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This document has been archived because some of the information it contains may be out of date. (Effective January 2010)

Parental Expectations of Students Receiving Benefits

In a 2000 study of Social Security issues for students in transition from high school to adult services, 121 pairs of students and parents were surveyed by the Institute for Community Inclusion at Boston Children’s Hospital. The study assessed the career path, barriers to employment, and career decision-making process for young adults with disabilities; investigated the role of parents in the transition from school to work; and examined the impact of SSI/SSDI participation on career expectations. Eighty percent of the students were under age 18, 75% were reported as having a learning disability, and 25% received Social Security benefits. The results indicated that parents of students who received some type of support from the Social Security Administration had statistically significant differences in some expectations for their children when compared with parents of children not receiving benefits. They included:

• The short and long-term expectations that their children would be working or engaged in educational or vocational training after high school were lower for parents of students receiving benefits.
• Parents of SSA beneficiaries rated their children’s self-determination in career decision-making lower than did parents of non-beneficiaries, and were more likely to indicate that their children could not make their own decisions, evaluate what they were good at, or ask for help.
• Other factors such as the nature of disability or type of education services (segregated or integrated) did not contribute to differences in expectations.
• Families and schools need to work together to understand these expectations and their impact, and employment options for student beneficiaries.

Contributed by Sheila Fesko, Institute for Community Inclusion, Boston Children’s Hospital. For information on the complete report contact her at 617/355-6271.

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