Texas Transition Conference

The 2024 Texas Transition Conference will be held February 28 – March 1st in Royal Sonesta Galleria in Houston, TX. Visit the hotel page for more information.

The maximum capacity for the live event is 500. A virtual option is available and the registration rate is the same as the live event. .

  • Students, families & preservice teachers rate $200
  • Early Registration Rate $350 (registration & payment received before 12/15/23)
  • Regular Registration Rate $425 (registrations & payments received after 12/15/23)

 

Texas Transition Conference

Days Until TTC 2024 Begins!

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Tentative 2024 Schedule

Wednesday, February 28, 2024

  • 7:30 am Registration Table Opens
  • 8:30 am Update on Beacons of Excellence Project
  • 10:30 Break
  • 11:00 am Pre-Conference Keynote (60 minutes)
  • 12:00 pm Lunch (on your own)
  • 1:30 pm Pre-Conference Session I (60 minutes)
  • 2:30 pm Break
  • 3:00 pm Pre-Conference Session II (60 minutes)
  • 7:00 pm Registration Table Closes

Thursday, February 29, 2024

  • 7:00 am Breakfast 
  • 7:00 am Registration Table & Vendor Exhibits Open
  • 8:00 am Welcome
  • 8:30 am Keynote (90 minutes)
  • 10:00 am Break/Visit Vendors
  • 10:30 am Breakout Session I (60 minutes)
  • 11:30 am Break/Visit Vendors
  • 12:00 pm Luncheon & Keynote (90 minutes)
  • 1:30 pm Break/Visit with Vendors
  • 2:00 pm Breakout Session II (90 minutes)
  • 3:30 pm Break/Visit with Vendors
  • 4:00 pm Breakout Session III (60 minutes)
  • 5:00 pm Registration Table & Vendor Exhibits Close

Friday, March 1, 2024

  • 7:00 am Breakfast Buffet
  • 7:30 am Registration Table & Vendor Exhibits Open
  • 8:30 am Keynote (90 minutes)
  • 10:00 am Break
  • 10:30 am Breakout Session IV (60 minutes)
  • 11:30 am Break
  • 12:00 pm Breakout Session V (60 minutes)
  • 1:00 pm Registration Table & Vendor Exhibits Close

2024 Keynote Speakers

Learning Curve: Listening IS Work

2/28/24 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.          Founders II-IV

Leah Wood photoLeah Wood, BS of Ed, MA of Comm, Consultant, Journey2Success

Leah Wood brings over 33 years of service in special education with a passion for fostering successful post-secondary transitions. Having made a profound impact as a classroom teacher, transition coordinator, consultant, and successful business owner, her forward-thinking approach has positioned her as a thought leader in the field of transition.

Sheryl Wilcox, MS CCC-SLP, Consultant, Journey2SuccessSheryl Wilcox photo

Passionate about fostering positive learning environments, Sheryl Wilcox specializes in designing and conducting local trainings for educators, placing a strong emphasis on behavior management. Her approach challenges adult mindsets and skillsets, fostering a transformative learning experience. She evaluates and enhances adult learning through empathetic interviews, tailoring coaching to individual perspectives.

Transition Assessment: What Do We Know? What Do We Need to Know? How Will We Assess It?

2/29/24 8:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.          Legends Ballroom

Amber McConnell, Ph.D. , Program Evaluator, San Diego State University – Interwork Institute

Amber photoAmber E. McConnell, Ph.D., is currently a Program Evaluator at San Diego State University’s Interwork Institute for the Center for Advancing Policy on Employment for Youth (CAPE – Youth and the Vocational Rehabilitation Technical Assistance Center for Quality Management (VRTAC-QM). Amber received her Ph.D. in Special Education with a focus on improving post-school outcomes for students with disabilities from the University of Oklahoma in 2012. She has served as the Program Director for Transition and Education Programs and a Senior Extension Associate at Cornell University’s Yang-Tan Institute on Employment and Disability and the Executive Director of Amplify Youth Health Collective. She has extensive involvement in research, advocacy, grant writing, federal grant review panels, policy, and professional development. Her experiences include assessment development, strategic planning, project evaluation, capacity building, and graduate-level college course instruction.

  

Time Marches On: Building Skills Across the School Years for Postsecondary Success

2/29/24 12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.         Legends Ballroom

Birdville ISD
Mitchell Davis photo
Mitchell Davis, 5th Grade Student

Mitchell Davis is an 11-year-old 5th grade student in Birdville ISD. His current love is writing short fiction stories based on historical facts. He loves playing Minecraft and chatting with his friends who have like interests. He has taken an active role in his IEP process and has been attending his ARDs since the 2nd grade. 


Beverly Davis photoBeverly Davis, Special Education Educator, and Parent

Beverly Davis is a wife and mother of 2, mom to Mitchell. Beverly is in her 19th year of education. Currently in Birdville ISD, she has spent the last 5 years teaching self-contained high school classes and recently moved to teaching adult students at the Transition Academy of Birdville. Her diverse background has created a passion for advocating for all individuals. 


Cassie White,  Special Education Educator

Center on Disability and Development
Ty Day PhotoTy Day, Bryan High School Senior

Ty Day is a Senior at Bryan High. He presents at conferences to share his story of how he learned to become a strong self-advocate and how that led to him having informed choice and power to plan for his life after high school. It makes him happy to be seen as an equal and as cool person on the inside. He enjoys drawing and spending time with people who care about him.


Aimee Day photoAimee Day, Parent and CDD Project Director

Aimee Day is the Director of PCP & Family Outreach at the Center on Disability and Development and a Person-Centered Thinking Mentor Trainer. She strives to incorporate Person-Centered Practices in all aspects of her professional and personal life. Aimee shares her knowledge on how using Person Centered Practices helped her to truly listen to her children and stop parenting from a place of fear where she focused on only health and safety. She has spoken in multiple conferences and provided training for educators, law enforcement officers, individuals with disabilities, families and professionals.

LoneStar College
Matthew Hanna, LoneStar College student, lifePATH program

Matthew Hanna photoMatthew Hanna is in the final year of the lifePATH program. He is a several-time honoree of the Lone Star College President’s List for academic excellence, a recipient of the Communication Across the Curriculum award for student achievement, and the lifePATH Ambassador award. Matthew believes lifePATH has given him a fresh perspective on the value of education, instilled the importance of effective communication, and provided a foundation for becoming a future professional. In addition to the lifePATH Occupational and Life Skills Associate degree, Matthew is also pursuing the Associate of Applied Science for Game Design and Simulation. He has shown tremendous growth in his ability to interact with customers and be a part of a team while interning at Zero Latency Houston. After graduation, Matthew intends to seek a career in Information Technology.


Spencer Hernandez, LoneStar College student, lifePATH program

Spencer Hernandez photoSpencer Hernandez is a 2022 Conroe High School graduate and is completing her 2nd year in the Lone Star College lifePATH program.  She has always been interested in acting and was awarded the role of Mrs. Time in the CHS Spring performance of “Freaky Friday”.  Spencer loves reading, music, and art/animation of all sorts, but has a particular passion for anime.  She loves being a Lone Star College student and was recently a part of the cast of the production, Foot Loose. In lifePATH, Spencer is a strong advocate for other students and exemplifies leadership and collaboration. Spencer was newly presented the “Social Light” award for demonstrating excellence and being a guiding light for other students to follow.


Dr. Montisha Hines-Goosby. Director, lifePATH, LoneStar College-Montgomery

Montisha Goosby photoMontisha Hines-Goosby has over 25 years of experience serving the citizens of Texans.   She began her career at the University of Houston and after completing graduate school, she later worked for The Department of State Health Services working with Medicaid waiver programs for Medically Fragile children.  She joined the legacy agency, Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services (DARS) in 2005 as a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor.  After only a few months on the job, she began working with the School Transition Program. She progressed from DARS to the Texas Workforce Commission as the regional transition specialist for the Greater Houston area (Texas Gulf Coast). She worked collaboratively with several organizations, agencies, and school districts to develop and create pre-employment transition programs.  This work ultimately led to her current role as lifePATH Director at Lone Star College Montgomery.  Montisha is working to model and expand the lifePATH program initially developed at the Tomball campus.  The lifePATH program works with neurodiverse students by focusing on academic skills, providing career exploration, and increasing social skills. Montisha is most passionate about advancing and improving the post-secondary outcomes of students with disabilities.

Montisha is a Licensed Master Social Worker, earning a Bachelor of Psychology and a Master of Social Work from the University of Houston. She recently completed her Doctoral Degree in Higher Education Leadership from Sam Houston State University.


Dr. Anne Ginnett, Director, lifePATH, LoneStar College-Tomball

Anne Ginnett photoDr. Ginnett believes in the inherent value and ability of all people and works tirelessly to facilitate social change, especially for those considered neurodivergent. Since 2015, she has served as the Director of the lifePATH program at Lone Star College-Tomball and also enjoys teaching psychology classes, when she can. Prior to her tenure at LSC-Tomball, Dr. Ginnett was the Manager of Disability Services at Lone Star College-North Harris. She earned a B.S. in Social Psychology from Park University in 2006, a M.S. in Psychology from Walden University in 2010, and a Ph.D. in Psychology with a specialization in Education from Walden University in 2014.

In collaboration with Lone Star College-Tomball President, Dr. Lee Ann Nutt, Dr. Ginnett established the lifePATH program. This unique program was created to meet the needs of neurodiverse college students by promoting independence, self-advocacy, and self-determination as students increase and develop academic, social, and career skills. In 2019, the State of Texas approved the lifePATH curriculum for accreditation, creating the Occupational and Life Skills Associate Degree (OLSA) degree.

Although born in Washington State, Dr. Ginnett got to Texas as fast as she could. She graduated from Copperas Cove High School in Central Texas and raised her family in Austin before moving to the Houston area. Three of her five children were served in special education. She believes that her professional perspective has been greatly enhanced by her experiences as a mother, learning all that she could to help her children succeed as they transitioned to the adult world.

The Power of Risk

03/01/24 8:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.          Legends Ballroom

Jennifer Bumble, PhD, Senior Researcher, American Institute For Research

Bumble photoJennifer studies the power of relationships and the role of social capital in the transition process. To effectively prepare young adults with disabilities and their families for life after high school, transition education must be a highly collaborative endeavor. Her teaching and research focus on equipping school systems, service systems, and communities with the tools they need to work in tandem, creating a coordinated set of services and supports that align with the goals of each student. Jennifer serves as a Senior Researcher with the American Institutes for Research, and previously worked as an assistant professor with the University of Kansas and the University of Missouri St. Louis. She graduated from Vanderbilt University with a PhD in Special Education with an emphasis in community-based research, and is an Executive Board member with the Council for Exceptional Children’s Division on Career Development and Transition. She also co-founded Mapping Assets for Postschool Success (MAPS), an educational technology company that supports virtual person-centered planning. Since first connecting with the disability community more than 14 years ago, she has worked to advance the postschool outcomes of young people with disabilities as a job coach, educator, advocate, community organizer, and researcher. She presents across the country on social capital, dignity of risk, and how we might strengthen transition research through more participatory approaches.

Christopher Worth, EducatorChris Worth photo

Christopher Worth is an artist, scholar, and educator with more than twenty years of experience in community organizing. Mr. Worth was born with cerebral palsy, and much later, would be diagnosed with a generalized learning disability. Before that though, Christopher was misdiagnosed with an intellectual disability and was not given access to the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic until the age of eleven. Today, Chris uses his winding and bumpy experience in early education to inform his advocacy efforts.

  

2024 Sponsors

Marathon Sponsor:
NextUp

Champion Sponsors:
Bloom
nonPareil
Wellpoint

Leadership Sponsors:
UNT
Attainment Co.

 

2024 Program

Download the 2024 Texas Transition Conference Program

TTC VIRTUAL Program 2024

TTC Program 2024 Final