THE TRANSITION TO ADULTHOOD FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY

The transition to adulthood is a potentially formative period of the life course for individuals with intellectual disability. In this investigation, we examined the transition using traditional criteria for launching and role functioning and also explored how the concept of emerging adulthood applies to young adults who have intellectual disability. The targets were 140 young adults (ages 18-33 years, mean = 24 years) who participated in a long-term follow-up of a longitudinal investigation of family and child development for children with mild and moderate intellectual disability. Overall, there was limited evidence of launching and financial independence for the young adults, with most living with parents and few able to support themselves financially. As expected, greater progress toward independence occurred for individuals with mild as opposed to moderate intellectual disability. However, relatively few adult outcomes were predicted by childhood behavior problems, and there were few gender differences. Despite this situation, most of the parents reported that the target individual had "reached adulthood" and, similar to normative samples, they focused on criteria for adulthood that emphasized independent thought and free choice over role transitions and financial independence. The findings suggest an expanded view of emerging adulthood for individuals with intellectual disability who are transitioning into adulthood characterized by interdependence rather than independence.