Community Conversations on Inclusive Higher Education for Students With Intellectual Disability

Amid rapid growth in the higher education movement, access to inclusive higher education for students with intellectual disability (ID) remains limited. This study used "community conversations" to explore how stakeholders in three communities envisioned the inclusion of students with ID on their local college campus and the supports needed to launch new postsecondary programs. Conceptualizations of inclusion extended beyond the experiences students might have and addressed skill development, training and supports, campus and community attitudes, and potential partnerships. Stakeholders identified a constellation of people and resources needed to support successful college experiences. We offer recommendations aimed at spurring inclusive higher education experiences and highlight community conversations as a promising approach for informing the initial movements of local planning teams. [Partial support for this work came from a Transition and Postsecondary Programs for Students with Intellectual Disabilities (TPSID) grant from the Office of Postsecondary Education, U.S. Department of Education and the Vanderbilt Institute for Clinical and Translational Research grant support.]