Transition in an era of reform

Special Educators' Views of Community-based Job Training and Inclusion as Indicators of Job Competencies for Students with Mild and Moderate Disabilities

This study examines the perceptions of 173 pre- and in-service special education teachers regarding the job competencies of hypothetical high school students with mild and moderate disabilities. Participants rated one of nine student descriptions that varied by school experiences related to transition and disability category in five areas of vocational competence. The student was described as being placed primarily in separate special education settings, being fully included in general education classes, or being involved in community-based work experience and placed primarily in separate special education settings. Next, the student was described as having a learning disability, a behavioral disorder, or mild mental retardation. Results indicate that the student described as having a behavioral disorder received lower ratings regarding social coping than did the student described as having mild mental retardation (p = .04). The type of transition-related school experience did not affect special educators' ratings of job competencies. It is recommended that special educators receive training to enhance their knowledge of the benefits associated with effective transition practices such as community-based work experience.

The experiences of mothers of young adults with an intellectual disability transitioning from secondary school to adult life

BACKGROUND

The transition from school to adulthood for young adults with an intellectual disability involves movement from a generally secure and supported school environment to an emerging adult life that may be characterised by a wide variation in adoption of adult roles related to employment, independent living, friendships, and day activities.

METHOD

In this study, we investigated the perspectives of 18 mothers of young adults with either Down syndrome or Rett syndrome through qualitative semistructured interviews. The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) framework was used as a conceptual basis.

RESULTS

Themes that emerged included adult roles assumed during the day, accommodation, quality of life, living a "good" life, and family impact.

CONCLUSIONS

In contrast with Rett syndrome, mothers of young adults with Down syndrome described more difficult pathways to attaining stability in adult roles. Environmental facilitators and barriers emerged in the area of support, relationships, services, systems, and policies.

Young adults with learning disabilities: a study of psychosocial functioning at transition to adult services

A study of the psychosocial functioning of young adults with a history of learning disability (LD) in childhood is reported. The design was a non-clinic community follow-up investigation of a cohort of children who had received special education, the sample frame for which was a birth-period cohort survey. Participants were 149 young adults (89 males and 60 females derived from a survey of the 33,800 children born in the Cambridge Health District between 1967 and 1973) at the stage of transition to adult services (age 18-22y), whose measured IQ scores in childhood were <80, and who had received special education during school years. Most of the young adults were living at home (n=108) and many were in full-time employment (independent employment n=41, sheltered employment n=20), this survey having been carried out in an area of high employment. A strong correlation was found between the child IQ score and subsequent adult Vineland Scale Score. Greater efforts should be made to detect and assess LD and its attendant problems in children in order to plan future care and transition to adulthood, especially for those with more severe disabilities.