A systematic review of post-secondary transition interventions for youth with disabilities

Purpose: Youth with disabilities have lower rates of enrollment and completion of post-secondary education compared with youth without disabilities. The objective of this systematic review is to understand the best practices and components of post-secondary transition programs for youth with disabilities.Method: Systematic searches of six international databases identified 18 studies meeting our inclusion criteria (youth with a disability, aged 15–30; focusing on post-secondary education program or intervention, published from 1997 to 2017). These studies were analyzed with respect to the characteristics of the participants, methodology, results, and quality of the evidence.Results: Among the 18 studies, 2385 participants (aged 13–28, mean 17.7 years) were represented across three countries (US, Canada, and Australia). Although the outcomes of the post-secondary transition programs varied across the studies, all of them reported an improvement in at least one of the following: college enrollment, self-determination, self-confidence, social and vocational self-efficacy, autonomy, social support, career exploration, and transition skills. The post-secondary transition programs varied in duration, length, number of sessions, and delivery format which included curriculum-based, online, immersive residential experience, mentoring, simulation, self-directed, technology-based, and multi-component.Conclusions: Our findings highlight that post-secondary transition programs have the potential to improve self-determination, transition skills, and post-secondary outcomes among youth with disabilities.Implications for rehabilitationPost-secondary education interventions have a beneficial influence on post-secondary and related transition outcomes in youth with disabilities.Clinicians and educators should consider having multiple components, involving several sessions that include a curriculum, immersive college residential experience, mentoring, and/or simulations in their interventions for optimum program outcomes.More research is needed to explore the types of interventions that work best for whom and the optimal age (including exploring the socio-demographic characteristics), setting, and delivery format.