This book discusses the contested issue of how different kinds of special educational support in Norway, such as placement in special classes or use of teacher assistants, prepare Special Educational Need (SEN) students for further education and adult life. This is done by following former students categorized as having special educational needs for twenty years, from the start of the upper secondary school until their mid-thirties.

Different choices and the adjustments and active adaptations young people make throughout their lives is a recurring theme, focusing on education, work, family, mental health, and social networks. The authors in this volume analyze and critically discuss topics around competence attainment in upper secondary school and higher education, employment, public support in adult life, mental health, social exclusion and isolation, and data-mediated networks.

It concludes how the experiences from school time have affected the adaptation in later adulthood, and provides an answer to whether the assistive measures have benefits. What are the consequences in the short and long run? A central explanatory tension is between disabled students and disabling schools. We trace consequences possibly non-intended for the former SEN students due to the stigmatization effect of receiving special educational help in a vulnerable phase of life.

The authors interpret results within a framework of life course approaches and disability theories. The perspectives introduced in the book are of interest for researchers and academics in the social sciences, such as sociology, special education, and social work.

Contains unique longitudinal study following Special Educational Need students for twenty years Introduces a new conceptual framework on deviation and normality adding the time dimension Analyzes the consequences of special educational school experiences and it's long-term consequences

Autorentext
Professor Emeritus Jon Olav Myklebust , Faculty of Social Science and History, Volda University College, Volda, Norway. Dr. polit., Sociology, University of Trondheim 1995. He has codirected the longitudinal study of Norwegian youth with special educational needs since the start in 1995 and published extensively on this research. In addition to life course studies, his research interests and publications include demography, community studies, and historical sociology.

Professor Emeritus Rune Kvalsund, Faculty of Social Science and History, Volda University College, Volda, Norway. Dr. polit., Educational Science, University of Trondheim 1995. He has codirected the longitudinal study of Norwegian youth categorized as having special educational needs since the start in 1995. He has published several research articles in this field as well as in the field of research on school and local community. He was co-founder and leader of EERA Research Network14, Communities, Families and Schooling in Eductional Research since the start in 1996 and since 2016 Honorary Member of the network.

Professor Finn Ove Båtevik , Faculty of Social Science and History, Volda University College, Volda, Norway. Dr. polit., Social Geography, University of Bergen 1994. He has codirected the longitudinal study of Norwegian youth with special educational needs since 2002 and published several research articles based on this study. In addition to life course studies, his publications and research interests include demography, and community studies.

Inhalt
Chapter 1. Students with special educational needs and their life course Introduction.- Chapter 2. Life course perspectives on adolescence and early adulthood.- Chapter 3. Some methodological challenges in longitudinal research on vulnerable youths.- Chapter 4. Disabled, vulnerable or functionally hindered? Deviations and normality between personal characteristics and context conditions.- Chapter 5. Deviations and normality when the time dimension is included.- Chapter 6. From numbers to spoken words: Former SEN students in the transition to adulthood.- Chapter 7. Vulnerable young adults and their adaptation to working life.- Chapter 8. Risk of mental illness among former students with special educational needs.- Chapter 9. Work for life? Former students with special educational needs in the job market.- Chapter 10. Special classes and teaching assistants as support measures for students with special educational needs.- Chapter 11. Social inclusion when the school lets go.-Chapter 12. Social inclusion: When 'social media' invades the life world.- Chapter 13. Internet-mediated relationsare they social? Challenges and discussion of the validity.- Chapter 14. Lessons from a longitudinal research project.- Appendix.