Ethnographic Study Of Transition On The Threshold Of Adult Life Ed401677 United States Department Of Education

Author : James Ingram
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 250 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (124 download)

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Download or read book Transitioning from Secondary Education Into Adult Life written by James Ingram and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This phenomenological study examines the experiences of Navajo students with intellectual disabilities as they transition from high school into life as an adult. Cultural perspectives, disability, and family expectations are factors that affect transitional outcomes. The current literature around transition programming holds a limited view of preferred outcomes for students with disabilities. The widely accepted transition outcomes are employment, post-secondary training/education, and independent living. These transitional goals are formulated within the thinking of Western culture and are embraced within the philosophies of the U.S. educational system. Many students with intellectual disabilities have difficulty obtaining competitive employment, entering and graduating from college, or living without support. All three of these expressions of successful transition require skills and abilities that are often out of reach for a student with significant intellectual disabilities. Incongruent cultural expectations may compound the difficulty for students with intellectual disabilities as they move from the structured environment of school into the world of an adult. The procedures for this research are supported by a phenomenological methodology. The participants were three individuals who self-identify as Navajo and have a documented intellectual disability, plus the caregivers in their families. The transcribed interviews of the individual participants and family members provided the data to be analyzed and coded. Interviews were conducted using open-ended questions to explore the commonalities of the participants' experiences and to preserve their unique perspectives. This study illuminates the experiences of the participants in an effort to examine the transition process from a Navajo perspective. Also, transitional outcomes are explored from a perspective outside of the dominant Western viewpoint in order to uncover successful outcomes that may be more obtainable for individuals with disabilities regardless of cultural affiliation.