Navigating What’s Next: Meet VSS’s Transition Coordinator, Brianna Magee

For families of neurodiverse young adults, planning for life after school can bring both excitement and uncertainty. There are decisions to make, services to understand and systems to navigate—often while trying to answer one very big question: What comes next?

At The Vanguard School and Services (VSS), Brianna Magee is helping individuals and families answer that question one step at a time.

As VSS’s new Transition Coordinator, Brianna helps connect students, alumni, adults in the community and their families with services and resources that can support a fulfilling life beyond school. Her role reflects VSS’s commitment to preparing neurodiverse children and adults for what’s next at every stage of life and empowering each person to follow their own path to learn, grow, work and thrive in their communities.

For Brianna, that emphasis on an individual path is especially important. “There is no one path for future planning,” she says. “There are so many different options for a fulfilling life.”

Growing up in the Philadelphia suburbs, Brianna was the first person in her family to attend and graduate from college. Psychology and sign language courses—both of which included volunteer experiences—helped her discover how much she enjoyed working with people with disabilities. She ultimately earned a degree in psychology with a minor in behavioral health intervention and began her career as a Supports Coordinator thereafter.

That experience gave Brianna first-hand knowledge of both the opportunities available to individuals and the challenges families can face trying to access them. She saw families struggle with waiting for funding, identifying available services and learning to navigate unfamiliar systems. Too often, she says, loved ones are suddenly expected to become experts in a complicated process. Her new role at VSS gives her an opportunity to help bridge that gap.

A Collaborative Approach

Brianna works alongside The Vanguard School’s counseling team, building upon the transition planning already provided to students while extending that support beyond graduation. She can help individuals and families explore options such as supported and inclusive employment, post-secondary programs, community-based activities, social groups and other resources designed to help adults maintain skills, build relationships and stay engaged in their communities.

Brianna can help families explore possibilities—from integrated studies and employment to social opportunities and greater community involvement—and begin mapping a path based on the individual’s goals.

That person-centered approach is central to VSS’s broader vision of transition support. Success does not look the same for everyone, and transition planning is not about directing every person toward the same destination. It is about helping each individual identify what a meaningful, engaging life looks like for them and connecting them with resources that can help make it possible.

Brianna is also developing relationships with providers and community organizations so that VSS can increasingly serve as a connector between families and the wider network of available services. The relationship works both ways: community providers can direct families to VSS when they need assistance understanding waiver services or getting the process started, while Brianna can help individuals identify providers that may be a good fit for their goals and needs.

You Don’t Have to Figure It Out Alone

Perhaps most importantly, families do not need to have everything figured out before contacting Brianna—and they do not need to be current Vanguard families.

Transition Support Services are available to Vanguard students and alumni as well as adults and families throughout the community who need help navigating the transition process. And according to Brianna, there is no “wrong” time to ask for help.

She knows that one of the most common questions families ask is, “Where do I start?” Her approach is to begin with the individual’s goals and break what can feel like an overwhelming process into smaller, achievable steps. There may be setbacks along the way, but Brianna views those moments as opportunities to adjust course rather than reasons to give up.

“We pivot and we plan,” she says.

It is a philosophy that fits naturally with VSS’s commitment to “Learning for Life.” Transition is not a single event that happens when someone leaves school. It is an ongoing process of discovering possibilities, making choices and preparing for what comes next.

And for anyone who is unsure where to begin, Brianna offers one reassuring thought: “You don’t know what you don’t know.” Reaching out and asking for guidance is already an important first step.

Brianna says she is happy to help neurodiverse individuals and their families to work towards their goals, determine what success means to them and continue planning a path toward a fulfilling life after school.

For more information, contact Brianna Magee at brmagee@vsspa.org or 610.296.6700 x162.