All Episodes

September 29, 2025 • 14 mins

Send us a text

Hosts Meghan (Smallwood) and Patrick (Cadigan) discuss more in-depth how transition fairs can help families with planning through the transition process. The duo highlight how fairs will typically promote providers and agencies offering various services, including day programs, residential agencies, and recreational opportunities. They emphasize the value of early planning, advising families to gather information, organize it in a transition binder, and consider specific needs. They also suggest using checklists, attending breakout sessions, and engaging with providers to make informed decisions. Join the conversation!

Episode Keywords:
Transition fair, post-secondary transition, families with disabilities, resources, providers, agencies, day programs, residential agencies, community development, Special Olympics, disability rights, estate planning, transition coordinators, special educators, breakout sessions

Episode Links:
Adult Agency Snapshot (page)
Guardianship (page)
Alternatives to Guardianship (page)
Transition Tools (page)
Developmental Disabilities Agencies (page)
Vocational Rehabilitative Agency (page)

Maryland (specific) Links/Supports:
Disability Rights Maryland (site)
DORS (page)
DDA (page)

Support the show

To download a copy of a transcript for this episode or any of our previous conversations, click here.
Also visit our Podcast webpage to find links to all of our other discussions; go to www.p2transition.com.
Additional information about post-secondary transition can be found at our website.
The Post-Secondary Transition Podcast Facebook page.
Visit our YouTube Channel to find additional video resources.
Intro/Outro music by AudioCoffee from Pixabay.
Transition music by Joseph McDade from Transistor.


Mark as Played
Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Patrick Cadigan (00:00):
Welcome. This is the Post-Secondary Transition

(00:02):
podcast where we haveconversations around the ins and
outs and everything in betweenof the transition process for
families of students withdisabilities. I am one of the
hosts. My name is PatrickCadigan.

Meghan Smallwood (00:14):
And I am the other host and my name is Meghan
Smallwood.

Patrick Cadigan (00:17):
And we are both transition coordinators in our
world, Meghan and I have afairly big event coming up.
We're going to have a transitionfair in the area where we live
in. And so we wanted to kind oftalk briefly about that and some
not only transition fairs andwhat they are, but also what

(00:41):
families can expect from them,some of the things that circle
around transition fairs. So whatto get started? Meghan, do you
want to give our new listeners adefinition for transition fair,
what is it?

Meghan Smallwood (00:57):
Sure! So, like Patrick said, it's kind of that
time of the year that I think alot of places are holding these
events, and it's basically anopportunity for families to walk
around at their pace and gatherinformation about a bunch of
resources that have to do withthat post secondary world. So

(01:17):
every fair might be different,but overall, I think they all
have providers and agencies thatwill be there to support the
young adult in whatever goalthey have when they leave the
school system, specifically toour transition. Fair, I know we
have over 70 different providersand agencies coming for a slew
of different services. So wemight have coordinators for DDA

(01:40):
coming to, you know, just meetfamilies and share about why
their coordinating agenciesbetter than the others. There
will be day program providers,residential agencies, personal
support agencies, communitydevelopment service agencies,
also Rec and leisureopportunities will be there, for

(02:01):
example, Special Olympics,that's a big one I know, not
just in our area, but in manyareas. And they will come and
share the activities that myyoung adult could participate
in, even after they leave theschool system. We also have
other agencies or organizationscoming that will support
families and some of thosemilestones that we talk to. You

(02:22):
know, we have disability rightsMaryland, who is a huge
supporter of alternatives toguardianship, so they'll be
sharing some of their resourcesand help answer any questions
families might have about it,and we have other agencies that
help with estate planning thatwill be there to answer
questions. So it's a really goodopportunity for families to come

(02:43):
with those questions that mightbe in the back of their mind,
and they're not quite sure whothe person is to ask you might
get the expert in that areathere to answer it for you.

Patrick Cadigan (02:53):
So I know that in our area, the way that
families find out abouttransition fairs is, of course,
they have people like us, right?
They have transitioncoordinators. We get these, you
know, emails together. We sendthem out. Meghan, what do you
think for families in placesthat don't have transition
coordinators, how can familiesfind out about these?

Meghan Smallwood (03:13):
I think the school website, or the county
website, Public School Systemwebsite, might be a good
resource, because they usuallywill list all the different
events occurring in the schoolsystem, so you might find it on
a calendar there Department ofSpecial Ed. I know we have a lot
of families that will call ouroffice and talk to the
secretary, because they've heardthis through the grapevine and
they wanted more information.
But I think word of mouth fromother families too is a huge

(03:36):
one. You know, I have a lot offamilies that will approach me
and say, Oh, I heard, you know,so and so mentioned that this
event they went to last year,you're doing it again this year.
So there's so many differentareas. I think you just need to
be on the lookout and talk toothers who may also be in your
shoes and know about it.

Patrick Cadigan (03:52):
And another thing is, off the top of my
head, as I'm thinking about it,it probably wouldn't be a bad
idea to also reach out to yourstudent, special educator,
specifically and say, hey, youknow this is something that I've
heard about. Is there anyinformation that you have that
you can share that wouldprobably not be a bad idea? You
have a family who is juststarting the transition process

(04:17):
right? What advice could weshare with them that will help
them to narrow down what theyreally need.

Meghan Smallwood (04:25):
I think that that's a good point, because we
have a lot of middle schoolfamilies who have started
coming. We're trying to reachdown younger and younger for
families to begin planning andresearching early on. But I
think it all goes back to thatgoal of what the vision is for
your young adult when theyleave, you know, I know that's
hard to think about, but do yousee them working? Do you see

(04:47):
them pursuing some kind of postsecondary, like college program?
Do you see them going to a dayprogram? You know, that kind of
replicates the school day? Isthat what they need? So I think
kind of having a goal. In mind,just so you can start that
conversation and get some ofthat information about what it
might look like, and it'll helpshape your idea of how to

(05:10):
prepare for the future too. Ialso think families that are
coming that are on the youngerside, they get lost and
overwhelmed, and I know familieswho are exiting too. Have said,
you know, oh my gosh, there's somuch information. I don't even
know what to do. My advice is togather all of it. You know, I
remember my first year, I wentto the transition fair, a brand
new into transition. I had noidea what I was supposed to get

(05:33):
or what who was supposed to talkto, so I went from table to
table and just put somethingfrom every table in my bag. I
didn't really even talk toanybody. I just wanted the
handout. And I went back to mydesk, and I kind of organized it
based off of, was this, like aprovider for day programs? Was
this someone who was with, youknow, rec and leisure, just so I

(05:54):
had a general idea of what namewent with what area, and we're
going to for our fair try andhelp families by color coding it
this year to make it a littleeasier for them, because it is a
lot of people that you'retalking to and seeing and it
gets all mixed up. So I thinkjust gathering it all and
putting it in your transitionbinder, which we always suggest

(06:15):
you organizing at home, and thenover time, you might realize,
okay, I don't need this, and youcan get rid of something. Or you
might realize one is reallysounding good and you want to go
back and visit them on personallevel. So it just, it just helps
you familiarize What, what's outthere. Some follow up advice for
those families who are gettingready to exit is, this is a

(06:36):
great opportunity for you tomingle with those providers. And
if you haven't gone on a touryet, this is a great chance to
connect with, you know, theadmissions director, the general
director, and get their businesscards so you can reach out and
set up a time to go on a tour ofthese programs and see it
firsthand.

Patrick Cadigan (06:53):
One additional thing that I will throw out
there, and this is a resourcethat we had been working on for
quite a while. If you go to ourmain website,
www.postsecondarytransition.com,right up at the top, you will
see buttons for links to some ofthe resources. And if you go to
where to start, there is abutton there that says, Start

(07:15):
Here. Now we have divided up theinformation in two separate
categories; we have our friendswho at least where we are. It's
called a Certificate ofCompletion. These are going to
be our friends who leave theschool system with without what
would be considered atraditional diploma. For us,

(07:37):
it's referred to as acertificate of completion. But
then we've also designated anarea for our diploma-bound
friends, because, of course,they need help and support
sometimes as well. But there iswhat we have always thought of
as a checklist and for thedifferent groups, and that can

(07:57):
be pretty handy to follow, andsometimes like, I know, for so
many of my families, like, oh,man, they just, they need
checklists. Like they love theirchecklists. And so that was one
of those things that, you know,we had thought about, and that
was why we put this together.
But when you go to thesetransition fairs, think of it
like that. Where on thatchecklist are you, you know, and
what are those? What are thoseresources that you could be

(08:19):
looking for.

Meghan Smallwood (08:23):
Yeah, absolutely, what is important to
you at this time and moment. Andthat's why it's so good to go
not just that last year, but somany years before that, because
every year you might have adifferent area in mind that you
want to go in exploring andfiguring out. So that's a good
point.

Patrick Cadigan (08:39):
Yeah, because, I mean realistically speaking,
like, let's say that you have astudent who is in ninth grade.
You're probably not necessarilythinking about agencies that
your student, your child, willspend time with. You know what?
567, years down the line, thereare probably other things that

(09:01):
you're going to be thinkingabout that are more school
based, however, as you aremoving through the school years,
yeah, those, like Meghan wassaying, those needs will will
come into sharper focus, mostlikely, well.

Meghan Smallwood (09:18):
And I think, like I mentioned, if you plan on
connecting with some of them,and you know, you're planning
for exit in the next year or so,and you're going to visit these
programs. I think having thatlist of questions to ask them
when you go either to the fairor on a, you know, individual
tour is so important becauseit's kind of like an interview,

(09:39):
you know, you want to find outwhat the specific information is
about each provider, since theyare so different, and you want
to make notes, because it startsto all blend together after a
little while. You know, I havefamilies who keep notebooks when
they go and they have to flipback to remember, Oh, I saw this
program they said this, youknow, because certain things
will stick out in your mind.
Mind when you're talking tothem. But I think having that

(10:02):
list of questions just to asksome general information about,
like transportation, you know,are you going to provide curb to
curb service, the timing of, youknow, any kind of program or
support what a typical day mightlook like? Do you have an
example of a calendar? How doyou communicate with families
like these things that mightoccur in their school day on a

(10:23):
daily basis that I hate to saywe've taken for granted, but
you've been in that situationfor so many years that it just
comes natural, and now you'refaced with a whole different
reality. So it is good to knowwhat to expect, and also, if you
are applying and looking forcertain programs you want to
find one that meets your needsthe best. So knowing that

(10:44):
information will really helpmake the choice a little easier.

Patrick Cadigan (10:48):
Hopefully keep in mind that transition fairs
are going to differ area toarea, school system to school
system, things like that, but Iremember in past transition
fairs that I have visited, bothin our county and in other
counties, there have been, like,breakout sessions. And sometimes
these breakout sessions are havehave very, very specific

(11:11):
information, like there was onethat I can think of from about a
year or two ago that our localVR agency sent out some
counselors, and they did a talk,and that was great. Who are some
of the other breakoutdiscussions that we have seen?

Meghan Smallwood (11:25):
We've done it with Developmental Disabilities
Administration and kind of goingover what those services look
like, usually focusing on whatthe exits, you know, year is
going to look like, and what toexpect after. And we have in our
district, started doing a middleschool specific one kind of like
we talked about, what should Ibe thinking this early on about,
and how do I best prepare forthe future?

Patrick Cadigan (11:47):
Now, keep in mind if that, if a transition
fair is something that you aregoing to visit, just, you know,
really give it some thought andthink about what it is that you
are looking for.

Meghan Smallwood (12:02):
Yeah, you can come and go at your leisure. You
know, I know for our fair it's acouple hours long, but I know it
can be overwhelming. I know it'sa lot. It can be scary, it can
be emotional. Come get yourinformation, and then if you
just need to leave, then, so beit, if you want to stay and talk
to someone you know a littlemore in depth, and that's why a
lot of our TransitionSpecialists will tend to because

(12:25):
I think in the moment, it's,it's right in front of you, and
it's like, oh, this is a topicI've been meaning to get around
to. And here's this person whocan help me, let me talk to them
directly right now and startworking towards it. And I've
seen that happen a lot too. Soit is a really good place to
connect. And, you know, startthat process if you're really
not sure what to do.

Patrick Cadigan (12:45):
And I think that that is a fantastic place
to stop a really good, quickconversation to have around
this. I'm looking forward to thetransition fair that we're going
to participate in, and I I nerdout on this stuff. So again,
I've been to other transitionfairs in different places, and I
just, I always think it's reallycool.

Meghan Smallwood (13:05):
It is fun to compare to and see what's going
on in other places.

Patrick Cadigan (13:08):
But yes, indeed, and we have said it
before, and we're going to sayit again, we have some more
conversations that are comingup. So please come back and
there will be more to come.
Thanks, everybody.

Meghan Smallwood (13:23):
Thank you.

Patrick Cadigan (13:31):
Our discussions are everywhere. Apple, Spotify,
YouTube, music and others. Sohit that follow button and you
won't miss out, please. If youhaven't already done so,
consider leaving a review,preferably five star. It helps
you spread the word and helpsus, because we know you're
listening. Links to theinformation from our
conversations are always in ourshow notes. Our YouTube channel

(13:53):
contains curated videos thatrevolve around transition,
including playlists forguardianship, alternatives to
guardianship, ABLE accounts andmore to come. And then finally,
check out our website,www.postsecondarytransition.com
full of information and links tomore resources. Thanks so much
for your time spent with us, andwe look forward to talking again

(14:13):
soon.
Advertise With Us

Popular Podcasts

Stuff You Should Know
Dateline NBC

Dateline NBC

Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

The Joe Rogan Experience

The Joe Rogan Experience

The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.