Characteristics and experiences of Youth who are Deaf-Blind | Knowledge Translation for Employment Research Center

Authors:	McGilloway, S., & Donnelly, M.
Year Published	2017
Publication
Volume
Number
Pages	1-38
Publisher	The NRTC on Blindness & Low Vision
Background	According to the National Center on Deaf-Blindness' (NCDB) there have been 8,937 individuals from age 3 to 21, identified with deaf-blindness. Approximately two thirds of transition-age youth with deaf-blindness have participated in state vocational rehabilitation (VR) programs. However, very limited research exists that gives an accurate depiction of the deaf-blind community's experience.
Purpose	This report describes deaf-blind youth in a sample from 2001 to 2009 and examines the population's characteristics, secondary school experiences, academic achievements, postsecondary school attendance, and employment experiences. The perspective of this report is from that of parents/guardians, youth, and teachers.
Setting	Data for this report come from the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 (NLTS2) from 2001 to 2009. Data for this sample were collected via mail surveys and interviews of youth and their parents/guardians, surveys of school personnel, and district assessments.
Sample	Participants included young adults who identified as having visual and auditory loss as a primary disability.
Data Collection	Data collection used in this NLTS2 sample were conducted every two years with a total of five waves from 2001 to 2009 with the largest sample size occurring during Wave 1 (170).
Control	There was no control group.
Findings	A detailed description of the school and employment experience of young adults who are deaf-blind is included in this report. However several commonalities presented themselves within this sample including that the majority of respondents (92% or more), lived with their parent(s) or other relatives, received transition planning for adult life, received special services from their school, and most had one or more accommodation identified on their individualized education program (IEP).
Conclusions	Although this dataset has been used to represent transition aged youth with disabilities in the past, this report is the first for young adults who are deaf-blind in the United States at a national level. These data are somewhat dated and it would be beneficial to continue this research with a more recent sample.
URL	http://www.blind.msstate.edu/docs/characteristicsAndExperiencesOfYouthWhoAreDeafBlind.pdf
Disabilities	Hearing impairments \| Visual impairments
Populations	Male & Female \| Transition-age youth (14 - 24)
Outcomes
NIDILRR Funded	Yes
Research Design	Observational
Peer Reviewed	No

Year Published

2017

Publication

Volume

Number

Pages

1-38

Publisher

The NRTC on Blindness & Low Vision

Background

According to the National Center on Deaf-Blindness' (NCDB) there have been 8,937 individuals from age 3 to 21, identified with deaf-blindness. Approximately two thirds of transition-age youth with deaf-blindness have participated in state vocational rehabilitation (VR) programs. However, very limited research exists that gives an accurate depiction of the deaf-blind community's experience.

Purpose

This report describes deaf-blind youth in a sample from 2001 to 2009 and examines the population's characteristics, secondary school experiences, academic achievements, postsecondary school attendance, and employment experiences. The perspective of this report is from that of parents/guardians, youth, and teachers.

Setting

Data for this report come from the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 (NLTS2) from 2001 to 2009. Data for this sample were collected via mail surveys and interviews of youth and their parents/guardians, surveys of school personnel, and district assessments.

Sample

Participants included young adults who identified as having visual and auditory loss as a primary disability.

Data Collection

Data collection used in this NLTS2 sample were conducted every two years with a total of five waves from 2001 to 2009 with the largest sample size occurring during Wave 1 (170).

Control

There was no control group.

Findings

A detailed description of the school and employment experience of young adults who are deaf-blind is included in this report. However several commonalities presented themselves within this sample including that the majority of respondents (92% or more), lived with their parent(s) or other relatives, received transition planning for adult life, received special services from their school, and most had one or more accommodation identified on their individualized education program (IEP).

Conclusions

Although this dataset has been used to represent transition aged youth with disabilities in the past, this report is the first for young adults who are deaf-blind in the United States at a national level. These data are somewhat dated and it would be beneficial to continue this research with a more recent sample.

URL

http://www.blind.msstate.edu/docs/characteristicsAndExperiencesOfYouthWhoAreDeafBlind.pdf

Disabilities

Hearing impairments | Visual impairments

Populations

Male & Female | Transition-age youth (14 - 24)

Outcomes

NIDILRR Funded

Yes

Research Design

Observational

Peer Reviewed

No