted Technical Assistance (TTA), we have seen a shift in programming and mindset towards real life experience and making the most out of what we have. We will discuss the good, the bad, and the ugly of growth in our transitional program and what our road map for the future looks like.

Location: Quad

Nicole Ditchman, Professor
Illinois Institute of Technology

Meg Murphy, Training and Curriculum Specialist 
Illinois Institute of Technology

Eun-Jeong Lee, Rehabilitation Psychology Professor
University of Wisconsin-Madison

Lindsay Sheehan, Assistant Professor
Illinois Institute of Technology

Claire Sullivan, Research Assistant
Illinois Institute of Technology

Tiona Wu, Research Assistant
Illinois Institute of Technology

Clarissa Velázquez, Research Assistant
Illinois Institute of Technology

This session highlights best practices for designing and sustaining meaningful Work-Based Learning Experiences (WBLEs) for transition-age youth with disabilities. Drawing on lessons from Illinois Tech’s work in the Illinois Pathways to Partnerships Project (IP2P), presenters will outline practical strategies for engaging employers, connecting with the broader community, conducting job analyses, and developing individualized, student-centered WBLEs. Participants will explore actionable tools for planning, building partnerships, and strengthening employment pathways. The session emphasizes evidence-based, community-driven approaches that improve career readiness and employment outcomes for youth with disabilities.

Location: Humanities

Rasha Elhage, Associate Professor
Governors State University

This session explores how artificial intelligence (AI) can transform transition planning and employment pathways for youth and adults with disabilities. Participants will discover practical AI tools that enhance career exploration, job readiness, and workplace accessibility. Grounded in Universal Design for Learning (UDL), the presentation highlights evidence-based strategies to integrate AI ethically and equitably. Real-life case stories illustrate how AI can personalize pathways, reduce barriers, and promote independence while preserving essential human support. Attendees will leave with actionable approaches to build AI literacy, foster inclusive practices, and ensure that emerging technologies serve as a bridge, not a barrier, to employment for all.

Location: Illinois Ballroom

Alexandra Baig, Founder
Pathways to Benefits

This presentation will discuss key Work Incentives that can help people with disabilities earn more while still retaining eligibility for key benefits including SSI, SSDI, CDB/DAC, Medicaid, Medicaid Waivers and Medicare. The presentation will include case studies drawn from real life.

Location: Alma Mater

Hannah Nieto, Assistant Professor of Special Education
North Central College

Magen-Rooney Kron, Assistant Professor of Inclusive Education
University of Missouri St. Louis

What supports successful work experiences for students with intellectual and developmental disability(IDD)? This interactive session will present findings from a qualitative study of 20 transition educators who created community-based work experience (CBWE) programs for their students with IDD. Our findings illuminate factors that transition educators describe as facilitating their CBWE programs, including their interactions with their community, their district, and their staff. Considering the findings, attendees will engage in discussions about how to establish and maintain strong school-community partnerships, advocate for systems change at the district level, and foster collaborative planning with students’ support teams. Overarchingly, attendees will leave the session with practical strategies that can facilitate the design of high-quality, student-centered CBWE programs.

Location: Lincoln

Jessica Wisneski, Employment Specialist/Project SEARCH Skills Trainer
Trinity Services

Megan Kobliska, Teacher/Project SEARCH Instructor
Plainfield School District 202

The UChicago AdventHealth Bolingbrook Hospital Project SEARCH site prepares interns for competitive, integrated employment by emphasizing realistic, industry-aligned work tasks instead of contrived or outdated activities. Our program rejects the traditional focus on minutiae—such as shredding or basic clerical drills—and instead trains students in the actual, entry-level job functions demanded by today’s workforce. This session will highlight our model, outcomes, instructional strategies, and our belief that every student is employable when given high-quality, authentic work experiences. Participants will learn how our approach results in strong employment outcomes and how they can replicate these practices to elevate training quality at their own sites.

Location: Quad

Allison Borland, Transition Specialist/PECT Coordinator 
Special Education Association of Peoria County

Meghan Brake, Youth Services Coordinator
Tazewell-Mason Counties Special Education Association

Learn about our recent Community Conversation event! We will speak on reaching out to participants, finding a venue, creating the flow of the night, the actual event and following up to ensure positive change.

Location: Humanities

Taryn Chrapkowski, Transition Specialist
Hinsdale Township District 86

Ashley Principe, Vocational Coordinator
Hinsdale Township District 86

Jill Moldenhauer, Transition Facilitator
Hinsdale Township District 86

Many districts provide transition programming for employment and independent living skills. We will share our programming, processes, and what we have learned over the last ten years from developing and implementing transition programming that goes above compliance to include dual enrollment for college success.

Location: Illinois Ballroom

Robyn Lewis, Assistant Director
Illinois Institute for Rehabilitation and Employment Research, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Education should support activities and experiences where students with intellectual disabilities (I/DD) can live, learn, and work alongside peers without disabilities. Educators must take on the role of collaborative leader to ensure their students with intellectual disabilities and their families connect with employment support professionals and employers. Special education teachers who effectively engage employers can positively impact employment outcomes for students with I/DD.

The Employer Toolkit for Educators guides educators on engaging employers to increase knowledge and understanding of work and disability in the workplace, identify and understand employers’ needs (demand-side factors), recognize the value of persons with I/DD to the workforce, and realize the necessity of allies to support persons with I/DD.

Location: Alma Mater

Dani Smith, Educational Consultant and Executive Functioning Coach
Self-Employed

This presentation will cover all things Comprehensive Transition and Post-Secondary (CTP) Programs and how teachers can set students up for success in these programs by teaching executive functioning skills in the classroom.

Location: Lincoln

Megan Best, Assistant Professor
University of Kentucky

Madison Ross, Doctoral Student
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Michele Schutz, Assistant Professor
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Person-centered transition planning empowers youth with disabilities to shape their future, fostering self-determination and meaningful outcomes. However, little is known about how teams support youth who cannot use speech to participate fully. This presentation shares findings from a qualitative study conducted in collaboration with a self-advocate who uses augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), exploring the involvement of students who use AAC in transition planning. Interviews with students, parents, special education teachers, and speech-language pathologists highlighted challenges teams face in promoting student engagement. The study identifies barriers and facilitators affecting students’ postsecondary aspirations and offers implications for transition team members. Attendees will gain insights from AAC users’ experiences and practical strategies for effective, student-directed transition planning.

Location: Quad

Kayla Mueth, Special Education Teacher, Transition Teacher
Red Bud High School

Ashley Taylor, Special Education Paraprofessional & Job coach
Red Bud High School

Bill Menn, Special Education Coordinator & Teacher
Red Bud High School

Katelin Uffelmann, Special Education Teacher
Red Bud High School

Work-Based Learning: From Classroom To Community explores how educators can build sustainable pathways that lead students from classroom-based learning to meaningful community employment. This presentation highlights how transition starts within the classroom through the development of classroom businesses, pre-employment and vocational training, and community-based instruction. By integrating real-world work experiences and fostering community outreach, students begin developing essential job skills, independence, and confidence. The session will also demonstrate how work based learning can be used as a tool to encourage collaboration with local businesses and supported employment providers to create partnerships and opportunities for employment. Participants will discuss strategies to strengthen partnerships, align instruction with workforce needs, and support students as they move from structured school environments into competitive or supported employment.

Location: Humanities

Hannah Nieto, Assistant Professor of Special Education
North Central College

Stacy Dymond, Professor and Director
Illinois Center for Transition and Work, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Magen-Rooney Kron, Assistant Professor of Inclusive Education
University of Missouri St. Louis

Paraprofessionals play an important role in preparing students with disabilities for employment by job coaching during community-based work experiences. Special education professionals indicate however that paraprofessionals receive limited training for this role (Dymond et al., 2025). The purpose of this study was to understand topics that are viewed as most important for job coach training and preferred formats for job coach training. Paraprofessional job coaches and job coach supervisors (e.g., special educators, vocational coordinators) in Illinois completed an anonymous, online survey to share their views on these topics. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Finding have implications for topics to include in job coach training and structuring job coach training to align with preferences of those engaged in this important work. 

Location: Illinois Ballroom

Jean Hess, AI Consultant
Self-Employed

Students with disabilities (SWDs) are entering an AI-powered workforce—demanding more than new tools. This session invites transition leaders, educators, and workforce partners to fundamentally rethink readiness, equity, and opportunity in a rapidly evolving world. Together, we’ll challenge outdated assumptions about what skills SWDs truly need, elevating digital fluency, adaptive communication, and empowered self-advocacy as essential competencies. 

Through guided reflection and scenario-based planning, participants will explore how to embed AI and digital literacy into career exploration, life skills, and transition programming—strengthening what already works while evolving it with purpose. 

You’ll leave with a personalized planning outline, inclusive language for team and family engagement, and renewed clarity to lead equity-centered transformation rooted in real student needs—not shiny objects.

Location: Alma Mater

Abby Clark, Administrator
Kaskaskia Special Education District 801

Nicole Birri, Community Research Specialist
Illinois Institute for Rehabilitation and Employment Research, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Learn how to design effective post-secondary transition programs tailored for rural high school students with disabilities. This session covers strategies to overcome geographic and resource challenges by building community partnerships, leveraging local supports, and creating personalized pathways that empower students toward post-secondary outcomes.

Location: Lincoln

Elizabeth Merideth, Pre-Employment Transition Services Specialist, Horizons Team Coordinator
Pre-Employment Transition Services Program, University of Missouri

Students with significant disabilities often face limited access to meaningful transition services and work-based learning due to assumptions about their capabilities and a lack of practical instructional strategies. This session provides educators, transition specialists, and vocational professionals with hands-on, scaffolded techniques for building work-ready behaviors in students with complex support needs. Participants will explore how to engage students in meaningful job exploration curriculum and fade prompts to promote independence in communication, self-regulation, community safety, and job skills. Through real-life examples and modeled activities, attendees will leave with concrete tools to help students develop the skills and confidence necessary for employment and greater autonomy in adulthood.

Location: Quad

Kristin Wagner, Transition and Community Rehabilitation Services Manager
IDHS-DRS

Susan Chapman, Interim Bureau Chief, Assistant Bureau Chief
IDHS-DRS

This session explores strategies for demystifying the PECT contract by breaking down the requirements into clear comprehensible elements. Review of the elements that remained the same, those that changed, and a user-friendly version of program specifics. By making this more transparent, we seek to build confidence and a better understanding of the program.

Location: Illinois Ballroom

Brian Dubina, Pre-Vocational Education Coordinator 
CITE Program, Oak Park and River Forest District 200 

Wendy Kuenster, Teacher/Case Manager
CITE Program, Oak Park and River Forest District 200 

This session presents a community-based model for individualized worksite development in a transition program for students with disabilities. Expanding on fixed job site rotations, the CITE Program (Community Integrated Transitional Education) at Oak Park and River Forest High School matches every student’s skills, interests, and needs with personalized, authentic work experiences in local businesses. Individualized worksites for every student are developed through strong partnerships with chambers of commerce, villages, townships, and existing high school initiatives. CITE draws on these relationships to create tailored student placements. Participants will learn practical strategies for facilitating and developing individualized worksites, explore the challenges of this approach, and gain approaches to build sustainable, student-centered programs that prepare young adults for meaningful employment.

Location: Alma Mater

Amanda Boyd, Vocational Counselor
Illinois Institute of Technology

It is well documented that autistic individuals are at risk for poor postsecondary outcomes (Newman et al., 2011) and subsequently are vulnerable to lower levels of quality of life and wellbeing (van Heijst & Geurts, 2015). Currently, there is little research describing the associations between transition activities completed in high school, self-determination, and wellbeing. Using a multi-methods design, survey data was collected from 152 autistic young adults (ages 18-30). The total number of transition activities completed in high school was associated with higher levels of both self-determination and wellbeing. Self-determination fully mediated the relationship between transition activities and wellbeing in adulthood, illustrating the psychological processes through which transition services shape outcomes for autistic individuals. 

Location: Lincoln

Megan Best, Assistant Professor
University of Kentucky

Sangjee Ha, Doctoral Student
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Transition services in Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) are essential for postsecondary success for youth with disabilities, yet little is known about how special educators perceive them or what supports student- and parent-directed planning. This qualitative study, part of a larger mixed-methods investigation, explored the perspectives of 12 special educators to inform a pre-pilot intervention supporting transition service planning. Preliminary findings indicate that collaboration and relationships, resources and flexibility, and engagement of students, parents, and educators are key facilitators. The same domains can also pose barriers when limited, including restricted access to adult services and systemic or logistical constraints. Implications for practice and research are discussed.

Location: Quad