Family-Related Roles and Considerations

Abstract

When school years end and adult life begins, young adults with developmental disabilities and their families experience fully the realities of transition. Contrary to common connotation, this from school to adult roles is neither unitary nor smooth (Ferguson and Ferguson, 1986; Ferguson, Ferguson, andJones, 1988), and often involves extensive time waiting for opportunities to assume adult roles in work and community living (Brodsky, 1983; Ferguson and Ferguson, 1986). In addition, young adults with developmental disabilities and their families often continue to live together for years after the young adult leaves school (Brodsky, 1983; Irvin, Close, and Wells, 1987; Kregel, Wehman, and Seyfarth, 1985; McDonnell, Wilcox, Boles, and Bellamy, 1985). The responsibility for accomplishing desired transition outcomes devolves largely from the service system to the family (McCallum, 1985; Turnbull, 1988; Wilcox and Bellamy, 1982). These realities heighten the importance of the family's roles in the transition to adulthood of a family member with developmental disabilities. Demands are ever present for individuals and their families to cope with a variety of both known and unknown exigencies if the individuals with developmental disabilities and their families are to achieve satisfying adult lives. There is increased potential for family concerns to become stresses that can undermine transition to adult lives for people with developmental disabilities. Thus, to accomplish satisfactory transition outcomes for youth with disabilities who are entering their adult years, it is essential to address the needs and concerns of their families as well. In this paper, we document the role of the family related to transition and describe a useful conceptualltheoretical foundation that can serve to facilitate a clearer understanding of transition for young adults and their families. We emphasize the family-dependent nature and effects of the process of transition to adulthood for youth with developmental disabilities. Our approach is premised upon two well-established facts: First, young adults with developmental disabilities commonly live with their natural or foster families, who assume major responsibilities for overseeing the quality of their young adults' lives. Second, the myriad of family concerns that result are largely unaddressed within current education and adult service provision. Our conceptual/theoretical model, based largely on Lazarus and Folkman's (1984) stress and coping theory, derives directly from these two premises. Within our model, we define transition as an ongoing sequence of familyrelated events that can best be understood as both normative and extraordinary care-giving concerns, associated stresses, and coping efforts.