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Quality of life for students with disabilities in transition from school to adulthood

  • Improving The Quality Of Life Of People With And Without Disabilities
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Abstract

This paper examines quality-of-life concerns that pertain to secondary level students with disabilities who participate in high school programs in the United States. More specifically, we examine issues and programs that pertain to the “transition period” during which students leave school and begin to assume adult roles in their communities. The paper begins with an overview of major programs that have addressed this area over the past 25 years. We then present some contrasting definitions of quality of life, in order to provide a theoretical context for examining issues and concerns, ending with our recommendations for a taxonomy that can be used for operationally defining quality of life. Research findings from this perspective are presented next, followed by a discussion of ways in which quality-of-life information can beused to influence program and policy and policy decisions at both personal and institutional levels of discourse. We cite and describe several examples of such usage from our own experiences. The paper closes with some recommendations concerning what we must do in the future to improve quality of life for this population.

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  1. Department of Education, College of Education, University of Oregon, 97403-1211, Eugene, OR, USA

    Andrew S. Halpern

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Halpern, A.S. Quality of life for students with disabilities in transition from school to adulthood. Soc Indic Res 33, 193–236 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01078962

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