ABSTRACT
Although many research studies have been carried out into the post-school placement of ESN(M) school leavers, and although severely mentally handicapped young people are being followed up in research carried out at the Hester Adrian Centre much less is known about what happens to physically handicapped leavers in general, and cerebral-palsied and spina bifida leavers in particular. Just over half of the teenagers in the follow-up group left school at sixteen years, twenty left at seventeen years, and five left at eighteen or over. Nearly half of the young people seen in the follow-up had entered some form of further education, vocational training or assessment. For most disabled school leavers, however, the psychological significance of obtaining employment is likely to be even greater than the financial incentive. Only a few ordinary further education colleges have set up courses specifically aimed to cater for the needs of more severely disabled young people.
