July 24, 2026 | Disability Studies, Education
Academic Challenges in Transition
Some students have no idea what they are going to do after leaving a transition program. Other students have clear ideas of what they would like to accomplish academically or vocationally. Still, the students who are resolute about what they want to do after a transition program typically are unaware of challenges they face regarding their academic and career goals. The position of these students is not unusual. As Vince M. Bertram states, "Many students enroll in college without any idea of what they want to do...Others go to college with some idea of what they want to do, but they haven't invested any time in discovering what a career in their chosen profession requires."1 Bertram suggests that uncertainty and ignorance accompany the majority of students seeking to further their education. A transitional program for students with disabilities interacts with these same students. So, the combination of uncertainty and ignorance does not disappear in students with disabilities. And in fact, such uncertainty and ignorance can take on different shapes and forms. For instance, if we combine this general-academic uncertainty and ignorance with previous academic challenges that students with disabilities face during and after high school, we frame a larger issue of overcoming academic deficiencies and being unaware of available resources and support.
As one should easily see, it could be difficult for a student to focus on understanding or being aware of available resources, support, and accommodations if they have to deal with the consequences of previous academic challenges and setbacks. As Patrick and Wessel state, some students do not get the proper accommodations for their disability in high school.2 Other students receive "over-accomodations". One student, as Patrick and Wessel observed, received assignments with lower expectations (lightened workloads and standards) in high school, which made the student feel unprepared for the higher expectations in college coursework.3 The findings of Patrick and Wessel stress the importance of the right balance between accommodating and enabling students and how many students with disabilities may end up in college or a career not knowing they need accommodations after high school because their disability was ignored or expectations were lowered because of their disability. Such students that face these problems may experience what I call "academic shock" or "vocational shock" when they leave high school. Nevertheless, this shock can persist if students with disabilities are not made aware of the vast support and resources available to them in a transitional program. Therefore, it is crucial that a transitional program for students with disabilities takes care to both provide adequate and justifiable accommodations that do not lessen the academic or vocational expectations of students with disabilities. Failure to do so would only heighten the chance of exposing students with disabilities to the same academic or vocational shock they probably experienced after finishing high school.
It is difficult for me, as an educator, to have high expectations for students if I carry low expectations for myself and the quality of my instruction.
I will note that it would be difficult for me, as an educator, to have high expectations for students if I carry low expectations for myself and the quality of my instruction. If I was an educator with low expectations for myself I might feel I only have to do what I am required to do. But good educators (which all educators should strive to be) consistently push themselves to provide creative, challenging, and comprehensive curriculum that prepares students holistically for the future and depletes themselves temporarily. In other words, educators, especially those blessed to interact with students with disabilities should not shun their responsibility to pour out themselves to their students. And as most good educators will attest, feeling depleted at the end of the school day and year is both normal and rewarding. But most principals, deans, heads of school, instructional coaches,, provosts, department chairs, superintendents, and presidents encourage this kind of instruction instead of requiring it. At any rate, high expectations for students with disabilities and oneself are mutually inclusive.
1. Bertram, Vince M. Dream Differently:Candid Advice for America's Students. (Regnery Publishing, 2017), 12.
2. Patrick, Shawn and Roger D. Wessel. 2013. "Faculty Mentorship and Transition Experiences of Students with Disabilities," Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability, 26 (2): 111.
3. Patrick and Wessel, "Faculty Mentorship and Transition Experiences," 111.