Date Presented 04/05/19
College students with disabilities who have average or above-average intellectual abilities do not have the same rate of graduation as their peers. OT has a unique skill set to support students with disabilities in higher education, however, few OTs are employed by universities. The GOALS2 program studied the effect of expanding the offerings of the disability office with OT services on the academic successes of students with disabilities.
Primary Author and Speaker: Marie-Christine Potvin
Additional Authors and Speakers: Monique Chabot, Janette Boney
PURPOSE: Students with disabilities have lower college graduation rates than other students (Kim & Lee, 2016). Receiving proper support predicts the degree of success for students with disabilities in postsecondary education (Herbert et al., 2014). However, most colleges and universities in the United States only provide the accommodations that are required by law (U.S. Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights, 2011). However, this can be inexpensively addressed. Occupational therapists have the skill set to support the college success of students with disabilities. Occupational therapy students must complete two 12-week supervised fieldwork experiences (American Occupational Therapy Association, 2012). The GOALS2 program was developed to meet the needs of college students with disabilities by creating a level II fieldwork placement within the disability office of an eastern Pennsylvania university. The study intended to determine the effect of the GOALS2 program on the academic goal attainment of college students with disabilities. The study also explored the perception of these students about the GOALS2 program.
DESIGN: A mixed method design (i.e., 1 group repeated measures and ethnography) was used to measure the outcomes. A convenience sample of participants was recruited through the disability office of an eastern Pennsylvania university. Students were eligible for inclusion in the study if they were an undergraduate or graduate student at the university, were eligible for disability services, and had unmet self-identified needs on the Screening Tool for Accessibility Requirements and Satisfaction Questionnaire (STARS).
METHOD: The primary outcome measure was goal attainment scaling which was used to track progress toward the self-selected goals of the students with disabilities. The STARS questionnaire, in addition to determining the degree of unmet needs, provided information about satisfaction with the OT services received. Finally, each participant was interviewed using a semi-structured interview guide to capture the perspectives of students with disabilities about the program. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the quantitative data. The qualitative data was analyzed through a multi-step coding process conducted by two independent researchers.
RESULTS: During the first year, of the 110 students with disclosed disabilities on campus, 33 had unmet learning needs and 17 elected to participate in the GOALS2 program. The students who participated in the program met over 60% of their self-identified learning goals which were grouped by topic: academic, health and wellness, interpersonal relationship, and time management/organization. All seven students interviewed so far provided positive feedback about the program’s impact on their academic successes and the intervention approach used within the program.
CONCLUSION: The GOALS2 is an innovative and inexpensive approach to augmenting the traditional services offered to students with disabilities on college campuses. Students with disabilities who received occupational therapy met their own academic learning goals. These students had positive feedback about the services received. Inclusion of occupational therapy services within the university disability office could have positive effects on not only student’s reaching their own goals, but their overall academic successes, retention and satisfaction.
IMPACT STATEMENT: The preliminary findings of this study highlight the role and usefulness of providing occupational therapy as part of accessibility services in higher education. Occupational therapy services yielded a high rate of academic goal attainments and was valued by students.
References
American Occupational Therapy Association [AOTA] (2012). Fieldwork level II and occupational therapy students: A position paper. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 66(6), S75-S77.
Herbert, J. T., Welsh, W., Hong, B. S., Soo-yong, B., Atkinson, H. A., & Anne Kurz, C. (2014). Persistence and graduation of college students seeking disability support services. Journal of Rehabilitation, 80(1), 22-32.
Kim, W. H. & Lee, J. (2016). The effect of accommodation on academic performance of college students with disabilities. Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin, 60(1), 40-50. doi:10.1177/0034355215605259
U.S. Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights. (2011). Students with disabilities preparing for postsecondary education: Know your rights and responsibilities (rev. ed.). Retrieved from http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/transition.html
