The Relationship between Parent Expectations and Postschool Outcomes of Adolescents with Disabilities

Abstract

A secondary analysis was conducted of the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 to examine (a) main effects of parents' school and postschool outcome expectations on the actual outcomes achieved, (b) demographic moderators, and (c) adolescent autonomy as a mediator of parent expectations and outcomes. Parent expectations were found to significantly predict study outcomes. Moderator analysis indicated that disability type moderated the relationship between parent expectations and outcomes. Meditational analyses indicated that autonomy did not mediate the relationship between parent expectations and study outcomes. However, parent expectations significantly predicted levels of autonomy, and autonomy predicted a number of postschool outcomes. Together, these findings suggest a need for interventions that support and foster positive parent expectations and parental supports to promote autonomy development. Additional research is needed on the mechanisms by which parent expectations and autonomy affect the outcomes of adolescents with disabilities.

Parent Involvement in Meaningful Post-School Experiences for Young Adults With IDD and Pervasive Support Needs

“…Prior research indicates that positive adult outcomes in community participation, independence, and employment resulting from strong parental advocacy and high expectations (Carter, Austin, & Trainor, 2012;Roush, Fresher-Samways, Stolgitis, Rabbitat, & Cardinal, 2007;Verdonschot et al, 2009). High expectations by parents are related to positive academic and social outcomes by adolescents and young adults with disabilities (Carter et al, 2014;Doren, Gau, & Lindstrom, 2012). Our findings extend these results to young adults with pervasive support needs.…”

Social Maturity and Executive Function Among Deaf Learners

“…This situation likely derives in large part from communication challenges inside and outside of the home that can affect the incidental acquisition of manners and other behaviors indicative of social maturity. Parents and teachers also sometimes hold deaf children and other children with disabilities to less stringent rules and responsibilities compared with their hearing, typically developing age-mates (Doren, Gau, & Lindstrom, 2012), another factor that could affect social maturity. Finally, any or all of the above reasons might result in deaf learners having delays, deficits, or simply differences in social maturity-related executive functioning (EF) relative to hearing peers.…”

“…Indeed, a central aspect of social maturity is the ability to appreciate social situations from the points of view of others, a domain in which deaf children and adolescents have been found to have difficulty (e.g., Peterson, Slaughter, Moore, & Wellman, 2016;Punch & Hyde, 2011;Rhys-Jones & Ellis, 2000;Rieffe, Netten, & Broekhof, 2015;Terwogt & Rieffe, 2004). Caldarella and Merrell (1997) found self-management, including social maturity, self-control/social convention, and respect for social rules to be one of the most common dimensions to emerge from meta-analyses of studies examining social skills of (hearing) children and adolescents (see Doren et al, 2012). With regard to deaf youth, Antia and Kreimeyer (2015) emphasized the importance to social maturity and self-management of expectations for deaf children placed on them by both parents and the children themselves.…”

The TennesseeWorks Partnership: Elevating employment outcomes for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities

“…More than almost any other factor, expectations shape outcomes (Carter, Austin, & Trainor, 2011;Doren, Grau, & Lindstrom, 2012). Nationally, high school students with severe disabilities whose parents expected them to work were 5 times as likely to have paid, community employment in the early years after graduation (Carter, Austin, & Trainor, 2012).…”