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Parental perceptions of risks with older teenagers who have severe learning difficulties contrasted with the young people's views and experiences
Author(s) -
McConkey Roy,
Smyth Marisa
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
children and society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.538
H-Index - 58
eISSN - 1099-0860
pISSN - 0951-0605
DOI - 10.1002/chi.725
Subject(s) - psychology , perception , daughter , developmental psychology , learning disability , social psychology , evolutionary biology , neuroscience , biology
The majority of school leavers over two years from two special schools for pupils with severe learning disabilities were individually interviewed (N = 34), as were their parents (N = 38). Parental reports stressed the amount of care and supervision required by these young people. They viewed them as vulnerable to various different hazards such as crossing roads and only a minority were prepared to take the risk of teaching them. However more of the young people felt they were capable of certain tasks. Parents had a particular fear that their son or daughter may be taken advantage of sexually even though the bigger risk—going by the young people's reports—is verbal abuse and bullying from peers. A model is proposed of the influences on parental assessments of risks. This might be used in arriving at ‘shared risk‐taking’ strategies with professionals and the young people during the later years of schooling.