A Roadmap from school to the future for students ages 13 to 30 with developmental disabilities living in Delaware and/or receiving special education services.

This is the best-educated generation of teenagers with disabilities to grow up in America. Educated from birth, they have had more complete social and educational opportunities, and they have broken down more walls of segregated classrooms than any previous generation of young men and women with developmental disabilities.

They are confident that they will live, work, and enjoy social lives in their community. And their parents expect that dream to become reality.

But the transition from school to adult life is a winding road that is hard to follow. "Where Do We Go From Here" is your map to successful transition planning.

My name is Blake Bossert, and I am 21 years old. I attended Delcastle Technical High, class of 2004, and was number 38 in my academics classes and the top student in my shop. I was also awarded student of the month two times, and was a national honor student while working a part time job and volunteering as a Boy Scout leader. I also have a developmental disability and started high school in a non-diploma program. I was told I would not graduate on time with my other classmates. Three of them had been in school with me since the third grade, and it was our dream to finish high school together, and we did. I did lots of extra credit, got after school help from my teacher, studied night and day, retook tests to get a higher grade, and didn’t give up. I also had an individual education plan that gave me the accommodation I needed, like someone to read a test to me or being able to use a calculator in math because I can’t do it in my head. My disabilities are ADHD which means I have trouble staying on task if it doesn’t interest me, and dyslexia which is when I know how to say the word but I write it like it sounds. But I am out in the real world now. I work two jobs: one is delivering oil or working on houses, and the other is working at the Center for Disabilities Studies at the University of Delaware. This summer I got to travel to Washington, D.C. to a conference to talk with people from all over the country about being a self advocate and what it means to be one. It was very fun because I stayed at a very nice hotel and made lots of very cool friends and got to tell them what I am doing to make my state better. I do this by working on a webpage for people with disabilities in Delaware. The webpage is one of the best things I have ever done because it has the power to help so many people with getting what they need to be their own person in the world.

New Castle
Kent
Sussex

Please choose your county above or select your county from the 'School' navigation on the left.