Antecedents and Outcomes of Autonomy: Modeling Deaf Young Adults' Transition From Secondary Settings to Employment

• In Event: Modeling Youth Development: Empirical and Conceptual Advances

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of autonomy in the transition process for deaf adolescents through an exploration of how parental beliefs and attitudes contribute to autonomy development, and in turn, how autonomous orientations and behaviors exhibited by these deaf youths may contribute to sustainable employment outcomes. A large-scale longitudinal dataset was used to test a structural equation model of the transition process for deaf adolescents. Results indicated good model fit and demonstrated that parental expectations play a significant role in facilitating deaf adolescents’ development of autonomous orientations and actions, and those autonomous orientations and actions then contribute to employment outcomes in early adulthood that have potentials to lead to long-term sustainable employment gains.

Authors

• Carrie Lou Garberoglio, The University of Texas

• Sarah Schoffstall, The University of Texas - Austin

• Stephanie W. Cawthon, The University of Texas - Austin

• Mark Bond, The University of Texas - Austin

• Jacqueline M Caemmerer, The University of Texas - Austin