Study looks at life for disabled youth
Ronald Autry’s father cried as his son crossed the high school track meet finish line. James Autry’s tears were not because his son came in first or because he broke a school record. They were tears of pride for the simple completion of the race by his autistic son.
This Iowa family has struggled to raise their autistic son in a way which encourages him to achieve in high school and during the years that follow.
“To think that 30 years ago he might have been institutionalized somewhere, warehoused away from society. And today, he is in the midst of a thriving, diverse, supportive public school,” James wrote for a recent issue of The Des Moines Register in his article about his son. “He’s eccentric, yes. He can be difficult, yes. And he sure won’t set any speed records. But, by the grace of God and an enlightened public education system, he is in the race. What more can we ask?”
The Autrys and other families with children with a wide range of disabilities, including autism, Down’s syndrome, visual impairment, developmental delays and those who were medically fragile at birth are participating in a study at the Early Intervention Research Institute at Utah State University. The study, “Bridges in the Lives of Youth: Community Adjustment and Transition Outcomes” is designed to look at how children with diagnosed disabilities, who have received different educational services over time, adjust to community and work life as they leave school or graduate from high school.
The Bridges study is following about 345 families from nine sites in seven states. Linda Goetze, director of the project, has been following this same group of families for more than 10 years for other studies. To obtain information for the study, Bridges staff survey parents, children and their teachers about the educational programs and services these youth have received. This information is then used to evaluate how different school services, such as the percentage of time spent in regular education and/or special education, affect the youths’ transition into adult life.
Goetze said teachers are surveyed about the student’s classes, transition plans for when the student leaves high school, vocational education and job training the student has received, and absences and disciplinary actions of the student. Parents are asked about what educational program their child is in, how often they socialize and their everyday life skills. This study is also unique because it surveys the youth themselves about their experiences during school and life after school.
“We decided to ask them directly ‘What is your life like?'” Goetze said.
Although it is hard to keep track of so many families, Goetze said the project has been successful keeping the families involved through a combination of newsletters, birthday and season’s greeting cards, and personalized letters. Staff working on the Bridges project have also created the Web site www.BridgesforYouth.org that includes links to other information helpful to families in the study.
Goetze recently submitted a paper for the U.S. Department of Education’s Report to Congress. The paper examines similarities and differences between children who were in special education and those who were in regular education at ages 6 and 10 years. The data examined describes children who are now in the Bridges study.
“Our ultimate goal is to provide policy makers with information that will help families and children with disabilities,” Goetze said.
Bridges is funded by the U.S. Department of Education for a three-year period. Goetze hopes to be able to obtain longitudinal funding for continuation of the study.