Insight Brief

Colleges and universities use multiple means to meet their inclusive program costs, including state and federal funds, foundation monies, Medicaid waivers, vocational rehabilitation (VR) funds, and scholarships. One underused financial resource is the Partnership Plus model provided under the Ticket to Work program of the Social Security Administration (SSA). Partnership Plus is a structured services provision model between VR and other entities to assist SSA beneficiaries to employment, with compensation from SSA provided to each.

This Insight Brief #38 provides dual enrollment staff, specifically college coordinators and transition specialists, an overview of effective transfer practices and policies between sending and receiving institutions to support students with intellectual disability and autism. These practices include advising, orienting, and support services, as well as providing opportunities for academic and social integration. Building ongoing relationships with transfer destination partners will be key to developing successful transfer programs.

This Insight Brief #37 outlines the kind of information and suggested activities that can help parents during four stages of an inclusive college-based transition experience. The stages include introducing college-based transition services, supporting parents as students prepare for college, maintaining parent engagement through the transition to college, and engage and inform parents of adult services available once students age out of transition services.

This Insight Brief #35 provides an overview of academic advising strategies to support dually enrolled students with intellectual disability (ID) in higher education while addressing some advising challenges. Effectively advising students with ID involves a comprehensive understanding of the student’s goals, preferences, strengths, and interests, as well as the student’s disability. It also requires recognition of some institutional obstacles that may impact student access to desired classes.

The Think College Transition (TCT) project is an inclusive dual-enrollment transition model designed to improve post-school outcomes for students aged 18-22 years who have intellectual disability and autism. The key feature of this model is assisting students to be involved with college classes, work experiences, and social networking opportunities on a college campus with their same-age peers, rather than having typical transition services in a high school.

Think College Insight Brief #34 features information about the Think College Transition (TCT) Project. This project focuses on the dual enrollment for students with intellectual disabilities (ID) or autism. Typically this model is used for students seeking to take advanced placement courses so they can seek college credit and high school credit at the same time. TCT has found that dual enrollment is a promising practice for students with ID and autism. 

Think College Insight Brief #32 focuses on the unique perspective of a rural, large state program. Think College Wyoming has students enrolled multiple campuses, and enjoys the support of multiple national and state agencies to make this program work. To develop the most appropriate program considering the resources available, a survey was sent to potential students, families, educators, and others. This publication describes the program that was developed based on those survey results and highlights strengths and areas for improvement. 

In the postsecondary education (PSE) community, the inclusion of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) in postsecondary education is viewed as a human right with benefits that extend through campus communities (Jones et al., 2015; Kelty, 2014). Inclusion in a PSE community requires a minimum of two socially engaged partners (e.g., friends, classmates, club members, etc.). Direct accounts from social participants offer insights into the construction, meaning, and perceived impact of social interactions as they relate to PSE for students with I/DD.

To date, there has been limited research on effective programs or practices for supporting young adults with intellectual disability or autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in dual-enrollment post-secondary education (PSE) settings. However, emerging research has suggested that providing individuals with intellectual disability and/or ASD opportunities to participate in PSE programs will greatly influence overall quality of life and self-determination (Hart, Grigal, & Weir, 2010).

Think College Insight Brief #31 explains the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, and describes how it affects family communication related to college students.  It shares how "parent" is defined in the Act, as well as educational record and other key terms.  It also offers advice to families and students as they negotiate this change in status from a high school students to a college student and the new role that family plays.