Students with emotional and behavioral disorders often experience difficulties in expressive writing and social outcomes in school and beyond. Therefore, writing instruction and self-determination skills are critical for this population. This research study, in which special education teachers were trained to be implementers, successfully…

Students who struggle in pursuit of postsecondary education tend to be Latino, Black, low-income, or first-generation college students. This article presents the case of a small public school serving students grades 6-12 from these traditionally underrepresented backgrounds in a large urban school district. Observations revealed that the school…

This research project utilized a collective case study approach to explore the lived experiences of nontraditional postsecondary students with impairments. Through the lenses of resilience theory and thriving as well as the social model of disability, it explored the challenges faced by successful nontraditional college students with impairments…

College graduation rates often lag behind college attendance rates. One theory as to why students do not complete college is that they lack key information about how to be successful or fail to act on the information that they have. We present evidence from a randomized experiment which tests the effectiveness of individualized student coaching.…

Self-advocacy is about independent groups of people with disabilities working together for justice by helping each other take charge of their lives and fight discrimination. The seeds of the self-advocacy movement go back to 1968 when a Swedish parent's organization held a meeting for people with developmental disabilities. Today, the…

To explore possible reasons for low self-identification rates among undergraduates with learning disabilities (LD), we asked students (38 with LD, 100 without LD) attending two large, public, research-intensive universities to respond to a questionnaire designed to assess stereotypes about individuals with LD and conceptions of ability. Responses…

As children become teenagers and move into early adulthood, there are many transitions they face. For young people with disabilities, this is no different except that there are invariably additional complex challenges that must be overcome. Evidence-based research is the foundation for best transition practices, but too many studies seem abstract,…

This qualitative, phenomenological study examined the experiences of four African American undergraduate students and two White professors, all current or former affiliates of a predominantly White university (PWI) in the Midwest. The objective was to gain an understanding of whether their experiences were ones that have been addressed in the past…

The reform policies of standards-based accountability, as outlined in NCLB, impede the functioning of school counseling programs and the delivery of services to students. Although recent studies have focused on the transformation of the school counseling profession, a gap exists in the literature with regard to how the experiences of school…

Increasingly, researchers have linked greater self-determination capacities to improved postsecondary outcomes for youth with disabilities. Although leadership is one component of self-determination, little is known about how youth and young adults with disabilities define, develop, and demonstrate leadership. In this qualitative interview study,…

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore how adults with mild intellectual disabilities live out their social-sexual lives. Adults with intellectual disabilities (ID) are often assumed to be asexual or incapable of having sexual lives, resulting in a paucity of research-based knowledge. Research and educational efforts with this…

The researchers conducted an analysis of the secondary transition qualitative and quantitative research literature to build comprehensive constructs and lists of student nonacademic behaviors associated with post-high school employment and education. From a pool of 83 initial quantitative and qualitative studies, 35 met the inclusion criteria, and…

The number of students with disabilities arriving on college and university campuses is increasing. Of those students reporting a disability, over half of them state they have a learning disability. Unlike high school, the burden is on the student in college to demonstrate the need for services and communicate this need to the institution in a…

This article presents the story of Wesley Brooks, a freshman at Middlesex County College and someone who will not let his disability impede him from what he sets out to achieve in life. Brooks was born 24 weeks early and weighed just under one pound. This resulted in him having cerebral palsy, which impacts his motor movement. He also had to…

Background: Exploring the life stories of leaders in the self-advocacy movement can expand our knowledge about leadership development of individuals with developmental disabilities. A better understanding of this process may assist with supporting the movement and leadership development of youth with disabilities. Methods: In-depth qualitative…