5: Transitions, Testing, and and Helping Kids Understand Who They Are with Cara Fleming, School Psychologist

Summary: Cara Fleming is a school psychologist at the high school level, as well as a transition consultant. What’s a transition consultant? I’m glad you asked. Transition consultants help kids successfully make the leap from high school to college and/or the workforce. Cara was great to interview. We laughed a fair amount, looked at things in new ways, and discovered some interesting things along the way. Cara talks transitions, testing, and shares why she isn’t a geneticist. Her knowledge and enthusiasm really shine through. I’m sure you’ll enjoy the show. Cara can help with questions around transition from high school, and also performs independent testing for families looking into Special Education diagnosis in the New England area. She can be contacted at CaraFlemingTransitions@gmail.com. As usual, I can be found at ADHDessentials.com. Or email me at brendan@ADHDessentials.com. P.S. This was the first episode I recorded for the podcast. I’ve learned some things since then (mostly on the technical end - editing & recording stuff), but I’m pretty happy with it.   SHOW NOTES: 2:27    The child HAS to be involved in the transition process 3:31     Kids need to have something they can succeed at 5:49     Disability Awareness 7:18     Disability documentation and the transition to college 8:08     Some colleges specialize in students with disabilities 10:13   Self-Advocacy and College 11:46   ADHD Supports in College 14:06   504 vs. IEP 16:42   Why Special Ed Teachers want to be useless 18:31   But, what if my kid isn’t going to college!?! 19:01   Licenses and 504s 19:56   How to ask for accommodations in the real world 22:28   Know your disability 23:15   “How can I do a better job for you?” 23:38   Sparkle! Sparkle! Sparkle!… Documentation 25:55   Empathy for testers and school staff 27:47   Credentials to look for in outside evaluators 29:05   The Historical Perspective 30:04   ADHD leaves a footprint in cognitive testing 31:55   Transition Plans for the Post-High School World 32:45   A Three-Legged Stool on a Really Nice Rug 32:59   The Academic Leg (which Cara turns into a prong) 33:12   Performance based tasks of attention 33:35   Cara changes the stool by adding a fourth leg/prong 34:32   Cara recaps the leg/prongs 34:48   The rug is for transition planning 35:35   ONET 38:14   You have to know what’s bad about the job you want 38:55   Cara talks about transitioning from a Geneticist to a poet (to a school psychologist) 40:37   What Cara loves about her job! (Besides the kids) 41:16   Why helping kids understand who they are matters 42:31   Self knowledge shifts the locus of control to the individual 43:43   Cara’s daughter turning 15 gave her a new empathy for parents 45:06   Ending Essentials