Background: For families with adolescent children, the transition to adulthood is usually challenging. This period may be extra demanding for families with a child with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities due to the child's strong and persistent support needs. To support these families during this phase and to facilitate the transition…

The purpose of this interpretative phenomenological analysis was to better understand the senior year experience concluding with the post-secondary transition, stress, and coping through the eyes of recent high school graduates and members of the Class of 2020. Schlossberg's (1984) transition model was used as a theoretical framework to study the…

Over the last 20 years, we have learned much about the extent to which early-life deprivation affects the mental health of children and adolescents. This body of evidence comes predominantly from studies of children raised in institutional care. The Bucharest Early Intervention Project (BEIP) is the only randomized controlled trial designed to…

A meaningful curriculum is one that is individualized, inclusive of the individual's unique needs and interests, and focused on building independence in current and future environments. A meaningful curriculum addresses an individual's needs and prioritizes instructional programs based on what is, potentially, most important to their lives and not…

Since the 1970s, schools in Ireland have offered an optional programme known as 'Transition Year' midway through secondary education, when students are typically 15 years old. It lasts one academic year and aims to promote maturity, social development and vocational exploration, and to give students a chance to develop personal and intellectual…

Youth initiated mentoring (YIM) is an innovative approach to mentoring being implemented by the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program in which youth identify and select their mentors. There is great interest in this approach; however, there has been little study of YIM or its implementation in ChalleNGe. Retrospective in-depth qualitative…

Service providers working with transition-aged young people with mental health disorders require specialized research-based training to better meet their needs. A 10-module interactive online training program, Promoting Positive Pathways to Adulthood (PPPA), was developed to build service provider competencies to improve outcomes for the youth…

This chapter focuses on vulnerable youth, the challenges they face during their transitions to adulthood, and the adverse effects of limited support systems on those transitions. The authors offer recommendations on how adult educators can help facilitate smooth transitions into adulthood for vulnerable youth.

This chapter considers how transitions to adulthood have been historically represented and presents alternative ways of thinking about transitions to adulthood through the context of adult basic education programs.

The transition of a student out of high school and into the adult world can be a stressful time for many families of high school students. This major life transition can be particularly challenging for students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their families. In this article, we first discuss the roles of families in the transition process…

The transition of a student out of high school and into the adult world can be a stressful time for many families of high school students. This major life transition can be particularly challenging for students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD)and their families. In this article, we first discuss the roles of families in the transition process…

The purpose of this study was to understand how schools address two specific criteria of the Schools to Watch® (STW) program: Social equity and developmental responsiveness. Descriptions of replicable practices, program/school characteristics, and initiatives created by each of the STW sites in Pennsylvania were analyzed. The data also includes…

Youth transitioning out of foster care and into adulthood need many supports to navigate the challenges they face. Over the past three decades, federal child welfare policy has significantly increased the availability of those supports. In 1999, the Foster Care Independence Act amended Title IV-E of the Social Security Act to create the Chafee…

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 middle-to-high-school transition and the first year of high school are critical periods in students' lives. According to the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB), "The passage of students from the middle grades to high school is the most difficult transition point in education" (2002, p. 24). Although there are many different…