ABSTRACT
This chapter will focus on young people with disabilities and other “special needs” groups. As we shall see, considering these groups together is far from being uncomplicated or straightforward. Yet recent social policy legislation does attempt to deal with the welfare of all young people with special needs, and the Children Act 1989, in particular, claims to address the need for policy co-ordination in the areas of education, health, employment and social services so as to serve better the needs of all young people. This chapter will examine the ways in which policy and practice for these groups have developed in recent years. It will outline what research has to tell us about the characteristics of each group, and the main problems they face in attempting the main transition processes of youth. As we will see, young people with special needs and those with disabilities often experience prolonged and extended transitions to independence, in marked contrast to young people leaving care which we examined in the last chapter. For, while young people being looked after by local authorities can be shown to move to “independence” at a much earlier age than their contemporaries, those with disabilities are much more likely to have their transitions to employment and independent living delayed until their early 20s at the very earliest. This helps to re-enforce a status of being “eternal children”, which is often foisted on people with disabilities (Barnes 1991, Fulcher 1989).
