ABSTRACT
Graduation from secondary school, going on to employment or university, leaving home or the community and moving to our own place to live: all mark major changes in the lives of young adults. Each event signals a transition or phase in the transition process. Transition is described as “the passage or movement from one stage to another…. The passage from school to work…dependence to independence…from a relatively protected environment to the larger community…” (Patton, Hegenaver, Marinoble & Reifmen, 1984). These transitions impact not only the individual but their families as well. The impact may be more significant to families who have adolescents or young adults with disabilities, and this raises questions about the role of parents in such adolescent’s transitions from secondary school to the adult world (Thorin, Yovanoff, & Irvin, 1996).
