Self-determination and Transition Outcomes of Youth with Disabilities: Findings from the Special Needs Education Longitudinal Study

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to use the data of the Special Needs Education Longitudinal Study (SNELS) to investigate the degree of self-determination and associated transition outcomes of students with disabilities after graduation from senior high school in Taiwan. Whether students’ self-determination could predict their transition outcomes was also examined. Methods: Participants (N = 630) were youth identified as having intellectual disability (ID), learning disabilities (LD), emotional disturbance (ED), and autism. Descriptive statistics, analyses of variances (ANOVAs), chi-squared tests, and logistic regression analyses were conducted to analyze data. Results: Results showed that the degree of self-determination of youth with ID/LD/ED/autism in Taiwan was significantly lower than that of the comparison group consisting of youth with visual, hearing, and health impairments. After graduating from senior high school, approximately 70% of youth with ID/LD/ED/autism made successful career transitions, including 40.3% attending college and 29.1% entering the workforce. Thirty percent of youth could not make a career transition 6 months after graduation and stayed at home. Furthermore, the transition outcomes of 75.9% of youth with ID/LD/ED/autism could be correctly predicted based on their degree of self-determination. Conclusions: The results of this study suggested that even if youth with ID/LD/ED/autism were capable of graduating from high school and continuing to enter college or the workforce, their self-determination skills might still be insufficient and consequently affect their performance of postsecondary outcomes.