Introduction

The transition to adulthood is an important and often difficult time. It can be more difficult for young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).

Transition Services are support services that help a person with IDD to get from high school to adult life and school-age services to the adult disability service system.

People still don’t know enough about which transition services help young people with IDD the most. Research can help find the answers. Young people with IDD and their families have the most experience with transition. Research into what transition supports they want and need will have the biggest effects on successful transition.

Many young people with IDD receive services from professionals with experience in services for children. These professionals often don’t have experience working with and supporting adults with IDD. One way to make sure young adults with IDD get the right support is through peer support.

Peer support is when someone with a disability, helps another person with a similar disability. Peer Support can be done in a formal way as part of a transition intervention or service. A peer supporter can help someone at their job to break down their work into smaller steps. Peer support can also be done in an informal way when a person helps another person with a similar experience. A friend provides peer support when they help someone use public transportation like the bus.

Our research team carried out a study to learn more about how peer support can help people with IDD transition to adulthood. We learned the main priorities for transition services and research are independent living skills, the ability to advocate and make decisions about your life, and school and work opportunities after high school. We also learned how peer support can achieve those goals. We considered people in transition if they were 16 to 25 years old.

Go to the next page to learn more about the Background of the study