College was where I first experimented with (part-time) vegetarianism from which, happily, the dining halls’ weak attempt at fried tofu did not turn me off for life. I also expanded the music genres to which I listened, had my first introduction to role-playing games (Dungeons and Dragons), learned some karate, and found my “tribe” in the journalism geeks that delighted in pulling all-nighters to put out the campus newspaper on time. I became the feature-page editor, used my “press card” as a “reviewer” to cut the line at the newly opening Ed Debevic’s retro diner, and highlighted my career by covering Steven Hawking’s live address to the campus. Mild by some standards, but college was a major step in developing my own social awareness, skills, and presence. It was a step towards becoming a social adult.
(Brendan Bush Photography
Young adults with disabilities may face even more challenges to becoming a social adult than their neurotypical peers. Often, parents function as the support workers, advocates, and home-based instructors for their children with disabilities to a greater extent than do parents of the neurotypical youth. In my last blog, I noted that youth with disabilities pursue postsecondary education as a means to a good job. They also take that step to develop their social independence and find their “tribe”. It is important, therefore, that an inclusive postsecondary education (IPSE) program provides the opportunities and necessary supports for IPSE students to fully engage in the social life of the college or university.
This means, first and foremost, that the IPSE program should not create “special” clubs, sports, or social activities. In their first year, IPSE students should be a part of the college’s or university’s general freshman orientation, so that they can be exposed to the campus’ social opportunities. Then, they should be supported to select a couple of activities of interest to incorporate in their individual plans and then create a goal for a certain amount of attendance or degree of participation. It is important that the student takes charge of the selection. Colleges and universities often offer a host of activities that seem new and exciting to recent high school graduates, and students should be encouraged to try something new. Setting one or more social goals is important for the student’s personal development, but those goals should allow for more trial and error and flexibility than the program’s academic or work-based learning goals. As a freshman, I also explored the crew team for a few practices before realizing that I could not sustain a commitment to 5:30am practices on a cold, dark canal at the level that would make me valuable to the team.
The IPSE staff should coordinate with the college or university accessibility office that provides accommodations to understand what particular accommodations might support a student in the student’s chosen social activities. Beyond this, peer mentors can be excellent natural supporters. They can participate in the activity alongside the IPSE student and also help the IPSE student understand the organizations’ requirements and her/his commitment responsibilities. Activity peer mentors may need to be recruited distinctly from particular organizations or teams, although they can participate in the same training as academic peer mentors.
Neither the program nor the college or university should rule out or limit the opportunities that are open to IPSE students. If there are academic requirements for program participation as there may be for either NCAA sports, Greek Life membership, or an honor society or a student excellence program (to give a few examples), it is the role of the IPSE staff to work with the coaches or student and faculty leadership of the particular organization to determine how the IPSE student may be included by meeting the requirements in a way relevant to the IPSE program. For example, a broader range of non-course activities counts towards full-time enrollment status for IPSE students. If team participation requires full-time enrollment, the coaches and university staff should consult with the IPSE program staff to confirm the student athletes status. Similarly for membership or participation that require a certain GPA, the organization’s leaders should understand how IPSE students receive program-specific grades for undergraduate courses they are auditing or taking pass/fail. For students with intellectual disabilities as well as neurotypical students, postsecondary education should provide the opportunity develop adulting skills in the social as well as academic an
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