Date Presented 04/20/2023
Occupations of undergraduate students with LD/ADHD entails self-advocacy behaviors that serve to protect situations that foster optimal functioning and garner interpersonal support. Results inform OT self-advocacy skill-building interventions.
Primary Author and Speaker: Sharon Medina
Additional Authors and Speakers: Consuelo Kreider
Contributing Authors: Anushka Consuelo Pandya
PURPOSE: Self-advocacy (SA) research for undergraduates with learning disabilities and attention disorders (LD/ADHD) focuses on advocacy related to requesting academic accommodation. Little is understood for supporting SA across all critical contexts (e.g., social) of young adulthood. The purpose was to 1) explore SA behaviors that undergraduates with LD/ADHD employ outside of garnering academic accommodations (non-accommodation SA) and 2) identify the contexts in which SA behaviors occur.
DESIGN: A qualitative descriptive design was used.
METHOD: Thematic analysis was used to analyze existing individual interview transcripts (N = 15); data were collected to inform the habits and routines of undergraduates with LD/ADHD enrolled in a larger study. Open coding was used to identify text describing SA-related experiences. Codes were reduced to conceptual themes through an iterative process of discussion among multiple coders, code refinement, and constant comparison to the data. Rigor was enhanced by peer debriefing and achieving coding consensus.
RESULTS: The purpose of non-accommodation SA included 1) garnering psychological/emotional support, and 2) intentionally orchestrating situations to foster performance, and manage and minimize symptoms. Non-accommodation SA behaviors included both overt behaviors and subtle actions. Overt behaviors included explicitly requesting needed social support. Subtle actions included using personality descriptors (e.g., scatterbrain) to explain social performance to others. SA behaviors were described for supporting occupational performance in daily tasks, health and wellness, and social contexts.
CONCLUSION: The multifaceted nature of non-accommodation SA actions highlights areas for future SA research and suggests potential areas for SA skill development.
IMPACT: OTs can support SA skill development and use to facilitate young adults’ occupational performance.
References
Test, D. W., Fowler, C. H., Wood, W. M., Brewer, D. M., & Eddy, S. (2005). A Conceptual Framework of Self-Advocacy for Students with Disabilities. Remedial and Special Education, 26(1), 43–54. https://doi.org/10.1177/07419325050260010601
Pfeifer, M.A., Reiter, E.M., Hendrickson, M. et al. Speaking up: a model of self-advocacy for STEM undergraduates with ADHD and/or specific learning disabilities. IJ STEM Ed 7, 33 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-020-00233-4
Arnett, J. J. (2000). Emerging adulthood: A theory of development from the late teens through the twenties. American Psychologist, 55(5), 469–480. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.55.5.469
Kreider, C. M., Medina, S., Lan, M. -F., Wu, C. -Y., Percival, S. S., Byrd, C. E., et al. Beyond Academics: A Model for Simultaneously Advancing Campus-Based Supports for Learning Disabilities, STEM Students’ Skills for Self-Regulation, and Mentors’ Knowledge for Co-regulating and Guiding. Frontiers in Psychology. 2018;9.
