What if I can get a student to decide on Post School Outcomes (PSO)? What if the student identifies outcomes in an area that seems unrealistic to the IEP team?
The PSO section shouldn’t be a surprise to the student. It should be discussed in advance of the IEP meeting so some thought and planning about his/her future is discussed. This can be accomplished through interest inventories, vocational assessments, career exploration, or personal interview. If a student is having difficulty deciding, it’s acceptable to put “undecided at this time”. However, that should alert the team that a goal or objective should be identified to provide more career information to the student so he/she can make an informed decision. Generally two types of information should be included in the PSO. Information should include the support the student will need (ie., working independently with no supports, or with a job coach), and the level of the areas of interest that have been expressed. If a student identifies something unrealistic (ie., wanting to be an astronaut), the team might include this goal and discuss related options that may result in another choice. A
