Professional support is critical to assisting teens/young adults in developing personal responsibility and self-advocacy skills. The purpose of Guide to Access Planning (GAP) is to provide information that is important to effectively advocate and be responsible for one’s communication access supports and, in particular, hearing assistance technologies. If the teen is in high school, this information is intended to be integrated into the student’s IEP Transition Plan and the Summary of Performance. These documents are required to prepare teens for life after high school. If the teen has already graduated from high school, there are several agencies and programs that provide assistance and personal planning documents. For example, Vocational Rehabilitation clients may have an IPE, an Individual Plan for Employment; career and technical education services use an ITP, a work-based Individual Training Plan; and Developmental Disabilities Services uses an ISP, an Individual Service Plan.

The GAP program includes several assessments that can be used to identify information that is important to know and skills that teens/young adults should be able to do. Your assistance to complete these assessments and the accompanying planners is critical to the effectiveness of this program. See the User Guide for more information about how professionals can be supportive in implementing components of this program. The many resources of this program provide valuable information that can be used as a “curriculum to fill in gaps for the learning areas that need to be addressed. Take some time to become familiar with the various materials and resources in each of the GAP sections. This will enable you to guide and assist the teens/young adults that you are supporting through these materials.