Promoting good health in adolescents with disabilities

The recent attempts to implement the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act underscore the necessity for promoting good health in adolescents with disabilities. This article addresses the reasons why this concern has not been recognized and explores the concepts of good health, habilitation, and the effects of assistance in encouraging independence for youths with developmental disabilities. The article discusses how mobility, education, family adjustment, social relationships and sexuality, and emotional adjustment to adolescence influence health adjustment. Social work implications suggest a holistic approach emphasizing the concepts of youth and family empowerment and quality of life as the key professional endeavors in practice with youths with disabilities.