Although peer mentors play a prominent role in supporting higher education experiences for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), little is known about these college students and the factors leading to their decision to become involved in this particular experience. We examined the motivations, experiences, and expectations of 250 peer mentors attending five diverse universities offering inclusive postsecondary programs for students with IDD. Nearly all (93.7%) of the entering peer mentors had prior disability-related experiences and almost all identified a combination of personal and professional reasons for involvement. Peer mentors anticipated an array of personal benefits as a result of their participation, although beliefs about some areas of potential impact were more mixed (e.g., improvements in grades, study skills, social status). Views regarding the extent to which students with IDD can participate in different aspects of campus life reflected high expectations; predictions about these students’ postgraduation experiences were more modest and mixed. We offer recommendations for research and practice aimed at identifying and engaging peers in supporting inclusive college experiences.
This study focuses on the labor market consequences of long-term disability status for persons who have had the opportunity to receive both a university education and rehabilitation services. The sample matches persons with functional limitations with a similar sample of university graduates without these limitations. Our results indicate a small salary gap that appears to be correlated with the negative opinions held by the general population about persons with these disabilities.The Rehabilitation Act of 1954 was passed to meet the vocational needs of disabled veterans. Subsequent reauthorizations of the act and the development of rehabilitation as a profession have allowed rehabilitation services to be extended to the nonveteran population. The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (sections 503-504) further expanded the role of the federal government by making discrimination against persons with disabilities illegal in federally funded agencies and facilities. This antidiscrimination legislation was expanded again in 1990 in the Americans with Disabilities Act, which gives civil rights to individuals with disabilities that are similar to those provided in other legislation to individuals on the basis of race, sex, and national origin.Economists have often been critical of claims made about the value of rehabilitation services. For example, Burkhauser and Haveman (1982) note that the high estimates of returns from the programs (often as high as 20 times their costs) are open to serious criticism. They note that for lower-46 * The authors are affiliated with the University of Illinois. They would like to thank Brad Hedrick, who was instrumental in the classification of persons with disabilities by functional limitation, Vicki WesselsMurphy for research assistance, and Kevin Hallock for comments on a previous draft.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the prestige of master's level training programs in rehabilitation counseling as assessed by directors of these programs throughout the United States. Two types of indicators were employed in this investigation. Subjective peer evaluations required respondents to choose the five Council on Rehabilitation Education (CORE) accredited programs that they considered to be “most prestigious.” Then, respondents were asked to rate each of the five programs selected according to specific scales of program quality. The results were tabulated and compared to an objective indicator. Publication records were considered to indicate program and/or faculty visibility and achievement in research areas. Seventy-seven of the respondents were from programs accredited by CORE and fourteen were from programs that were institutional members of the National Council on Rehabilitation Education (NCRE) and not CORE accredited at the time of response. The findings of this study provide information from which universities, faculty, students, prospective students and funding sources may assess the standing of a particular program within the rehabilitation education community. This inquiry represents the first of its kind in the field of rehabilitation counseling.
Closure rates (CR) of counselors with a master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling (MRC) and master’s degrees in related disciplines (RM) were compared. High-quality closure rates (HQCR) were also compared, defined as CR for full-time jobs that paid a living wage. Analyses examined all counselors and, separately, only those with 6 or fewer years of experience. Last, analyses examined if disability severity predicts HQCR. Eighty-nine counselors completed a survey assessing their educational background. These data were linked to outcomes of 13,460 clients. CR of MRC and RM counselors did not differ. However, MRC counselors had higher HQCR ( p = .034), higher living-wage closure rate (LWCR; p = .025), and almost higher full-time job closure rate (FTCR; p = .066). MRC-RM comparisons using only counselors with 6 or fewer years of experience were also significant (all ps < .05) and, importantly, showed even stronger effects. Also, although clients with most-severe disabilities had lower CR ( p = .029), they had much lower HQCR, LWCR, and FTCR (all ps < .001). Although CR does not differ between MRC and RM counselors, MRC counselors are more likely to secure high-quality jobs for clients. Also, clients with most-severe disabilities are more likely to be placed in lower quality jobs. Implications for hiring rehabilitation counselors are discussed.
The purpose of this study was to examine whether perceived physical, financial, and psychological barriers (e.g., negative attitudes about returning to work), demographic, social-support, and work-related variables predicted successful rehabilitation among clients exiting a state-federal vocational rehabilitation (VR) system. A logistic regression was conducted with successful employment as the outcome. Participants' age, employers' participation in a Tax Break program, and having Medicaid at application were significant predictors of successful rehabilitation in the full model, while the first two variables (i.e., age and employers' participation in a work incentive) were significant predictors in the trimmed model. These findings are briefly discussed in terms of rehabilitation implications and directions for future research.
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