When young adults with disabilities (YAWD) age out of the system, they face what has colloquially been termed "the cliff," which symbolizes the sudden drop in services that occur as they transition out of high school; needs previously met at school are left unaddressed. Multiple options have been suggested to meet these needs, including…

Youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) aspire to participate in a variety of activities after high school, such as attaining paid employment, enrolling in postsecondary education, being involved in their communities, living independently, and building friendships. However, complex and longstanding transition barriers require…

Religious organizations often serve as mainstays of communities, especially rural communities with otherwise limited support to promote improved transition outcomes. Yet, religious organizations appear not to be utilized as agencies in transition service partnerships. This article addresses involving religious organizations in the transition…

Background: In recent years, efforts have been made to improve the transition of pupils with intellectual disabilities to adult services and to offer a wider range of choices. However, there have been few longitudinal studies to monitor the services provided to young adults post-school. This case study in the Republic of Ireland identified the…

Community activities can be an important part of the transition to adulthood, but many students with disabilities miss those experiences because they are not offered in their community or high school. This lack of opportunities in schools may account for the discrepancy that is found after high school graduation between the employment rates of…

This is a study of transition to parenthood, one of the least-studied topics in disability research. More than 250 students with special educational needs are followed from their first year of upper secondary school into their mid-30s. Their transition into parenthood is analysed by logistic regression at two ages, at 23 years and at 36 years.…

In this paper we explore the experiences of mothers of young adults with Down syndrome as their daughters and sons transition from schooling to adult life. These transitions occurred in a society shaped by neo-liberal political reform that commenced in the mid-1980s. The hallmarks of education are now expressed in terms of national achievement…

This article examines the outcomes of the ACEE program, which is a one-year transition program for youth with disabilities, preparing them for the workplace and adult life. In a mixed methods approach, the investigators surveyed sixty-six youth with disabilities who were alumni of the program and followed up in depth with ten alumni in in-depth…

There is a widespread misconception that transition planning and programming begin in high school. However, there are many opportunities for teachers to infuse transition-focused education into teaching and learning activities for their elementary-grade students. Teachers can engage students with disabilities and their families in…

The research reported here was conducted to investigate the perception that people with disabilities find it a challenge to seek employment (Hernandez et?al., 2007). It is suggested that this situation could be due to a lack of specific employment-based training. Hence young adults with special educational needs (SEN) may require job-specific…

A crucial step in the process of preparing students with disabilities for adult life is transition assessment. Using a comprehensive assessment that is built around the student's interests, followed by assessment administration within the context of his/her community can provide special education professionals with rich data that is useful for…

Youth with disabilities face difficulties resulting from attitudinal, environmental, and organizational barriers not only in initially accessing and entering school (World Health Organization [WHO], 2011), but also as they transition from school age youth to working adults. With a focus on facilitating a better understanding of the issues,…

This article examines the impacts of the Youth Transition Demonstration, an initiative of the Social Security Administration (SSA) to improve employment outcomes for youth with disabilities. Based on a random assignment design, the analysis uses data from a 1-year follow-up survey and SSA administrative records for 5,203 youth in six research…

The three common themes are emerging from recent research on positive approaches to adult transitions for youth with disabilities. The first theme acknowledges that a person's condition is only one factor that influences the developmental process of transitioning into adulthood; the second theme addresses the complexity of the numerous…

The purpose of the article was to identify key features within research-based school-to-career programs that were linked to positive employment outcomes for youth disabilities. Three key program features were identified and discussed that could be incorporated into the practices and programs of schools and communities to support the employment…