Self‐determination within Australian school transition programmes for students with a disability

Abstract

The concept of self‐determination has gained prominence over recent years in parallel with the recognition of the rights of people with a disability. Services are being pressured to make radical changes to the restrictive philosophies and practices of the past. This paper reviews seven Australian transition programmes for young people with disabilities as they moved from school to adult options. It examines the extent to which self‐determination principles are evident and whether they led to a wider range of opportunities and a reshaping of the service system. The studies showed that participation in decision‐making by young people and their families resulted in increased service responsiveness and greater achievement of preferred outcomes. However, the restructuring of service systems to become more flexible and responsive has been slower than expected. One contributing factor appears to be that an increasing demand for resources creates pressures for more bureaucratic and less person‐oriented approaches.