Korean American Mothers’ Experiences of the Transition from School into Adulthood for Their Child with Disabilities

Abstract

In order to better understand how Korean American students with disabilities go through transitions and how education and services can more effectively target them, this study was designed to examine Korean American parents’ perceptions of transition experiences for their child with disabilities through collecting qualitative data. To achieve the purposes of the research, 9 mothers of Korean American young adults with disabilities aged 18–25 were interviewed. Overall, five themes emerged from the qualitative analysis: the importance and shortcomings of a transition program for students with disabilities aged 18–21, use of an ethnic informal organization, mothers’ readiness for the future, professionals’ negative attitudes, and transition planning. The findings were discussed to enhance the involvement of Korean American parents in the development of a long-range plan that will affect the postschool outcomes of their children with disabilities.

Keywords

• Korean American young adults with disabilities
• mothers
• transition from school into adulthood
• qualitative study