Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-22dnz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-27T08:55:56.625Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Transition of Young People with Disabilities from School to Work and Adult Living

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 February 2016

Trevor R. Parmenter
Trevor R. Parmenter*
Affiliation:
Macquarie University
*
Copies of the full report are available from The Unit for Rehabilitation Studies, Macquarie University, NSW, 2109, Australia.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

It is a singular honour for me to have been invited to deliver the inaugural Len Cosson Memorial Lecture. It is obvious that Len’s Stirling contribution to special education in New Zealand will endure. His ability to enthuse peers and students alike will live on and will affect for the better the quality of the lives of young people with disabilities. Despite his untimely death, his family and professional colleagues can be comforted by the knowledge that Len’s ideas and vision will remain a beacon for those who follow in his footsteps. He has provided some very real challenges for the New Zealand Special Education Association - challenges that will be met if you emulate the truly professional approach that he maintained throughout his illustrious career. He obviously lived to the full the values and precepts that many of us aspire to, but often fall short of. While I did not have the privilege of knowing Len, I feel enriched by being in the company of so many people whose lives he touched in such a profound way.

In the following presentation I wish to report the results of a study that examined the postschool experiences of 73 young people with a range of disabilities who left a special education facility in NSW in 1985. The roles that work, family support and friendship patterns played in their postschool experiences are analysed. The study points to the need for a more coordinated approach to the planning and delivery of transition education services to young people with disabilities.

Type
Other
Information
Australasian Journal of Special Education , Volume 14 , Issue 1 , 1990 , pp. 20 - 31
Copyright
Copyright © The Australian Association of Special Education 1990

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Brown, R., Shiraga, B., Ford, A., Nisbet, J., Van Deventer, P., Sweet, M., York, J., & Loomis, R. (1983). Teaching severely handicapped students to perform meaningful work in non-sheltered vocational environments. In Brown, R., Ford, A., Nisbet, J., Sweet, M., Shiraga, B., York, J., Loomis, R., & Van Deventer, P. (Eds.), Educational programs for severely handicapped students Vol. XIII). Madison, WI: Madison Metropolitan School District.Google Scholar
Brown, R.I. (1984). Rehabilitation education: Some future directions. In Brown, R.I. (Ed.), Integrated programs for handicapped adolescents and adults. New York: Croom Helm.Google Scholar
Cobb, R.M., & Cramp, W.D. (1984). Post-school status of young adults identified as’learning disabled while enrolled in public schools: A comparison of those enrolled and not enrolled in learning disabilities programs: Final report. (ED 253029).Google Scholar
Edgar, E. (1985). How do special education students fare after they leave school? A response to Hasazi, Gordon, and Roe. Exceptional Children, 51, 470–473.Google Scholar
Edgerton, R.D., & Bercovici, S. (1976). The cloak of competence: Years later. American Journal of Mental Deficiency, 80, 485–497.Google Scholar
Foss, G., & Bostwick, D. (1981). Problems of mentally retarded adults: A study of rehabilitation services, consumers and providers. Rehabilitation Counselling Bulletin, 25, 66–73.Google Scholar
Gollay, E., Freedman, R., Wyngaarden, M., & Durtz, N.R. (1978). Coming back. Cambridge, MA: Abt Books.Google Scholar
Halpern, A.S. (1985). Transition: A look at the foundations. Exceptional Children, 51, 479–586.Google Scholar
Halpern, A.S., Nave, G., Close, D.W., & Nelson, D. (1986). An empirical analysis of the dimensions of community adjustment for adults with mental retardation. Australia and New Zealand Journal of Developmental Disabilities, 12, 147–157.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hardman, M., & McDonnell, J. (1987). Implementing federal transition initiatives for youths with severe handicaps: The Utah Community-Based Transition Project, Exceptional Children, 53, 493–498.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hasazi, S.B., Gordon, L.R., & Roe, C.A. (1985). Factors associated with the employment status of handicapped youth exiting high school from 1979 to 1983. Exceptional Children, 51, 455–469.Google Scholar
Hasazi, S.B., Gordon, L.R., Roe, C.A., Hull, M., Finck, K., & Salembier, G. (1985). A statewide follow-up on post high school employment and residential status of students labelled “mentally retarded”. Education and Training of the Mentally Retarded, 20, 224–234.Google Scholar
Ianacone, R.N., & Stodden, R.A. (Eds.). (1986). Transition issues and directions. Virginia: The Council for Exceptional Children.Google Scholar
Johnson, D.R., Bruininks, R.H., & Thurlow, M.L. (1987). Meeting the challenge of transition service planning through improved interagency cooperation. Exceptional Children, 53, 522–530.Google Scholar
Kaufman, S. (1984). Friendship, coping systems and community adjustment of mildly retarded adults. In Edgerton, R.B. (Ed.), Lives in process.: Mildly retarded adults in a large city. Washington: American Association on Mental Deficiency.Google Scholar
Kerachsky, S., & Thornton, C. (1987). Findings from the STETS Transitional Employment Demonstration. Exceptional Children, 53, 515–521.Google Scholar
Kochany, L., & Keller, J. (1981). An analysis and evaluation of the failures of severely disabled individuals in competitive employment. In Wehman, P. (Ed.), Competitive employment: New horizons for severely disabled individuals. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes.Google Scholar
Kregel, J., Wheman, P., Seyforth, J., & Marshall, K. (1986). Community integration of young adults with mental retardation: Transition from school to adulthood. Education and Training for the Mentally Retarded, 21, 35–42.Google Scholar
Mithaug, D.E., Horiuchi, C.N., & Fanning, P.N. (1985). A report on the Colorado statewide follow-up survey of special education students. Exceptional Children, 51, 397–404.Google Scholar
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development/Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (1983) The education of the handicapped adolescent: The transition from school to working life. Paris: O.E.C.D.Google Scholar
Parmenter, T.R. (1986). Bridges from school to working life for handicapped youth: The view from Australia. New York: World Rehabilitation Fund, Inc.Google Scholar
Parmenter, T.R. (1988). An analysis of the dimensions of quality of life for people with physical disabilities. In Brown, R.I. (Ed.), Quality of life and rehabilitation. London: Croom Helm.Google Scholar
Parmenter, T.R., & Knox, M. (1985). Report on Goodwill Industries of Australia Sheltered Workship. Sydney: Macquarie University monograph.Google Scholar
Peters, J.M., Templeman, T.P., & Brostrom, G. (1987). The school and community partnership: Planning transition for students with severe handicaps. Exceptional Children, 53, 531–536.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Richardson, S.A., Koller, H., & Katz, M. (1988). Job histories in open employment of a population of young adults with mental retardation. American Journal on Mental Retardation, 92, 483–491.Google Scholar
Stodden, R.A., & Boone, R. (1987). Assessing transition services for handicapped youth: A cooperative agency approach. Exceptional Children, 53, 537–545.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tuckerman, P. (1987). Jobsupport - A supported competitive employment service for individuals with a moderate intellectual disadvantage. NSW Journal of Special Education, 7, 16–19.Google Scholar
Turner, J. (1983). Workshop society: Ethnographic observations in a work setting for retarded adults. In Kernan, K.T., Begab, M.J., & Edgerton, R.B. (Eds.), Environments and behavior: The adaptation of mentally retarded persons. Baltimore: University Park Press.Google Scholar
Ward, J., Parmenter, T.R., Riches, V., & Hauritz, M. (1981). Adjustment to work. A follow-up of mildly intellectually handicapped adolescents who have undergone training in a work preparation centre. National Rehabilitation Digest, 3, 34–38.Google Scholar
Ward, J. Parmenter, T.R., Riches, V., & Hauritz, M. (1985). A summative report of a work preparation program for mildly intellectually handicapped school leavers. Australian Disability Review, 1–86, 7–15.Google Scholar
Wehman, P., Kregel, J., & Seyforth, J. (1985). Transition from school to work for individuals with severe handicaps: A follow-up study. Journal of the Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps, 10, 132–136.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Will, M. (1984). OSERS programming for the transition of youth with disabilities: Bridges from school to working life. Washington, DC: Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services.Google Scholar