Intellectual disability (hereinafter referred to as MDR) is a neurologically conditioned developmental disorder that occurs before an individual is 18 years old. Persons with moderate, more severe and severe MDR (referred to as ZTTMDR) are usually directed to a specific educational programme (referred to as PP VIZ). Because of their deficits, they never become completely self-sufficient, so they need the care, guidance and control of others throughout their lives. This is why the question where after the graduation often arises. Since the transition to adulthood for both parents and their children with MDR is a complex and time-consuming process, and the post-school period is poorly researched, the empirical work focuses on this area.
In the master's thesis, we presented the characteristics of adults with MDR, the legislation that touches them, and the housing options, available to them. We also presented special-purpose care, work and employment opportunities for adults with MDR, as well as lifelong learning opportunities and ways that experts can use to inform parents about the opportunities their children have in their further lives.
We investigated the level of parents of persons with ZTTMDR being informed about the possibilities of further education, employment and life in general after completing primary education. We investigated whether there is a difference between the information that parents receive and the information provided by experts. We were also interested in how parents accept the information mentioned above the easiest way and what information they would like to receive in greater numbers.
The survey included 70 parents of these persons and 53 experts involved in informing parents from all over Slovenia. The results of the study showed that a large number of parents at the school their child attended got at least the basic or all information they needed to facilitate the child's transition into adulthood. When parents need additional information, they usually turn to counselors or other parents, and often seek help from outside institutions and various associations/societies. This information is received at parental meetings and speaking hours and parents tend to visit self-help groups. The experts usually follow already established ways of working with parents and most often inform them through parental meetings and individual speaking hours. Most parents still have more unresolved issues regarding the future of their child with MDR, which most often relate to their son or daughter's area of residence and employment, or their child's care in case of the parents' illness or death. The schools, which were surveyed, informed parents to different degrees which suggests significant differences in parents' being informed. We found out that at schools where parents are more informed, in addition to the standard forms of getting information (parental meetings and individual speaking hours), parents often attend self-help groups. The results of the survey also showed that parents do not receive most of the information about their son's or daughter's future at the school he or she attends, but outside the school, most often at associations/societies. Furthermore, more than half of the participating parents are already involved in the planning of their MDR son or daughter' further life.
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