“What ELSE about this job?” Teaching Job Decision-Making to College Students With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

Adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) often have deficits in interpersonal skills due to limited social-communication opportunities. Knowing how to engage in “small talk” or simple social conversational exchanges can be beneficial in postsecondary schooling, employment sites, community environments, and social gatherings. Recently, covert audio coaching (CAC) showed a positive impact on increasing conversational exchanges. As the COVID-19 pandemic increased the need for remote delivery tools, we explored the effectiveness of remote audio coaching (RAC) to teach this skill to college students with IDD. We used a multiple baseline design across participants to examine whether RAC might increase on-topic, small talk conversational exchanges. Results demonstrated that RAC effectively increased small talk skills between participants and a confederate. Upon removal of RAC, all participants still performed above their baselines, with two participants maintaining near mastery levels 2 weeks after the intervention was removed. Limitations and future research are discussed.

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A comparison of the college experience for students with and without disabilities

Journal of Intellectual Disabilities ◽

10.1177/1744629517719346 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 23 (1) ◽

pp. 57-77 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Anthony J Plotner ◽

Cynthia May

Keyword(s):

College Students ◽

Learning Disabilities ◽

Developmental Disabilities ◽

Community Integration ◽

College Experience ◽

Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities ◽

Close Friendships ◽

Personal Challenges

Students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) have joined the ranks of college students in pursuit of personal independence, community integration, and employment. To achieve these aims, there is a need for a strong understanding of the college experience for students with IDD, including identification of the academic, social, and personal challenges they face as well as the supports that are available to address those challenges. This research provides preliminary insights into the college experience for students with IDD by comparing the perceptions, attitudes, and activities of students with IDD to those of students without disabilities and students with mild learning disabilities (MLD). Our data suggest a number of similarities in the college experience for students with and without disabilities such as similar influences from family and teachers with respect to attending college. In addition, some surprising advantages expressed by students with IDD were found, such as reporting greater ease in developing close friendships than students with MLD. Considerations and discussion on the ways in which students with IDD benefit from the additional supports and services provided to them are also discussed.

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Effects of a Self-Advocacy Intervention on Abilities of Black College Students With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities to Request Academic Accommodations

Inclusion ◽

10.1352/2326-6988-9.3.225 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (3) ◽

pp. 225-240

Author(s):

Katherine R. Brendli ◽

LaRon A. Scott ◽

Yaoying Xu ◽

Colleen Thoma ◽

Debra Holzberg

Keyword(s):

College Students ◽

Developmental Disabilities ◽

Research Policy ◽

Functional Relation ◽

Black College ◽

Future Research ◽

Single Subject ◽

Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities ◽

Academic Accommodations ◽

Self Advocacy

Abstract Several barriers exist that inhibit the success of students with disabilities in postsecondary education environments, one of which is the lack of self-advocacy skills to effectively request academic modifications and ask for other supports when needed. In this study, we used a single-subject multiple-probe across participants design to examine the effects of a self-advocacy intervention on the abilities of college students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) to request their academic accommodations. We primarily focused the intervention on Black youth with IDD attending an inclusive higher education program. Results indicate moderate to strong evidence of a functional relation between the intervention and the students' abilities to request academic accommodations. Implications for future research, policy, and practice are discussed.

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Promoting Decision Making Capabilities in the Healthcare of Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: Ethics and Practice

10.1007/978-3-030-74675-9_3 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 47-64

Author(s):

William F. Sullivan ◽

John Heng ◽

Michael Bach

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Developmental Disabilities ◽

Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities

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Using a Peer-Mediated Instructional Package to Teach College Students With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities to Navigate an Inclusive University Campus

The Journal of Special Education ◽

10.1177/0022466920937469 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 002246692093746

Author(s):

Kelly B. Kearney ◽

Brianna Joseph ◽

Lisa Finnegan ◽

Jacqueline Wood

Keyword(s):

College Students ◽

Developmental Disabilities ◽

College Campus ◽

Future Research ◽

Probe Design ◽

Single Subject ◽

Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities ◽

Google Maps ◽

Validity Data ◽

Instructional Package

Colleges across the nation have seen an increase in programming for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) over the past decade. With this increase in programming comes the need to support students with IDD while accessing a large college campus. Using technology, such as Google Maps™, on one’s cell phone is a natural support that is relatively unobtrusive. This study used a peer-mediated instructional package consisting of total task presentation and error correction to teach college students with IDD how to use Google Maps™ to navigate a large, urban college campus in the Southeastern United States. The results from this single-subject multiple probe design demonstrated that all students acquired the skills with 100% accuracy and maintained the skill once the instructional package was removed. Social validity data indicated that students thoroughly enjoyed learning the skill from the peer mediator. Implications and future research are discussed.

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