Journal article
Transition to community by adolescents with Asperger syndrome: staying afloat in a sea change
Disability and health journal, v 6(3), pp 227-235
Jul 2013
PMID: 23769482
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
Transition to community (TC) is the movement out of secondary school to independent living or higher education. It is challenging for young people who have typical neurodevelopment and daunting for those who have neurodevelopmental characteristics associated with Asperger syndrome (AS).
This grounded theory study describes the phenomenon of transition to community among adolescents and young adults with AS.
Audiotaped interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using constant comparison to explore the socially constructed phenomenon of TC. Our sample comprised 36 participants from four groups deemed central to the phenomenon including: individuals with AS age 18-22 years (N = 13), parents (n = 13); and five each of educators and potential employers.
The core psychosocial problem of TC is to stay afloat while feeling "adrift." This problem was experienced by the individual with AS, and parents and others were observers and facilitators. Adolescents, with the support of parents, teachers and sympathetic employers solved this problem by using three psychosocial processes of structuring, anchoring, and embarking.
Clinicians who work with this population, potential employers, and educators are stakeholders who can apply our findings to the development of effective and personalized transition services. Findings from our study are grounded in the experiences of participants, and therefore, have explicit practical value. The conceptual model of TC can be used by health care providers, educators, employers and parents to guide adolescents as they transition to community.
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Details
- Title
- Transition to community by adolescents with Asperger syndrome: staying afloat in a sea change
- Creators
- Ellen Giarelli - Drexel UniversityKathleen Fisher - Drexel University
- Publication Details
- Disability and health journal, v 6(3), pp 227-235
- Publisher
- Elsevier
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Doctoral Nursing; [Retired Faculty]
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000320659900010
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-84879210374
- Other Identifier
- 991019169804704721
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- Web of Science research areas
- Health Care Sciences & Services
- Health Policy & Services
- Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
- Rehabilitation