College students with disabilities who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) represent diverse cultural minorities with multiple service needs involving disabilities, identities, and adjustment strategies. These students are usually accommodated in the college environment because of their disability while simultaneously marginalized based on their sexual orientation. This article discusses LGBT college students with disabilities as multiple cultural minorities with a focus on educational environments, institutional issues, and strategies for university personnel. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons have received increasing attention in the published literature in various disciplines such as professional psychology, including school psychology (Baker & Campbell, 1998), student affairs (Wall, Washington, Evans, & Papish, 2000), and rehabilitation counseling (Harley, Hall, & Savage, 2000;Stuart, 1994). However, the published empirical research pertaining to these populations remain sparse (Fontaine, 1998). A further review of the literature reveals a more dismal picture of the limited attention to and inclusion of sexual minority college students with disabilities. One can assume that LGBT students are present, in similar proportions, among students with disabilities as in other populations of students. However, "it seems that university systems have often dissected minorities" in such a way as to indicate that "LGBT persons belong in one place and persons with disabilities in another" (Underhile & Cowles, 1998, p. 173). Conversely, Harley et al. emphasized that sexual orientation and disability must be perceived as interconnected rather than as parallel occurrences because there is clearly reciprocity of influence. On some college campuses, LGBT persons comprise a significant minority group, and receive considerably less attention and limited services than do other groups . According to the American Psychological Association, one in six college students is lesbian, gay, or bisexual (cited in Sherrill & Hardesty, 1994). Given this figure, "it makes good sense for colleges and universities to respond to this sizable market" (Sherrill & Hardesty, 1994, p. 6).The purpose of this article is to discuss LGBT college students with disabilities against the backdrop of being members of multiple cultural minority groups. Primarily, the focus is on college rather than high school students. The reason for this is that the literature gives relatively more attention to adolescents (e.g., Bullock, Gable, & Ridky, 1996;Henning-Stout, James, & Macintosh, 2000;Lipkin, 1999;Baker & Campbell, 1998;Tharinger & Wells, 2000), and LGBT college students with disabilities have been relegated to a status of invisibility (Underhile & Cowles, 1998). Because of this paucity of literature about sexual minority students in higher education, a discussion of the following components is presented (a) levels of awareness of sexual minority issues; (b) perspectives on disability and sexuali...

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The purpose of this study was to investigate school psychologists' attitudes toward lesbians and gay males. Aspects of school psychologists' knowledge, beliefs, current practices, and levels of preparedness related to issues of sexual orientation were also explored. A sample of 288 school psychologists (215 females and 73 males, mean age ϭ 44 years) who were members of NASP participated in this study. Participants completed research packets containing a hypothetical case analogue vignette and three questionnaires querying their attitudes, beliefs, and knowledge about issues of sexual orientation. The results indicated school psychologists endorse relatively positive attitudes toward lesbians and gay males, report low-to-moderate levels of knowledge about lesbian and gay male issues, are willing to address lesbian and gay male issues on the job, are generally aware of how such issues impact schools, and are inadequately prepared to deal with lesbian and gay male issues. These findings are discussed in relation to their impact on the field and the implications for graduate training.

The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of the current attitudes and beliefs held by practicing school psychologists toward individuals who identify as transgender. A review of literature revealed a lack of information about the needs of transgender students in schools. The authors of this study created a ten-question survey that was distributed to practicing school psychologists across the United States. The authors found that school psychologists with more experience working with transgender students are more comfortable addressing the needs of those students; that persons who are more confident in their ability to work with transgender students have more positive attitudes toward this population; and that the majority of school psychologists who participated in this study were willing or more than willing to work with transgender students. The implications of these results are discussed in relation to school psychology graduate education and the needs for future research.

This article describes the three-stage protocol employed in development and validation of the Inventory of Family Protective Factors (IFPF), a brief-form formal instrument intended to assess the primary protective factors that contribute to family resilience. Following construction of the instrument, data collections and analyses of a total sample of 410 participants were conducted for the purpose of establishing validity and reliability and conducting a factor analysis. In each, the four scales composing the IFPF were compared to established measures, each scale and measure assessing one of the primary family protective factors composing the IFPF. The third stage was a field trial to establish the practical value of the IFPF as a clinical assessment for discerning differences between a clinical and a nonclinical group of 102 clients presenting for counseling relative to their perceptions of the primary protective factors present in their family milieu.