Youth with disabilities: a standardized self-portrait of how they are faring

There are approximately 10 million youth living with a disability in the United States. While their educational needs have been increasingly successfully addressed for the past quarter century, concern has been emerging that other priorities are being overlooked, especially those needed for successful independent living after they leave school. Thus, the primary purpose of this research project was to assess levels of health and well-being in a sample of youth with disabilities, in order to gain insight into their lives and self-perceptions. To accomplish this, 90 youths with disabilities were interviewed using the Child Health and Illness Profile-Adolescent Edition, a standardized instrument that incorporates multidimensional measures of well-being. Results indicate that these youth have high levels of self-esteem, self-satisfaction, academic achievement, and overall resiliency. They also report, however, feelings of social isolation, and higher levels of individual risk taking behaviors and unemployment. Recommendations for future research and practice implications are provided.