Exploring Barriers for Facilitating Work Experience Opportunities for Students with Intellectual Disabilities Enrolled in Postsecondary Education Programs

A sequential mixed methods study, featuring a quantitative survey and qualitative interviews, was conducted to explore barriers faced by PSE program staff when facilitating work experience engagements. Findings include the identification of common barriers to facilitating paid work experience for students in PSE programs as being: (a) transportation issues, (b) employer perceptions of the abilities of people with disabilities, (c) inadequate number of staff hours to support students in the workplace, and (d) finding time in the students’ schedule. A discussion about these findings, including implications and recommendations for future research, has also been provided.