Medical students with disabilities constitute 7.6% of allopathic (MD) and 4.3% of osteopathic (DO) programs, and they are entitled to reasonable accommodation, per the Americans with Disabilities Act. However, research has demonstrated that disabled medical students often encounter barriers when accessing accommodations. In response to these…

This survey study investigated understanding and use of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), self-advocacy, self-determination, and campus resources by college students with disabilities. Thirty-one students registered with a student disability office at a Midwestern state university completed an anonymous survey. Thirty-two percent of…

Physical accessibility at colleges and universities is a perennial and challenging issue. Some campuses have made efforts to address these challenges through a variety of advocacy initiatives, while others have used disability simulations to bring greater awareness of physical accessibility to campus communities. An alternative approach to…

Demographic data projections for the United States indicate a significant increase in the population of older persons with disabilities. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) mandates community access for individuals with disabilities, including older individuals who are aging with or aging into disabilities. However, there is limited research…

Using the definition of self-advocacy from M. E. Skinner (1998) as the conceptual framework, and the Self-Advocacy and Conflict Resolution Training developed by Palmer and Roessler (2000) as the foundation, the researchers solicited feedback on the construction of an abbreviated virtual self-advocacy training for traditional freshmen college…

Student mobility is a key aspect of internationalization of higher education. Within the broad population of students who have the opportunity to study abroad, however, there are particular groups who are under-represented. In the United States, for example, approximately 11% of undergraduate students in postsecondary degree-granting institutions…

Requesting accommodations in postsecondary settings requires students to understand their disabilities and needs and describe those needs to higher education faculty and staff. Young adults often have limited accurate knowledge and understanding of their abilities and disabilities. This qualitative study used in-depth semi-structured interviews to…

Self-advocacy is linked to the success and retention of students with disabilities in college. Self-advocacy is defined as communicating individual wants, needs, and rights to determine and pursue required accommodations. While self-advocacy is linked to academic success, little is known about how students with disabilities in science, technology,…

Higher education research suggests that the development of a sense of belonging is key to academic success and persistence, yet we know little about how first-year students with disabilities develop a sense of belonging as they transition into and through their first year in postsecondary environments. Themes from a grounded theory study of 8…

The results of a pilot program to provide transition services for high school seniors with disabilities via one-on-one mentoring services over the course of an academic year were examined. Results indicate significantly improved attitudes toward requesting accommodations over the course of the nine month program. These results suggest positive…

With increasing numbers of students with disabilities entering postsecondary education, it is important to teach students with disabilities their rights and responsibilities governed by civil rights acts (i.e., Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Americans With Disabilities Act) for requesting accommodations in postsecondary education.…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the perspectives of Deaf students attending a large "hearing" university regarding their use of assistive technology (AT). Individual, semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine participants and responses were videotaped and transcribed from sign language to English. A collective case…

A Delphi study was used to examine the construct of college readiness for students with learning disabilities. An expert panel of 29 individuals with backgrounds in special education, postsecondary transitions, higher education, and/or counseling identified and rated the importance of knowledge, skills, attitudes, and other factors they believe to…

The purpose of this study was to explore those factors impacting successful transition of American Indian students with mild to moderate disabilities to postsecondary academic settings and other lifelong learning opportunities. Thirty-five individuals from three Southwestern tribes were interviewed about personal factors during transition, and…

A survey of personnel representing mental health/mental retardation/developmental disabilities agencies in 50 states investigated the self-advocacy needs of clients, training in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and impact of the ADA. Results indicated that clients needed training in advocacy-related skills and that the ADA had a minimal…