Vulnerable Youth – Dependency or Independence? School Experiences, Transitions and Adaptation to and within Adult Life

Emmy Elizabeth Langøy; Rune Kvalsund

doi:10.16993/sjdr.34

Vulnerable Youth – Dependency or Independence? School Experiences, Transitions and Adaptation to and within Adult Life

Scandinavian Journal of Disability Research

Volume 20 (2018): Issue 1

By: Emmy Elizabeth Langøy and Rune Kvalsund

Open Access

|Oct 2018

Abstract

This article examines the factors that influence the potential for independence among individuals experiencing special learning conditions in upper secondary school owing to psycho-social difficulties (PSDs) or general learning difficulties (general LDs). Using longitudinal data collected on 357 individuals from 1995/1996 through 2007, adaptation to adulthood is studied by the logistic regression analysis of two dependent variables – full-time employment and living situation. The situation of the students with PSDs and/or general LDs is compared with the situation of students with other types of difficulties. The results indicate that individuals with PSDs experience greater challenges in obtaining a job and a residence of their own. Having special educational support in schools, such as teaching assistants, seems to have a negative effect on achieving an independent life.

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