Young People with a Disability: Independence and Opportunity. A Literature Review by Helen Stokes, Malcolm Turnbull & Johanna Wyn

The executive summary concludes: Wellbeing as well as having the capacity to exercise choice and control over one's own life, is strongly associated with having strong social connections. 

However, evidence on the situation of young people with a disability suggests that they are more likely than their peers without a disability to be socially isolated and that they take longer to forge strong relationships of trust.

Closely related to this is the impact of community attitudes and perceptions as they are the most frequently reported barriers to social inclusion. This argues strongly for social policy programming (and expenditure) that actively educates the community about the experiences of people with a disability. 

Visit: http://web.education.unimelb.edu.au/yrc/linked_documents/research_report39.pdf