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Student Perceptions of College-Readiness, College Services and Supports, and Family Involvement in College: An Exploratory Study

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Abstract

Although increasing numbers of students with disabilities are attending college, they graduate at lower rates compared to students without disabilities. In order to understand how to effectively prepare students with disabilities and provide meaningful support to college students with disabilities, we investigated the experiences of students registered with the disability service office at a public university located in the eastern region of the U.S. to learn about (a) the degree to which they felt prepared to enter college, (b) the disability-related services they received in college, (c) their perspectives of services received, (d) suggestions for improving services, and (e) their perspectives family involvement in college. We report mixed-methods findings from participants and provide implications for policy and practice.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Education and Human Development, George Mason University, 4400 University Drive, Finley 216, MS: 1F2, Fairfax, VA, 22030, USA

    Grace L. Francis & Kelsie Demetro

  2. College of Education and Human Development, George Mason University, 4400 University Drive, Finley 205b, MS: 1F2, Fairfax, VA, 22030, USA

    Jodi Duke

  3. College of Education and Human Development, George Mason University, 4400 University Drive, Finley 220, MS: 1F2, Fairfax, VA, 22030, USA

    Frederick J. Brigham

Authors
  1. Grace L. Francis
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  2. Jodi Duke
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  3. Frederick J. Brigham
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  4. Kelsie Demetro
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Contributions

GLF conceived the study, participated in its design and coordination, interpreted data, and drafted the manuscript; JD conceived the study, participated in its design and the interpretation of data, and drafted the manuscript; FJB edited and contributed to the manuscript; KD supported data analysis and figure design.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Grace L. Francis.

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Conflict of interest

Grace Francis, Jodi Duke, Frederick Brigham, and Kelsie Demetro declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Francis, G.L., Duke, J., Brigham, F.J. et al. Student Perceptions of College-Readiness, College Services and Supports, and Family Involvement in College: An Exploratory Study. J Autism Dev Disord 48, 3573–3585 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-018-3622-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-018-3622-x

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