Improving College and Career Outcomes of Students with Disabilities:

Post-Secondary Education Setting and Self-Advocacy Skills

SESSION C

In this session, we will discover ways to promote success in students with Learning Disabilities in the post-secondary education settingTHROUGH SELF-ADVOCACY TRAINING

Students with Learning Disabilities enrolling in Post-Secondary Education settings…

Students with learning disabilities (LD) are graduating from high school and enrolling in colleges and universities in record numbers, and they make up the fastest growing and largest population of college students with disabilities (Henderson, 2001).

Students with Learning Disabilities enrolling in college…

“Increasing numbers of students with learning disabilities are enrolling in colleges. Although, they may have met academic

prerequisites, they still may find that they are unprepared” (Foley, 2006)

Making the Transition

The transition from high school to college is a huge adjustment for that requires autonomy for all students and particularly those with learning disabilities (LD) (Foley, 2006).

Students with LD might not have held the role of advocating for themselves in high school, but in post-secondary education settings students with disabilities are expected to do so by means of self-identifying, providing eligibility documentation or communicating disability type, and discussing necessary supports for their own success (Stodden et al., 2003 & Foley, 2006).

This is a major shift from adults making sure that individual student needs are met in efforts to promote academic success to the student now considered an adult making sure his or her needs are meet.

What is Self-Advocacy?

Developing self-knowledge is the first step in self-advocacy skills. Learning about one's self involves the identification of learning styles, strengths and weakness, interests, and preferences. For students with mild disabilities, developing an awareness of the accommodations they need will help them ask for necessary accommodations on a job and in postsecondary education. Students can also help identify alternative ways they can learn. Self-advocacy refers to:

“an individual's ability to effectively communicate, convey, negotiate or assert his or her own interests, desires, needs, and rights. It involves making informed decisions and taking responsibility for those decisions”. (VanReusen et al., 1994)

Information derived from LD Online: Website: http://www.ldonline.org/article/7757

Why is Self Advocacy skills important in the transition from high school to college process?

In high school, students may have been under the safety net of advocates such as teachers, counselors, parents, and other personnel, but as college students, they are expected to independently get their needs met through advocating for themselves.

Linking success to Self-Advocacy Skills in college

Student outcomes are strongly tied to self-advocacy abilities, and the unfortunate problem that many students with LD face is identifying their needs too late, as such, it is important for students to learn self-advocacy skills even before they attend college (Foley, 2006).

Students should be fully aware of their learning disability.

Rights and Accommodations

Under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, college students have rights that are guarantees to any individual with a disability. If students have not faced their learning disability to some degree, they most likely do not know their rights as a disabled person, or what specific accommodations are tailored to their specific needs.

Information derived from LD Online: Website: http://www.ldonline.org/article/6142?theme=print

Suggested practices: Students should…. know how to describe their learning disability, as

well as their specific academic strengths and weaknesses to a variety of different audiences.

begin to accept the term "learning disability" as a description of difficulties and as an aspect of how you learn. Do not let it determine their identity.

Sample accommodations appropriate to their learning disability based on information in their diagnostic report. Try out different accommodations and then decide which ones work for them.

Read about other adults with learning disabilities who were successful in college.

Students should ensure that they get their specific needs met

Student Responsibility While a students' rights to

"reasonable accommodations "are protected under the law, the exact nature of the accommodation often rests upon the student's ability to negotiate with a professor.

Information derived from LD Online: Website: http://www.ldonline.org/article/6142?theme=print

Suggested practices:

Student Should…

Take responsibility for their learning disability.

Practice becoming more assertive with professors and support staff.

Find a relaxed but confident communication style.

Get to know professors and administrators in their program.

Do the highest possible grades demonstrate successful self-advocacy skills?

Grades don’t measure self-advocacy

Grades are not the only factors that come into play. Students with learning disabilities will often have to work much harder than their peers to achieve comparable academic outcomes. Unfortunately, higher grades do not mean that one has truly learned to self-advocate.

Information derived from LD Online: Website: http://www.ldonline.org/article/6142?theme=print

Suggested practices: Student Should…

Join a support group for students with learning disabilities on campus, or start one!

Enjoy relaxing and growth-oriented activities (e.g., sailing with a friend).

Seek a balance academically and socially

Get involved in an activity on campus. It's a great way to meet people and develop social skills.

Ask for help with personal difficulties you may be having by seeing a professional in the counseling center on campus.

Students might encounter difficult academic situations where they feel the need for parental backing….

Opportunity to gain Independence

College affords students the opportunity to learn to problem solve, to draw on their own resources of independence and to seek the assistance of support staff, if needed. For the student who may not think they can get what they need

Information derived from LD Online: Website: http://www.ldonline.org/article/6142?theme=print

Suggested practices:

Student should…

Realize that the most valuable lesson a student can learn as they are on the threshold of adulthood is learning about the consequences of their actions.

Learn that a student with a learning disability needs to become comfortable with asking for help from those most able to be effective in meeting their needs in a postsecondary setting, whether they be professors, LD service providers, persons in career or counseling services, and others.

Self-Advocacy Intervention

There are a number of ways to go about obtaining self-advocacy skills. The rest of this presentation will examine a self-advocacy intervention used with students with learning disabilities.

Self-Advocacy Skills and Conflict Resolution (SACR) Intervention

SACR training is an eight hour training program in self-advocacy and conflict resolution skills designed to help college students with disabilities request classroom accommodations (Palmer, C. & Roessler R.T, 2000)

Self-Advocacy Skills and Conflict Resolution (SACR) Intervention

The SACR training involves two modules:

(1) Self-Advocacy and Communication Skills

Self-advocacy and communication skills modeled, practiced, and role played

(2) Conflict Resolution through Negotiation

Negotiation skills modeled, applied, and role played

(Palmer, C. & Roessler R.T, 2000)

Self-Advocacy Skills and Conflict Resolution (SACR) Intervention

During the SACR Training Program students receive information on academic barriers, reasonable accommodations, civil rights safeguards, and responsibilities required as a student. The focus is on target behaviors that are important for self-advocating for classroom accommodations (identifying disability, identifying resources, functionally explaining needs etc.).

In Addition (specific to minority students):

Lack of Self-advocacy skills

Low expectations of teachers

Low expectation of themselves

(Walker, and Test, 2011)

Students with Leaning Disabilities with average or above average intelligence often have difficulty with the following (Hadley, W.M., 2006):

Listening

Thinking

Speaking

Reading

Writing

Spelling

Math

Academic Barriers

Self-Advocacy Behaviors (Rumrill, Roessler, and Brown, 1997)

Greet Instructor

Introduce by name

Refer to specific class

Identify disability status

Explain needs functionally

Mention previous accommodations

Explain benefits of past accommodations

Request use of accommodations

Identify resources and how they help

Explain what You will do

Ask for agreement

Affirm Agreement

Restate Accommodations

Clarify your role

Clarify instructors role

Close with positive statement

Express appreciation

Conflict-Resolution Behaviors (Rumrill, Roessler, and Brown, 1997)

Specifying

Reflecting

Mutualizing

Collaborating

Inventing

Selecting

Summarizing

Responsibilities Required by Student

It is important for College Students with a Learning Disability

to… Understand their individual disability

Understand how it affects their learning

Understand how to articulate reasonable needs for academic accommodations

(Hadley, W.M., 2006)

Civil Rights Safeguards

Under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, college students have rights that are guarantees to any individual with a disability.

American Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), the law allows a person with a disability to request reasonable accommodations.

Reasonable Accommodations (Examples)

Accommodations may include, but are not limited to:• Alternative media/assistive technology

• Electronic text• Large print• Books on tape

• Alternate testing (separate class, extended time, etc.)• Note taking (Guided notes, advance notes, etc.) • Liaison with instructors, staff and outside agencies

Resources

Connor, D. (2012). Helping Students with disabilities transition to college. Teaching Exceptional Children, 44, 16-25.

Foley, N. E. (2006). Preparing for college: Improving the odds for students with learning disabilities. College Student Journal, 40, 641-645.

Hadley, W.M. (2006). L.D. Student’s’ access to higher education: Self-advocacy and support. Journal of Developmental Education, 30, 10-16.

Palmer, C & Roessler, R.T. (2000). Requesting classroom accommodations: Self advocacy and conflict resolution training for college students with disabilities.

Journal of Rehabilitation, 66, 38-43.

Skinner, M. E. (1998). Promoting self-advocacy among college students with learning disabilities. Intervention in School & Clinic, 33, 278-283.z

Stodden, R. A., Galloway, L. M., & Stodden, N. (2003). Secondary school curricula Issues: Impact on postsecondary students with disabilities. Exceptional

Children, 70, 9-25.

Walker, A. R., & Test, D. W. (2011). Using a self-Advocacy intervention on African American college students' ability to request academic accommodations.

Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 26, 134-144. 

Online Websites:

http://www.ldonline.org/article/7757

http://www.ldonline.org/article/6142?theme=print