Voice of Experience: What College Students with Learning Disabilities and Attention Deticit/Hyperactivity Disorders Tell Us Are Important Self-Determination Skills for Success

Authors

  • Elizabeth Evans Getzel
  • Colleen A. Thoma

Abstract

This article describes the results of a series of focus group interviews conducted with postsecondary students with disabilities about the importance of self-deternlination in their success in those settings. Approximately 40% of the· student participants identified a learning disability or attention deficit disorder as their primary disability. The results discussed in the article are the thoughts and comments of these students that were extracted from the focus group results. Participants attended community college and/or state universities in Virginia and indicated that selfdetermination skills were important to their success in taking courses, finding the supports they needed, and advocating for their rights. Implications for supports for students v-lith disabilities in postsecondary settings, as well as those K-12 students who are planning to transition to postsecondary educational settings, are discussed.principles considered nonnegotiable in NCLB.

Issue

Section

Articles