Mother's Expectations for Adolescent Children: A Comparison Between Families of Adolescents with Disabilities and Those with Non-labeled Adolescents

Parents' In-School Values and Post-School Expectations for Transition-Aged Youth with Disabilities

“…Of those who chose employment as an outcome, more parents of students with LI disabilities chose segregated workshops as the desired post-school activity for their child than supported employment. This is not consistent with the findings of Lehmann and Baker (1995) who noted that most parents preferred supported employment situations to sheltered workshops. In addition, nearly 20% of parents of students with HI disabilities in this study chose supported employment or segregated workshop as the desired post-school outcome for their son or daughter.…”

“…A review of research focused on parent in-school values and post-school expectations revealed a number of areas about which parents had been questioned in the past (Epps & Myers, 1989; Hamre-Nietupski et al., 1992;Kraemer & Blacher, 2001;Lehmann & Baker, 1995;McDonnell et al, 1985;Michaels, 1994). Parents' in-school values were sought about instructional areas such as functional or community-based life skills, academic skills, vocational skills, and social development.…”

“…Some studies have targeted parents of students in a specific disability group such as students with severe disabilities (Epps & Myers, 1989; Kraemer & Blacher, 2001) or students with mild or learning disabilities (Thompson, Fulk, & Piercy, 2000;Tilson & Neubert 1988). Others have made comparisons between disability groups (deFur et al., 2001; Hanley-Maxwell, Whitney-Thomas, & Pogoloff, 1995;McDonnell, Wilcox, Boles, & Bellamy, 1985), or between parents of students with and without disabilities (Lehmann & Baker, 1995;Masino & Hodapp, 1996; Whitney-Thomas & Hanley-Maxwell, 1996).…”

“…In terms of independent living, some researchers have found that parents of students with mild and severe disabilities hope for greater independence and social connections for their children (deFur et al, 2001;Hanley-Maxwell et al, 1995). Lehmann and Baker (1995) found that both parents of students with severe disabilities and parents of students without labels expected their child to leave home after graduation, though the parents of the students with disabilities believed that their child would require assistance from paid professionals in order to do so. Epps and Myers (1989) found that parents of students with severe disabilities anticipated their child would live at home, in a group home, or in an institution as an adult.…”

Methodological Trends in Secondary Education and Transition Research

“…The importance of qualitative designs to informing evidence-based policy and practice in special education has been highlighted elsewhere (Brantlinger et al, 2005) and is certainly reflected within the pages of CDTEI. For example, researchers have probed the perceptions of key stakeholders on transition practices and outcomes (Lehmann & Baker, 1994), explored the experiences of students with intellectual disability transitioning from school (Paiewonsky, 2011), and investigated practitioners’ understanding of constructs like self-determination and student involvement (Martin, Greene, & Borland, 2004).…”