Exploring Parents'' Experiences of Postsecondary Education for their Children with Disabilities

Lesley University DigitalCommons@Lesley Staff Scholarship Lesley University Faculty and Staff Scholarship 2017 Exploring Parents' Experiences of Postsecondary Education for their Children with Disabilities Cara G Streit Lesley University, cgorham2@lesley.edu Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lesley.edu/staff_scholarship Part of the Disability and Equity in Education Commons, Higher Education Commons, and the Special Education and Teaching Commons Recommended Citation Streit, Cara G., "Exploring Parents' Experiences of Postsecondary Education for their Children with Disabilities" (2017) Staff Scholarship https://digitalcommons.lesley.edu/staff_scholarship/1 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Lesley University Faculty and Staff Scholarship at DigitalCommons@Lesley It has been accepted for inclusion in Staff Scholarship by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Lesley For more information, please contact digitalcommons@lesley.edu, cvrattos@lesley.edu BOSTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF EDUCATION Dissertation EXPLORING PARENTS’ EXPERIENCES OF POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION FOR THEIR CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES by CARA GORHAM STREIT B.S., Boston College, 2007 M.S.W., Simmons College, 2009 Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education 2017 © 2017 by Cara Gorham Streit All rights reserved Approved by First Reader Donna H Lehr, Ph.D Associate Dean of Academic Affairs Associate Professor of Special Education Second Reader Donald J Beaudette, Ed.D Associate Professor of the Practice Third Reader Nathan Jones, Ph.D Assistant Professor of Special Education DEDICATION This document is dedicated to the remarkable students of the Threshold Program, past, present, and future, and their equally remarkable parents, without whom I could not have found a career as fulfilling and sustaining as the one I am honored with I hope I have done justice to your experiences iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My committee deserves my deepest gratitude for their steadfast support Dr Beaudette has shared a wealth of experience as an educator and leader that shaped not only the way I approached this research, but the way I think about my work every day Dr Jones brought a calm thoughtfulness to each stage of the dissertation process that helped me consider new angles and think about my work more deeply And of course, Dr Lehr offered seemingly limitless guidance, more readings of my various documents than I think either of us would care to count, and an enthusiasm for the births of my children and other personal life events that reminded me that this is just one (big, important) part of a much larger journey Thank you, Dr Lehr, for your warmth and care Lesley University’s administration and the faculty and staff at Threshold, in particular my colleagues in the Alumni Center and Threshold’s directors past and present, deserve recognition as well Thank you for your flexibility as I took this on and for creating an environment where learners of all kinds can be challenged and flourish Thank you especially to Jim Wilbur, who honored me with a place at Threshold and entrusted me with the space and resources to grow as a professional This accomplishment would never have happened without the incredible support of my family The village that has come together to help raise our two young children and manage our hectic day-to-day life is nothing short of miraculous My parents and parentsin-law should be receiving degrees of their own; probably in early childcare, if not also in psychology, food service, finance, environmental services, and every other field they v have made impressive contributions in to help our family stay afloat Thank you Mom, Dad, Carol, and Tante Irene, for always knowing I could it, even before I wanted to Thank you to my tiny children, who not know it yet, but who sacrificed precious time with me so I could this Finally and most importantly, thank you to my husband, who never resented the time that went into this six-year journey, or hesitated to fill in the gaps with our children You, Jadon, and Elina are the lights of my life, making every day brighter and more joyous vi EXPLORING PARENTS’ EXPERIENCES OF POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION FOR THEIR CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES CARA GORHAM STREIT Boston University School of Education, 2017 Major Professor: Donna H Lehr, Ph.D., Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, Associate Professor of Special Education ABSTRACT This study explored the expectations and experiences of parents whose adult children graduated from a comprehensive college-based postsecondary education program for students with intellectual or developmental disabilities Seventeen parents of graduates from the Lesley University Threshold Program in Cambridge, MA were interviewed in the style of narrative inquiry Subjects were asked to describe their expectations for their sons’ and daughters’ futures as they grew up, the role of a college program in their children’s development and in the evolution of their own expectations, their hopes and concerns for the future, and their opinions of college inclusion and how greater inclusion might have impacted their sons and daughters Interview subjects were found to share common goals for their children: independence and fulfillment in life While they faced great uncertainty about the future when their children were young, they wanted to help them achieve as much independence and fulfillment as possible, and expected that postsecondary education would help them progress toward these ends Parents wanted their children to have a college experience that felt authentic, while also providing comprehensive and intensive supports and specialized skill development Parents reported that their children’s postsecondary vii experiences surpassed their expectations They saw growth in their sons and daughters in the areas of independent living, vocational skills, and social skills, as well as advances in self-esteem, positive decision making, and problem-solving While parents emphasized the value of life skills, friendships, and employment over inclusion at the university, every subject also stated that greater integration with undergraduates, facilitated by staff and peer mentors, should have been available to Threshold students, regardless of whether they thought their own son or daughter would have benefited Implications for practitioners and research are discussed, with an emphasis on the study’s relevance to current trends in the field of inclusive higher education viii Table of Contents Table of Contents ix List of Tables xi Chapter I: Introduction Overview Problem Statement Research Questions Overview of Methodology Significance of the Study Definition of Terms Chapter II: Review of the Literature 13 Postsecondary Education for People with Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities 13 Parent Expectations for Children with Special Needs 28 Chapter III: Methods 37 Methodological Framework 37 The Role of the Researcher 37 Threshold Program Description 38 Participants 41 Recruitment 42 Sampling 42 Informed Consent 43 Data Collection 43 ix ...BOSTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF EDUCATION Dissertation EXPLORING PARENTS’ EXPERIENCES OF POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION FOR THEIR CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES by CARA GORHAM STREIT B.S., Boston... gaps with our children You, Jadon, and Elina are the lights of my life, making every day brighter and more joyous vi EXPLORING PARENTS’ EXPERIENCES OF POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION FOR THEIR CHILDREN WITH. .. alumni of a postsecondary program for young adults with disabilities describe the expectations they have had for their children? ??s postsecondary education and later adulthood, and how have their