Household tasks and parent expectations for employment
Research has found that transition-aged youth (i.e., ages 14-21) with severe disabilities who engage in household tasks have increased odds of employment after exiting school. Moreover, the odds of youth being employed increase when parents expected that their children would have paying jobs after high school. However, research has not identified the extent that youth with severe disabilities, including intellectual disability (ID), participate in household tasks and how their participation relates to parent expectations for employment. This cross-sectional survey study had two primary purposes. It sought to determine the extent that parents reported their transition-aged youth with intellectual disability participated in household tasks and the level of support their youth required to participate in tasks. Additionally, this study aimed to examine the relationship between youth involvement in household tasks and parent expectations for post-school employment. Parents of 118 transition-aged youth with intellectual disabilities from 28 states participated in the study. Descriptive statistics revealed that youth with intellectual disability had low overall levels of participation in household tasks and often required assistance to participate in tasks. A significant, positive relation was found between increased youth household task participation and high parent expectations for employment. Additionally, correlates of youth household task participation were identified. Specifically, youth with profound ID (versus youth with mild and moderate ID) were significantly less likely to participate in household tasks. Youth with increased engagement in community-based activities and previously paid employment experiences had increased participation in household tasks. Implications for research and practice research are discussed based on the study’s findings.
intellectual disability, household tasks, parent expectations, employment
University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign