This Think College Story by Allison Rohan and Ty Hanson highlights her emerging career as a fine artist. Allison shares her experiences as a dual enrollment student at Holyoke Community College and how it shaped her career through self-determination, course access, and the support of faculty and mentors.
To create inclusive campuses, the use of peer mentors is integral in providing supports to students with intellectual disability (ID). This guide will provide institutions of higher education (IHEs) a model of how to support students with ID in academic and social settings. Strategies for recruitment, retention, and training of peer mentors are offered.
This Fast Fact #20 describes ways that Transition Postsecondary Programs for Students with Intellectual Disabilities (TPSID programs) engage with state vocational rehabilitation agencies to provide pre-employment transition services to students with intellectual disability enrolled in colleges and universities.
Enacted in June 2016, this legislation mandates that the Governor’s Workforce Board create and expand job and career opportunities for individuals with intellectual, developmental, or other significant disabilities while producing a strategic statewide employment and training plan for the state. The law directs the Board to structure the plan over a period of two fiscal years and produce a comprehensive analysis of all workforce development activities in Rhode Island in order to identify strategies to improve statewide employment, including for individuals with IDD.
The bill was held for further study by the state house in March 2016, but it was not taken up again. This legislation would have required the Rhode Island Council on Postsecondary Education to direct all public colleges to establish and maintain an office that assists students with disabilities with needs related to their education. The offices in question must provide support with all “academic, social, living and career-planning” aspects of postsecondary education in order to ensure that students are able to participate and succeed to the same extent as their peers.
Questions remain about how best to support the involvement of students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) in all aspects of campus life—both within and beyond the college classroom. Although program staff and faculty can be critical, the need for more natural sources of support must also be emphasized. Fellow college students can play a variety of roles in supporting students with intellectual disability to access a wide range of campus experiences, including classes, student organizations, volunteer experiences, residential life, work, and spending time with friends.
This study was an evaluation of the i3 Development grant, Think College Transition (TCT), an inclusive dual enrollment transition model to improve achievement and post-school outcomes for students with intellectual disabilities or autism (ID/A). The model offers an innovative approach to transition services for students with intellectual disabilities and autism by providing participation in inclusive academic and social environments of a college campus with same-aged peers rather than continuing to receive transition services in typical high school environments.
Grants for Students with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (ID Grant) was established by the 2017 Minnesota Legislature (Minnesota Statutes 136A.1215. ID Grant provides financial assistance for postsecondary students with intellectual and developmental disabilities to pay for tuition and fees of Comprehensive Transition & Postsecondary (CTP) programs at eligible Minnesota postsecondary institutions.
This Fast Fact provides a summary of the findings shared in the Year Three Annual Report of the TPSID Model Demonstration Projects (2017-2018). Findings are shared across multiple categories including employment, vocational rehabilitation, academics, academic and employment supports, residential services, program completion and credential attainment, and one-year outcomes.
An increasing number of states allow students with intellectual disability (ID) to use Medicaid Home and Community Based Services waivers to support participation in postsecondary education (PSE) programs. These waiver services support access to higher education for students receiving Medicaid services who might otherwise not be able to attend postsecondary education. This Insight Brief explains what Medicaid Waivers are, what PSE services they can be used for, and how to access waiver services.
