@phdthesis{discovery10020633,
          school = {Institute of Education, University of London},
           title = {Leaving special school : post-16 outcomes for young adults with specific language impairment},
            year = {2011},
            note = {Thesis: (PhD) University of London Institute of Education, 2011.},
             url = {http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.538568},
          author = {Carroll, Catherine},
        abstract = {Investigations of the post-16 outcomes for young people with a specific language
impairment (SLI) are limited in scope. This thesis contributes to this body of knowledge
by examining the academic, employment, independence and social outcomes of a
cohort of pupils who attended a residential special school for pupils with SLI and the
explanations provided by the young people for these outcomes and experiences. Sixty
participants ranging between seventeen and twenty-two years of age completed a
telephone survey to investigate their transition outcomes. Survey data are
complemented by in-depth, face to face, interviews taken two years later with nineteen
of the original cohort to explore their views on what had facilitated and hindered their
transition experience.
As a cohort, the young people were generally adapting well to the demands of life as a
young adult. Almost all had continued into further education, with over half going on to
increase their level of qualifications and some had entered university. Those young
people who had started their working career were predominantly employed in the
retail, administrative and skilled trade sectors and most of them enjoyed their work.
The majority lived at home but reported a growing sense of independence and
confidence. The transition back to their home communities, for the most part, had
been positive with new friendships and a range of social activities engaged in.
However, factors relating to gender and very low levels of qualifications were
associated with more vulnerable transitions.
The thesis uses the interplay of agency and structure to examine the transition
accounts of the young people within the context of Bronfenbrenner's ecological model
of human development. The findings have implications concerning the 14-19
curriculum provision for young people with SLI and for how their role in the transition
process should be strengthened.
Key words: Transition; Specific Language Impairment; Post-16; Special School; Special
Educational Needs; Bounded Agency}
}