The transition from secondary level (SEC) I to SEC II or employment entails a great challenge for adolescents in general and young adults with disabilities in particular. In Austria, for example, this is not only due to the highly competitive, selective and differentiated educational system, but also to the difficult access that pupils with disabilities have to inclusive education, training and employment after graduating from compulsory school (Altrichter/Feyerer 2011). International research results show that like in Austria compulsory school leavers with disabilities are still confronted with manifold barriers in their transition to further education, training and employment. One reason for this often lies in the missing or lacking cooperation/collaboration between the adolescents with disabilities, his or her parents and the support providers in- and outside school (Fasching 2014; Winn/Hay 2009). The so called “transition partnerships” (or cooperation/collaboration between services and professionals supporting young people in this period) have already been identified as a relevant determinant and are internationally considered as an important key factor in fostering transition processes. Nevertheless, to date, the international and national research community has not taken into sufficient consideration the topic of participant cooperation/collaboration in the transition of persons with disabilities.

The research project “Cooperation for Inclusion in Educational Transition”, funded by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) (project number: P-29291-G29; project-leader: Helga Fasching) and settled at the Department of Education in Vienna, can contribute to close this research gap. The main focus is on the participatory cooperation/collaboration between the various actors during transition. To gain a deeper insight into the process as experienced by individuals the central research question is as follows: What are the experiences of pupils with disabilities and their parents/families with cooperation/collaboration with professionals in the period of transition from SEC I to SEC II or employment?

In line with the qualitative research design the answers to the main research question and to the sub questions are based on the subjective experiences of the research participants and on the intersubjectively created ascriptions of meaning. This is done to enable an in-depth understanding of previously identified success variables.

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