Transition From School to Adulthood for Youth With Severe Handicaps

Within the past decade thousands of children labeled severely handicapped have received special education services financed through public funds. As these children become young adults and leave school, the forms of adult vocational and residential services available to them take on a new interest and importance. Most of these individuals will require support or specialized help to function in the community. Students like Jack, Marianne, and Robin-who previously have been labeled as severely mentally retarded, autistic, and deaf-blind-will now for the first time be looking for job placement assistance, on-the-job training, travel training to be able to reach their jobs, aid in living in a supervised apartment or group home, and support for improving recreational options in the community. Unfortunately, community services such as these have lagged severely in the development of special education programs. Typically, adult vocational and residential services for persons with severe handicaps are in short supply with long waiting lists. This creates serious problems for students in need of transition assistance into adulthood and even has begun generating lawsuits for these services (Washington Post, June 28, 1985).