The quality of life of young adults after they leave the universal service system of education is of concern to the individuals themselves, their families, and professionals. However, there is little research on these issues. This study was designed to describe the life status, service use and satisfaction, and unmet needs of a cohort of young adults between the ages of 20-25 who were identified as having been in special education in adolescence. More than 160 individuals responded to a telephone survey of educational attainment; current living arrangement; employment status; availability and use of needed suports and services; satisfaction with such suppports and services and unmet needs. A Quality of Life Questionnaire was administered to assess the domains of general life satisfaction; competence and productivity; empowerment and independence; social belonging and community inclusion. Results indicate that the majority had not achieved markers of adulthood such as living outside of their family of origin or being in the work force or a goal-oriented training program or marriage. This contrasted with their expectaations over the next five years. The findings pose a number of issues for policy development regarding distribution of resources and development of identified supports and services to enhance the quality of life for individuals with disabilities.
Learning Objectives: To describe transition experiences related to education, employment, service use, and living arrangements for young adults with disabilites; To discuss quality of life in terms of life satisfaction, competence and productivity, independence, social belonging and community inclusion; To describe implications for policies regarding distribution of resources for enhanced quality of life
Keywords: Disability, Quality of Life
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.