For those students who continue to work on self-determination skills, ongoing encouragement in the home and the community allows youngsters to work toward autonomy in community life. We wanted to find someone to support and believe in him, other than his parents. His case manger believed Charles was a valuable person and ended up becoming his friend. That allowed his mother, to start changing her role. If there wasn't someone else I trusted to look out for him, I wouldn't have been able to move out of the protector role and let Charles start advocating for himself.
Many parents recognize the vulnerability of their children who already face challenges in life.
They see the scores of times their children hand over hard-earned money to anyone who asks for it, give up their possessions and are talked into activities that get them into trouble. Parent roles in transition planning increase as their youngster moves closer to graduation. Parents and family members need to participate in program and policy development and evaluation activities and provide information about their youngster during the transition process. I would urge the schools and other service providers to concentrate on transition goals that prepare a young adult to interact comfortably with others. I believe that is the most important skill needed for life in the community.