| Summary: | Post-secondary education and training is important to prepare individuals with special needs for independence in the adult world. In the Malaysian context, parents have difficulty in finding post-secondary placement for their children as soon as they complete secondary education. In addition, individuals with special needs are often homebound, having low selfesteem, and lacking in goal setting and determination skill, which adds on to their inability to have access to education or employment after school. The purpose of this study is to explore how a transition-to-post secondary program can assist in the development of self-esteem and self-determination among a group of high functioning adolescents with special needs who
have high interest in learning. The research utilises the phenomenological approach to explore the experiences of the respondents in order to find out how the experiences from the program make sense and give meaning to them. Among the sessions involved were 'Understand Myself, 'Let's Speak Up', 'How to Develop Self-Esteem', 'How to Be Confident', 'Personal Success Sharing', and 'My Dreamboard'. The findings show that respondents felt that they had learned a lot from the program, which includes goal setting, and self-determinationand as well as they were more confident and enjoyed the program very much. The findings for this study are being discussed and implications are drawn.
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