Students with intellectual and developmental disabilities in inclusive higher education: perceptions of stakeholders in a first-year experience

ABSTRACT

Post-secondary education and students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (ID/DD) have not historically been viewed as compatible. In recent years, a growing number of colleges have offered opportunities for students with intellectual disabilities to take part in inclusive post-secondary education. This qualitative study was conducted on the performance of a first-year, post-secondary inclusive education programme in a university in the United States to (a) better understand each stakeholder group’s perspectives regarding both social and academic inclusion of students with ID/DD in post-secondary education, (b) identify barriers, challenges, strengths and needs of the programme through the first-year experiences and, (c) report on the successful inclusion of students in an inclusive post-secondary environment. Recommendations and learned strategies are also discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Inclusion
• post-secondary inclusive education
• students with ID/DD
• inclusive higher education

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Robin Brewer

Robin Brewer, Ed.D., is an Associate Professor in the School of Special Education at the University of Northern Colorado. She focuses her research on the inclusion of students with significant needs in general education environments and students with intellectual/developmental disabilities attending higher education.

Sara Movahedazarhouligh

Sara Movahedazarhouligh, M.S., is a Ph.D. Candidate in Early Childhood Special Education at the University of Northern Colorado. Her research interest are leadership practices in early childhood special education, play-based learning, family-centered service provision, and parent-implemented interventions.