Parenting Youth
It's not easy being the parent of an adolescent under any circumstances. Parents want to protect and care for their children. Youth want to experience life, to become young adults.
This conflict is even greater when the child has a disability. Parents often see their child as vulnerable because of the disability and feel an even greater responsibility to take care of him or her. At the same time, their teen wants to be like everyone else. Just because the teenager has a disability doesn't mean he isn't like other teenagers, wanting to date, go to parties, get away from parental supervision, earn his own money, drive a car and all of the other things that matter to a teenager.
If you find the transition to adulthood easy, your family is the lucky exception. In the next few pages, we offer several efforts to help you on your journey. These include knowlege of adolescent development, services for youth making the transition from home & school to work & independent living and resources for continuing education on issues in adolescence.
