Poster #50 - Parental involvement during post-secondary transition for youth with developmental disabilities

• In Event: 2-110 - Poster Session 07
  In Poster Session: PS 07 Section - Developmental Disabilities

Integrative Statement

The transition from high school to adulthood is a critical period of change for youth with developmental disabilities and their families. Parents’ involvement with transition planning is a salient predictor of success during this period. Unfortunately, parent involvement often declines during secondary education for youth with disabilities (Grigal & Neubert, 2004) and many parents are only passively involved during the transition process (Spann, Kohler, & Soenksen, 2003; Defur, Todd-Allen, & Getzel, 2001). Guided by ecological and parenting frameworks (Belsky, 1984; Bronfenbrenner, 2006; Hoover-Dempsey & Sandler, 1995), the present study examined parents’ school involvement, transition involvement, and transition knowledge during the transition from high school to adulthood for youth with developmental disabilities to understand the relative contribution of demographic factors, parents’ psychosocial factors (stress, self-efficacy, role construction), and parents’ experiences (IEP familiarity, perceived teacher invitations, and perceived time and energy) to their involvement.

Participants were recruited through youths’ schools and included 55 parents of youth with special needs between the ages of 14 and 22 in an urban school district in the Northeastern U.S. Parents’ ethnicities included African American (44.% mothers, 31% fatherss), White (21.8% mothers, 21.8% fathers), Asian (10.9% mothers, 9.1% fathers), Latino (10.9% mothers, 9.1% fathers), and other (10.9 % mothers, 16.4% fathers). Youths’ diagnoses included Autism Spectrum Disorder (61.8%), Intellectual Disability (9.1%), Down Syndrome (12.7%), Traumatic Brain Injury (3.6%), Cerebral Palsy (1.8%), Speech Language Disorder (1.8%), and Multiple Disabilities (1.8%). Youth attended schools in two distinct neighborhoods which were characterized as “disadvantaged” and “non-disadvantaged” based on census data (poverty levels, education, and household income). Parents’ completed measures of demographics, school involvement, transition involvement, transition knowledge, parenting stress, parenting self-efficacy, role construction, IEP familiarity, perceived teacher invitations, and perceived time and energy (Abidin, 1991; Hoover-Dempsey & Sandler, 1995, 1997; Kraemer & Blacher, 2001).

Findings revealed that parents’ experiences during the transition period (IEP familiarity, perceived teacher invitations, and perceived time and energy) were significantly related to transition involvement (F (4, 46) = 5.740, p<.001, R2 = .353) and school involvement (F (4, 50) = 9.789, p<.001, R2 = .328). A significant interaction emerged between youth age and school neighborhood in predicting transition involvement (F (3, 49) = 4.196, p=.010, R2 = .204); parents whose children attended schools in disadvantaged neighborhoods showed lower transition involvement with increasing youth age, whereas in the non-disadvantaged school neighborhood, transition involvement increased as youth age increased. Finally, a significant interaction emerged between parent experiences and school neighborhood in predicting transition involvement, (F (4, 46) = 3.839, p=.010, R2 = .268); for parents whose children attended schools in disadvantaged neighborhoods, the association between parent experiences and transition involvement was not significant, whereas a significant positive association emerged for parents in the non-disadvantaged school neighborhoods.

The present study is a first step towards better understanding the factors that inform parental involvement during the postsecondary transition for youth with developmental disabilities. The study offers suggestions for future research, policy, and intervention to assist in improving parents’ positive experiences during this critical period in their youths’ educational development.

Authors

• Morgan A Friedman, Teachers College at Columbia Univeristy
  Presenting Author

• Laudan Jahromi, Teachers College Columbia University
  Non-Presenting Author