Smith-Hill, Rebecca

High-quality inclusive postsecondary education programs strive for authentic inclusion of students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Typicality for students and enhanced integration into the larger institution of higher education are guiding principles outlined in recently developed, national model standards. With these novel and inclusive opportunities, students often need support to navigate and troubleshoot the myriad situations that may arise as a result of this level of inclusion on a college campus.

College opportunities now exist for young adults with intellectual disability. Because of this, it is common for these individuals' parents to express a desire for increased student agency (Miller et al., 2018). Yet, little is known about how parents feel about how to best support agency development for their young adult child. In the current study, authors surveyed 64 parents with a student attending an inclusive postsecondary education program to examine their perceived level of confidence related to supporting their student in developing agency.

Self-determination, or the freedom to act as the primary causal agent in one’s life, is a well-documented component of enhanced quality of life. Yet young adults with disabilities are often less self-determined than their non-disabled peers. Furthermore, there is an absence of the voices of young adults with disabilities in the literature related to self-determination. This study utilizes photovoice, a participatory method, to understand how U.S. college students with intellectual disabilities understand self-determination.

College programs for students with intellectual disability are designed to provide the same opportunities that all other students have in college: social inclusion, learning, and participation in classes and campus activities.