The Minority View

However, despite this overall positive tone to the reports of youth with disabilities, on every measure, a minority of youth report negative and sometimes strongly negative views. For example, almost 1 in 10 youth with disabilities report they do not identify at all with feelings of being useful or important, 1 in 8 report they rarely or never feel hopeful about the future, and a similar proportion feel unable to share their ideas and feelings with peers. About 10 percent of youth with disabilities report they do not like or feel part of their school at all, and about three times as many say they never become involved at school, even when they have the chance.

Smaller proportions of youth with disabilities report poor interpersonal relationships. For example, 3 percent report they feel their parents care about them "very little" or "not at all," and twice as many say their parents pay little or no attention to them. About 1 in 12 youth with disabilities say they feel lonely most or all of the time, and a similar proportion report a pervasive feeling of being disliked. Six percent think it is unlikely that they will be able to live independently without supervision in the future; half of those do not believe even having supervision will enable them to live away from home.