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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
- Authors:
- McCONKEY Roy, SMYTH Marissa
- Journal article citation:
- Children and Society, 17(1), January 2002, pp.18-31.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
The majority of school leavers over two years from two special schools for pupils with severe learning disabilities were individually interviewed as were their parents. 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.