Physically handicapped school leavers.

Twelve years ago I wrote an annotation for this journal entitled 'The handicapped school leaver'.1 I pointed out what many knew and Warnock has so clearly stated that 'the transition from school to adult life can be difficult for many young people. For those with special educational needs it is likely to be a period of particular stress'.2 I lamented the loss of an extra year in education which disabled children formerly enjoyed, their lack of educational opportunities, employment, training, pre-employment and social skills, the paucity of suitable transportation and mobility, of appropriate day care, and housing. Has anything changed? Is it worth you, the reader, reading on? It seems, for many young people, nothing has changed. Similarly, many paediatricians remain anxious with good cause. They see what Peter Swain described as a void opening up before their maturing patients, a void down which they will hurtle.3 This view, of the almost total lack of any coordinated services for young adults comparable with those so ably put in place by community paediatricians, for children, is widespread. But there are some innovative schemes. A few community teams are in place in some parts of the UK with a brief for young physically handicapped adults, although there is little knowledge of their existence. THE TASK Hardoff and Chigier describe the path travelled by the adolescent towards maturity as one when four major developmental tasks have to be accomplished.4 They must: (i) consolidate their identity, (ii) achieve independence from parents, (iii) establish adult relationships outside the family, and (iv) find a vocation. The young person's medical condition may have an impact at three levels: impairment, disability, and handicap.