Overview of UDT
Transition Planning for Students with Disabilities
Universal Design for Transition is an application of the principles of universal design for learning to support the planning for the transition from school to adult life for students with disabilities.
The Individuals with Disabilities Improvement Act (IDEA, 2004) and the Every Student Succeeds Act (2015) have introduced a shift in the focus of the types of educational supports and services that are provided to students with disabilities, requiring that they be based in the general education curriculum.
'Thoma, Bartholomew, Tamura, Scott, & Terpstra (2008
What was happening before IDEA?
Prior to these requirements, special education supports and services were often very separate from the academic content taught to students without disabilities. Some were included in general education classrooms and/or received instruction from that general education curriculum, but that was not the case for all (or even most) students with disabilities. This was particularly the case for high school students with disabilities who only received instruction designed to prepare them for their adult lives (particularly employment and community living).
Need to Connect Academic & Functional Skills
The changes to increase the academic rigor of instruction provided to students with disabilities did not eliminate the need to prepare students with disabilities for their adult lives, but instead to blend the two seemingly disparate goals. It recognized that all students are best prepared for adult lives when they have a solid academic foundation and they exit high school with an understanding of and plan for their lives in multiple domains.