ERIC Number: EJ844067
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2009-Jun
Pages: 11
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1934-9556
EISSN: N/A
Parents' Perceptions of Postschool Years for Young Adults with Developmental Disabilities
Bianco, Margarita; Garrison-Wade, Dorothy F.; Tobin, Romie; Lehmann, Jean P.
Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, v47 n3 p186-196 Jun 2009
This qualitative study investigated parents' perceptions of the various roles they played in their adult children's lives during the post-high school years. Individual face-to-face interviews were conducted with 9 families of young adults with developmental disabilities. Findings indicated that families perceived the complexity of their roles as balancing between advocating for their adult children's needs while promoting independence and self-determination. The roles parents assumed as their children entered into adult life were those of collaborators, decision makers, and program evaluators, role models, trainers, mentors and instructors, and systems change agents. Parents often felt they were the safety net for their children and the back-up plan for service agencies. Parents' quotes illustrated the complexity of the roles they played as their young adult children with developmental disabilities entered adulthood.
Descriptors: Parent Attitudes, Parent Role, Qualitative Research, Parent Child Relationship, Developmental Disabilities, Young Adults, Interviews
American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. P.O. Box 7065, Lawrence, KS 66044-7065. Tel: 785-843-1235; Fax: 785-843-1274; e-mail: AJMR@allenpress.com; Web site: http://aamr.allenpress.com
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A