Physical, Behavioural and Mental Handicaps

Abstract

Previous research on handicapped young people has concentrated on the experiences and problems of particular groups of the handicapped.² One unfortunate effect of this is that while substantial research has been carried out on the blind, deaf and other physically handicapped groups, very little has been done on the problems of the largest group of special school-leavers. The notable exception to this was the work by Tuckey and her colleagues, but even here the constituent groups of the sample were described and analysed separately.³ While not wishing to underplay the special problems of specific groups of young people, the research described in this book attempts to show that there were common employment problems faced by all those who had educational handicaps. This was possible to a certain extent, but as the vast majority of the handicapped young people in the sample which formed the basis of the research were ESN(M), their influence on the statistics for the whole sample was very significant.

First drafted by Patricia Stapenhurst.