The purpose of this three year research project was to identify and describe the naturally occurring processes between parents of young adults with intellectual disability as they navigate the transition to adulthood. Researchers at the University of British Columbia worked with parents of young persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).
They studied what parents did in helping their young person’s transition to adulthood. They looked at the goals that parents created and how they worked together towards their young person’s transition. They studied what parents did during the time that their young person was becoming an adult. This included important life changes like leaving high school, going to college, starting a job, or other ways of becoming more independent.
This research found that parents were in a constant process of negotiation— they readjusted goals depending on either the needs of the young person or the needs of the parents themselves.
The study results emphasize the key role that parents play in the self-determination (independence and making your own decisions) of young people with IDD. Rather than being an individual process, self-determination and the transition to adulthood are processes that involve family members, social groups and agencies.
The transition to adulthood of a young person with IDD is a process that involves the whole family and each individual member contributes in different ways. By looking at the conversations between the parents themselves, the study uncovered the complexity of the transition and the challenges that parents face outside the family. Insufficient feedback and resources from social agencies and organizations influence, and often lower, the expectations parents have in preparing their young person with IDD for adulthood. Full findings will be shared on the CIC website.
Investigators: Richard Young, Sheila Marshall, Tim Stainton
Sponsored By: SSHRC Insight Grant