Disrupting the Transition Paradigm: Redefining Transition to Adulthood for South Asian Families of Children with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
Abstract
The transition to adulthood is a significant step in every individual’s life. Specifically, for individuals with disabilities, the transition process requires targeted planning for specific adulthood outcomes (e.g., employment, higher education, living skills, social skills, and community preferences). As such, parent and professional voices and experiences guide the transition planning process to support youth in achieving meaningful adulthood outcomes. However, racially minoritized families often do not have agency in this process or equitable access to transition planning resources. Thus, my three dissertation studies center on the voices of South Asian families and their racialized experiences in redefining, reexamining, and reshaping the transition to adulthood for South Asian parents of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The first study used a mixed methods design to explore the strengths and resilience of 48 South Asian parents as they navigated systemic adversities in the transition planning process. The second study scoped 54 studies across four decades of peer review and gray literature to explore the state of parent education interventions for parents of adolescents with autism in the United States. Together, the two studies informed the development, implementation, and efficacy of SAATHI, a pilot transition-focused parent education intervention for 31 South Asian families of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Subject
DisabilitiesIntellectual and Developmental Disabilities
Autism
Families
Transition planning
Parent Intervention
Race and Dis/ability
Citation
Shikarpurya, Sehrish (2023). Disrupting the Transition Paradigm: Redefining Transition to Adulthood for South Asian Families of Children with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. Doctoral dissertation, Texas A&M University. Available electronically from https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /198936.