Showcase of Undergraduate Research and Creative Endeavors (SOURCE)

Access to Higher Education for People with Intellectual Disabilities

The topic for my research paper is access to higher education for people with intellectual disabilities. Education for people with disabilities has not always been seen as a right. Even when people with disabilities are able to attend college, they are not always given the resources they need to succeed. I want to explore the resources and support that students with intellectual disabilities need in order to succeed. My research question is: how do students with intellectual disabilities fare in the world of higher education and what resources do they need to succeed? My thesis is: students with intellectual disabilities succeed in post-secondary programs through the support of technology, specialized programming, job training, peers, and professors. I have used the disciplines of higher education and disability studies to explore this research question. The two disciplines I will be using to discuss my topic are the disciplines of higher education and disability studies. Disability studies and higher education both believe that higher education is the key to success for students with intellectual disabilities. Through my research, I hope to clearly present the benefits of higher education for students with intellectual disabilities and the resources they need to be able to succeed in the higher education environment. I also hope to portray the reasoning behind specialized programming for students with intellectual disabilities in higher education and why this programming is so important.