Transition Access, Skills, and Knowledge (TASK)

As youth with autism transition to adulthood, they often experience significant obstacles with employment, post-secondary education, and difficulties with socialization. Oftentimes, these challenges are caused or worsened by lack of access to needed adult disability services, particularly when youth with autism exit the high school system. The adult service system presents numerous challenges, including understanding eligibility and waiting lists. An important aspect of increasing youth with autism's access to adult services is transition-planning, defined in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act as a "coordinated set of activities...to facilitate the child's movement from school to post-school activities" (2004). However, transition planning often does not prepare youth with autism and their families for the adult service system due to a lack of knowledge amongst students with autism, parents, and special education teachers. Special education teachers also often lack resources to support their students in accessing adult services. Therefore, it is essential that special education teachers have resources as they support their students during transition-planning and preparing to access adult disability services.

To support special education teachers, their students with autism, and families, we are developing Project TASK (Improving Transition Planning for Students with Autism By Enhancing Access, Skills, and Knowledge of Adult Services). Based on the Volunteer Advocacy Program - Transition (VAP-T) and TRIAD Transition Program (TTP), the purpose of TASK is to provide special education teachers with resources to support their students with autism and families in accessing adult disability services. We are currently developing TASK with input from students, parents, teachers, and service providers in Tennessee (see Participate in research for more details). After TASK is developed, we will conduct a randomized-control trial across a variety of school settings to test TASK's effectiveness.

Project TASK is funded by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) - U.S. Department of Education.

Julie Lounds Taylor, PhD is a Professor of Pediatrics and Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center and co-director of the Vanderbilt Kennedy University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities. With other 75 peer-reviewed publications, she has made important discoveries regarding challenges faced by individuals on the autism spectrum after leaving high school and during the transition to adulthood. She regularly provides expertise in transition and adult-related issues to federal autism committees and initiatives. Additionally, Dr. Taylor developed and led a multi-site randomized control trial of ASSIST (Advocating for SupportS to Improve Service Transition), a 12-week program focused on improving the knowledge and advocacy skills of parents with transition-aged autistic youth to increase access to services and other resources.

Meghan M. Burke, PhD, BCBA-D is a Professor of Special Education at Vanderbilt University. Dr. Burke's research focuses on parent advocacy, families of individuals with developmental disabilities, disability policy, and how siblings of individuals with disabilities transition to caregiving roles. Previously, she developed the Volunteer Advocacy Program (VAP), a program that trains advocates about special education law. Additionally, Dr. Burke is a site-PI for the ASSIST randomized control trial. 

The team is working in partnership with the Treatment and Research Institute for Autism Spectrum Disorders (TRIAD) at the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center. To learn more about TRIAD, click here.