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14-19 education and training and young disabled people: Working draft of ideas
Steve Haines
Introduction
The purpose of this paper is to explore the issues relating to 14-19 education and training and young disabled people. It considers issues that relate to definitions of disability and 'disability identity', common experiences of young disabled people aged 14-19 and how they compare to their non-disabled peers, and the impact on young disabled people of current structures and systems in 14-19 education and training.
The issues that relate to young disabled people are at the heart of the 14-19 debate. The ages of 14-19 are critical in determining young disabled people’s life chances and, by implication, the opportunity of the 14-19 education system to tackle the barriers to participation as equal citizens experienced by disabled people is profound. However, across a number of indicators, young disabled people currently experience poorer outcomes:
At age 16, young disabled people are twice as likely not to be in any form of education, employment or training (NEET) as their non-disabled peers (15% compared to 7%). The gap increases between the ages of 16-19 to two thirds as likely (27% compared to 9%)
21% of disabled people aged 16-24 have no qualifications, compared to 9% of non-disabled people of the same age
Young disabled people are 40% as likely to go into higher education (HE) aged 18 as non-disabled 18 year olds. Although the number of disabled people participating in HE has since increased year on year, the gap has continued to widen as participation by non-disabled people has grown much more rapidly over the same period
This paper seeks to identify the causes of the divergence in outcomes for young disabled people compared to their non-disabled peers. It adopts a 'life chances' approach to these issues by identifying the key points in the progress of young disabled people through their lives and comparing the experiences of young disabled people at these key points with their non-disabled peers. This approach helps to assess the extent to which the 14-19 system is supporting the progress and achievement of young disabled people.
The arguments in this paper follow the underpinning theory and direction of disability discrimination legislation and the understanding of disability as defined by the 'social model' of disability. The social model of disability is "based on an understanding that the poverty, disadvantage and social exclusion experienced by disabled people is not an inevitable result of their impairments or medical conditions but rather stems from environmental barriers."
Whilst the life chances approach is useful in identifying the relevant factors across the life course, it is also problematic because it can suggest that certain factors inevitably 'cast a shadow' over future life chances. In contrast, this paper seeks to fundamentally challenge the causal link between disability and poorer outcomes.
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