Challenging Invisibility and Restoring Hope Through the Voice of Transition-Age Youths With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities in Homelessness

• In Event: Thursday Roundtable Session 2:30 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Charting the Contours of Transition: Exploring Postsecondary Possibilities for People Who Identify as Disabled (Table 5)

Abstract

Existing research evidence demonstrates that transition-age youths (TAY) with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) are the most vulnerable among the homeless population, experiencing multiple challenges transitioning into adulthood. However, under the current education and social welfare systems that are deeply ingrained in ableism and bureaucratic policies, TAY with IDD remains invisible and largely unexplored in both academic and policy discourses. This phenomenological qualitative study was conducted to understand the lived experiences of TAY with IDD as they navigate the transition into adulthood and challenge the systemic invisibility of dis/ability through their own voices. By employing Dis/Crit and Intersectionality as a theoretical framework, this study contributes to uncovering the risk of compounded oppression exacerbated when within-group differences remain unquestioned and invisible.

Authors

• Yehyang Lee, Syracuse University

• Natasha M. Strassfeld, University of Texas at Austin

• Sharon Choi, University of Texas at Austin

• Sumaita Choudhury, University of Texas at Austin

• Stacey Stevens Manser, University of Texas at Austin