Youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) face challenges accessing needed services as they transition to adulthood. Correlates of service access identified in the literature--such as family resources, race/ethnicity, or youth functioning--can be difficult to change and may not be feasible targets for intervention. This study focused on a…

Parent advocacy has led to improved educational access and outcomes for students with disabilities. Extant research indicates that parents are more likely to participate in individual advocacy than systemic advocacy. Due to the preponderance of individual advocacy, limited research has focused on systemic advocacy. Thus, the purpose of this study…

Background: As adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) have longer lives, parents may remain caregivers into old age. In addition, it is unknown who will fulfil caregiving roles after parents are no longer able to be caregivers. In the current study, we explored the nature (e.g. number of hours of caregiving) and correlates…

Although the Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) mandates parent participation in their children's education programs, the implementation of IDEA results in parent effort beyond participation, specifically, an expectation of advocacy. To date, research on the advocacy expectation is mixed, with some parents perceiving…

In the past, parents of children with disabilities have spearheaded several policies for individuals with disabilities. However, little is known about their experiences with legislators. To address this gap, focus groups and surveys about legislative advocacy were conducted with 127 parents of individuals with disabilities across four states. The…

Although parent involvement is a cornerstone of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), few individual parents of children with disabilities participate in civic engagement to voice their suggestions for the next IDEA reauthorization. To address this gap, a civic engagement training was conducted with 95 parents of children with…

Although mothers of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) experience high levels of stress and schools constitute an important resource, the relation remains unknown between maternal stress and educational services. Responding to a national, web-based survey, 965 mothers of students with disabilities completed a 163-item…

Compared to families of students with other types of disabilities, families of students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are significantly more likely to enact their procedural safeguards such as mediation and due process. However, we do not know which school, child, and parent characteristics are associated with the enactment of safeguards.…