Welcome to the Landmark College Institute for Research and Training (LCIRT) blog — the mission of this blog is to provide an avenue of communication between LCIRT and educators/professionals interested in the latest research, resources, and news related to learning differences.
Earlier this month, I drove past a local park where volunteers were preparing for a 5k run to support Autism Speaks. Given that April is Autism Awareness ;month, I wasn’t surprised to see the blue t-shirts and puzzle pieces. However, I was surprised to see a small group of protestors with a sign that read: “Autistic people are already speaking. LISTEN.” The sign and the courage it takes to protest a charity event was a powerful reminder of the opposition to Autism Speaks among autistic self-advocates. But I also read it as a clear expression of a core demand of the disability rights movement: “nothing about us without us.” It is a demand that is too often unheeded: autistic people are routinely denied self-determination and excluded from the process of making social policy that dramatically impact their lives.
One explanation for why students with learning disabilities are not successfully completing postsecondary programs is that they are not disclosing their disability to their college or university, and, therefore, are not eligible for disability-related accommodations. In fact, only 24% of students with LD inform their college or university of their disability. With this in mind, Landmark College’s Lead Education Specialist Dr. Adam Lalor and his colleagues conducted an analysis of data from the National Longitudinal Transition Study 2 (NLTS2) to better understand the effect of support use on the college persistence and completion of all students with LD — those who disclose their LD to their college or university and those who do not disclose.
by Ibrahim Dahlstrom-Hakki, Ph.D.
Director
Landmark College Institute for Research and Training
All too often, students with disabilities’ engagement in research is…
