Transition/Life Skills Checklists and Resources

Recently, Casey Brown, Director of the Arkansas Career Center at the Arkansas School for the Deaf, posted a question to the NDC listserv community asking for resources, checklists and assessments for transition and career exploration.

This is what our listserv was intended for — to share useful tools and resources with one another. The community answered with great resources, and many people asked for a copy of Casey’s collection of transition checklists and assessments.

We have combined the resources shared on this thread, resources from past listserv discussions on life skills, and information from our Self-Determination Task Force.

This is by no means an exhaustive list. Please continue sharing resources on this topic through the listserv.

Please note that as a federally funded program we do not endorse or recommend specific products, agencies, vendors, or other services.  

Transition Resources

• NDC Topic: Transition includes tipsheets, research summaries and videos

• Pre-ETS Guide

• Take NDC’s online courses

  • Designing Summer Programs for Deaf Youth

  • Developing Accessible Work Based Learning Programs

• Gallaudet University Clerc Center: Transition Info to Go

• National Center on Deaf-Blindness: READY Tool: Readiness Evaluation of Transition to Adulthood for Deaf-Blind Youth

• National Technical Assistance Center on Transition: Toolkits

• The Outreach Center for Deafness and Blindness: Tools for Transition for Deaf and Hard of Hearing

• Texas Sensory Support Network: Virtual Activities for Teachers and Families LiveBinder

• Self-Determination Inventory in ASL developed by University of Kansas and NDC

• Deafverse: Teacher and Player Strategy Guides

• Washington School for the Deaf Transition Services Checklist (created by Teresa Stotler-Martin)

• Transition Competence Battery for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Adolescents and Young Adults

• Transition Skills Guidelines: Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center

• Informal Inventory of Independence and Self-Advocacy Skills for Deaf/Hard of Hearing Students

• Secondary Transition Guide for Students Who Are Deaf Or Hard Of Hearing developed by the Michigan Department of Education

• Minnesota Transition Guide for Teachers of Deaf/Hard of Hearing – Some notable evaluation forms include:

  • Deaf/Hard of Hearing – Independent Living Competency Skills

  • Work Readiness Skills

• The Expanded Core Curriculum for Students who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing developed by the Iowa Department of Education

• Guide to Access Planning (GAP) developed by Phonak

  • Personalized Transition Notebook

• Deaf Self-Advocacy Training Toolkit developed by the National Consortium of Interpreter Education Centers (NCIEC)

• The I’m Determined Project developed various guides and templates for youth with disabilities to become self-determined.  Some of these resources include:

  • Goal Plan

  • Student Rubric for IEP Participation

  • Critical Decision Points for Families of Children with Disabilities

• The National Technical Assistance Center on Transition (NTACT) developed various resources and toolkits on topics related to secondary education and services for students with disabilities.  Some of these resources include:

  • Differences Between High School and College

  • Differences Between Secondary and Postsecondary Education

  • Using the Self-Advocacy Strategy to Teach IEP Meeting Participation

  • Resource Mapping Guide Toolkit

  • Postsecondary Education and Training Toolkit

For Purchase Resources

• Kaufman Functional Academic Skills Test (K-FAST) (publisher retired)

• Brigance Transition Skills Inventory

Career Assessment/Evaluation

• DeafTEC: Online Learning

• O*NET OnLine: My Next Move

• Functional Vocational Evaluation developed by the Rhode Island School for the Deaf

For Purchase Resources

• Picture Interest Career Survey

• CareerScope

Life Skills

• Casey Life Skills

• Deaf/Hard of Hearing – Hearing Loss Competency Skills

• Activities of Daily Living (SELF) Training (ADL) 2019 Assessment Rubric

• Project Core

  • Core Vocabulary Sets