Priority Domains for Instruction, Satisfaction with School Teaching, and Postschool Living and Employment: An Analysis of Perceptions of Parents of Students with Severe and Profound Disabilities

Abstract

Parents of students with severe and profound disabilities who attended public schools were surveyed about their perceptions of the education programming for their children in four curricular domains: domestic, community, vocational (work responsibilities done at home), and leisure. They were asked to rate their child's independence in these domains, to rate their level of satisfaction with the school's teaching in each of the domains, to rank order the priority for instruction of the domains, and to indicate their anticipations of their child's post-school living and employment situations. For the total sample, parents rated their child as significantly more independent in the vocational and leisure domains than in the community domain. Parent satisfaction with education programming in each domain was high. The domestic domain consistently was ranked as most important. For most age levels, the vocational domain was ranked second, the community domain ranked third, and the leisure domain ranked fourth. Except for parents of 12-to 18-year-old male adolescents, relatively few parents predicted their son or daughter would live in a group home or sheltered apartment. Very few parents anticipated that their child would have part-time or full-time employment. Results are interpreted within the context of examining school service delivery and the extent to which it facilitates the goal of community adjustment.