Post-school adult life for young people with Down syndrome
type: CreativeWork
description: Down syndrome is a chromosomal birth disorder affecting one in 650 to 1000 live births in Western Australia. The life expectancy for people with Down syndrome has increased dramatically over the past two generations leading to these young people having changing needs in terms of social, economic and personal life. Encompassed within this, is the successful transition from school to post-school, a time of upheaval, stress and important decisions for young people with intellectual disabilities. The International classification of functioning, disability and health (ICF) is a world renowned framework which provides a scientific basis and standardised language for describing and classifying health domains, health-related states and health outcome measurement. To examine the complex and fluid concept of transition from school to post-school for young people with Down syndrome this thesis employed the ICF as a guiding framework. The purpose of Study one was to describe the relevant literature on this transition for young people with an intellectual disability and identify gaps within the current knowledge base. The review found that the current body of literature on transition rarely considered those with moderate and severe disability and a whole of person approach was needed in future research. Study two examined the meaning of wellbeing from the perspective of children and young people with disabilities via focus groups. Six themes of the meaning of wellbeing emerged from the data describing, ‘having things to do’ (participation), ‘the importance of good friends’ (relationships), ‘home is where the heart is’ (family factors), ‘nothing seems to stick in my brain’ (anxiety relating to performance at school), ‘you need some way to cool down’ (coping strategies/resilience) and ‘feeling good about yourself’ (personal growth and development). The usefulness of the ICF in framing and guiding research in disability was strongly evident. Study two provided evidence from the per…
abstract: Down syndrome is a chromosomal birth disorder affecting one in 650 to 1000 live births in Western Australia. The life expectancy for people with Down syndrome has increased dramatically over the past two generations leading to these young people having changing needs in terms of social, economic and personal life. Encompassed within this, is the successful transition from school to post-school, a time of upheaval, stress and important decisions for young people with intellectual disabilities. The International classification of functioning, disability and health (ICF) is a world renowned framework which provides a scientific basis and standardised language for describing and classifying health domains, health-related states and health outcome measurement. To examine the complex and fluid concept of transition from school to post-school for young people with Down syndrome this thesis employed the ICF as a guiding framework. The purpose of Study one was to describe the relevant literature on this transition for young people with an intellectual disability and identify gaps within the current knowledge base. The review found that the current body of literature on transition rarely considered those with moderate and severe disability and a whole of person approach was needed in future research. Study two examined the meaning of wellbeing from the perspective of children and young people with disabilities via focus groups. Six themes of the meaning of wellbeing emerged from the data describing, ‘having things to do’ (participation), ‘the importance of good friends’ (relationships), ‘home is where the heart is’ (family factors), ‘nothing seems to stick in my brain’ (anxiety relating to performance at school), ‘you need some way to cool down’ (coping strategies/resilience) and ‘feeling good about yourself’ (personal growth and development). The usefulness of the ICF in framing and guiding research in disability was strongly evident. Study two provided evidence from the per…
author: Foley, Kitty Rose
keywords: Transition, Intellectual disability, ICF, Adolescence, Down Syndrome, Youth and mental disabilities, School to work, Transition to work, Human Resources Management, Other Education, Social and Behavioral Sciences
date published: 2014-01-01T08:00:00Z
date modified: 2026-07-27T19:22:16Z
provider: Edith Cowan University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia