'Really troubling:' Survey finds poor outcomes for students with disabilities after high school

About a quarter of Washington’s students with disabilities don’t find employment or enroll in higher education within a year of leaving high school.

Outcomes are even worse for students with autism or intellectual disabilities: 54% of graduates with intellectual disabilities are not engaging in employment or higher education within a year, and 41% of those with autism fall into the same category.

The data comes from a new survey from the state Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, which analyzes information collected in 2022 from students receiving special education services who left high school in the 2020-2021 school year.

Joshua Taylor, a professor at Washington State University who studies transitions from school to employment for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities, said the reported outcomes for those students are “really troubling.”

https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2024/03/25/really-troubling-survey-finds-poor-outcomes-for-students-with-disabilities-after-high-school/