Students with Intellectual Disabilities on Campus

Students with intellectual disabilities are viewing postsecondary education as an option beyond high school. In high school, students with intellectual disabilities are provided services due to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA) of 2004. When students with intellectual disabilities graduate and enroll in college classes they are provided accommodations based on the legal mandates of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990. Student affairs practitioners are essential personnel in helping students with intellectual disabilities adjust to the college culture.

Students with intellectual disabilities are increasingly considering postsecondary education as an option beyond high school (Papay & Bambara, 2014). Much like students with general learning disabilities, the persistence to degree completion rate in the college environment for students with intellectual disabilities is lower than their peers without disabilities. In transitioning to postsecondary education, students with intellectual disabilities are provided accommodations mandated by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 (Hadley & Satterfield, 2013).

According to the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD), students with intellectual disabilities could struggle with adaptive behaviors such as conceptual skills (language and literacy), social skills (interpersonal skills and the ability to follow rules), and practical skills (personal care/health and following routines).  Moving to and thriving in postsecondary education requires students with intellectual disabilities to be self-determined (Ankeny & Lehmann; 2011).

Students are expected to meet university entrance requirements and once they are accepted by the institution, self-identify to the campus Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD) by providing documentation of their disability, request needed accommodations and self-advocate to their professors.

Through campus programming and resources, students with intellectual disabilities will interface with student affairs practitioners as well as faculty and students without intellectual disabilities. They will be enrolled in inclusive classroom settings and negotiate living accommodations and space with roommates in the residence halls as any other student. Students with intellectual disabilities are expected to use campus resources such as disability services, counseling services, and tutoring support in managing their persistence on campus.

Professionals in OSD can help students with intellectual disabilities learn to advocate with their professors and engage with their peers. Counseling center professionals can assist students in developing skills to negotiate roommate issues in the residence halls. Hadley’s (2009) updated paradigm of Chickering and Reisser’s (1993) vectors of supporting students with learning disabilities offered a lens for assessing and supporting this student population in their transition to college (Evans, et al., 2010; Hamblet, 2014). The paradigm views students with learning disabilities persistence in college by evaluating their acquisition of academic knowledge, management of their emotions and their moving away from previous academic services.

About the author: Dr. Hadley is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational Leadership, Research and Technology at Western Michigan University. Her research interests focuses on the academic issues first-year students with learning disabilities experience in their transition to college through the lens of student development theory. She can be emailed at [email protected].