Becoming responsible: transitioning to adulthood

• Main Author: Young, Colleen M.
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: Occupational therapy; Disabilities; Independence; Parenting; Responsibility; Transition; Youth with disabilities
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/2144/14585

Research has shown that youth with disabilities do not make as successful of a transition to adulthood as their peers without disabilities (Wells, Sandefur & Hogan, 2003; Timmons, Whitney-Thomas, McIntyre, Butterworth & Allen, 2004; Friedman, DeLucia, Holmbeck, Jandasek & Zebracki, 2009). However, a thorough literature review demonstrated promise related to evidence-based interventions seeking to increase successful transition to adulthood with this population to lessen this discrepancy between the two groups (Shogren, Wehmeyer, Palmer, Rifenbark & Little, 2015; Gharebeghy, Rassafiani & Cameron, 2015). The aim of this doctoral project was to explore the nature of this problem to better understand what has contributed to its development and to develop a solution to the problem through Becoming Responsible: Transitioning to Adulthood. The program is a web-based resource for parents raising youth with disabilities on how to transfer responsibility for daily life tasks from parent to child. The program is a synthesis of the Cognitive Orientation to daily Occupational Performance (CO-OP) and the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction (SDLMI), which were shown to be effective with a wide variety of populations (Polatajko & Mandich, 2004; Wehmeyer, 2007). Additional information is included related to program evaluation, funding needs and dissemination plans.