Colleen K. Moss

Efficacy and Social Validity of Peer Support Arrangements for Adolescents with Disabilities

Current research and policy emphasize providing students with severe disabilities with the supports needed to participate socially and academically within inclusive classrooms. The authors examined the efficacy and acceptability of peer support arrangements as an avenue for promoting the participation of 3 students with severe disabilities in high school general education classrooms. In addition, they examined the specific supports students received from their peers and individually assigned paraprofessionals throughout the semester. Increases in peer interaction were evident for all students and peer partners were able to provide an array of academic- and social-related supports to their classmates with severe disabilities without concurrent decreases in academic engagement. The article offers recommendations for further refining and strengthening peer support interventions through future research and practice.

Parent assessments of self-determination importance and performance for students with autism or intellectual disability

Fostering student self-determination is now considered an essential element of special education and transition services for children and youth with intellectual disability and/or autism. Yet, little is known about the pivotal role parents might play beyond the school campus in fostering self-determination among their children with developmental disabilities. We examined how 627 parents of children with intellectual disability or autism attending one of 34 randomly selected school districts (a) rated the importance of 7 component skills associated with self-determination, (b) assessed their childrens performance in relation to those 7 skills, and (c) evaluated the overall self-determination capacities of their children. Although parents highly valued all of the self-determination skills, the degree to which their children were reported to perform the skills well was fairly low. Several factors predicted higher levels of self-determination, including educational setting, the presence of challenging behaviors, and perceived disability severity. We conclude by offering recommendations for equipping parents to better support their childrens self-determination development.

Randomized Evaluation of Peer Support Arrangements to Support the Inclusion of High School Students With Severe Disabilities

Enhancing the social and learning experiences of students with severe disabilities in inclusive classrooms has been a long-standing focus of research, legislative, and advocacy efforts. The authors used a randomized controlled experimental design to examine the efficacy of peer support arrangements to improve academic and social outcomes for 51 students with severe disabilities in high school general education classrooms. Paraprofessionals or special educators recruited, trained, and supported 106 peers to provide individualized academic and social assistance to students with severe disabilities throughout one semester. Compared to students exclusively receiving adult-delivered support (n = 48), students participating in peer support arrangements experienced increased interactions with peers, increased academic engagement, more progress on individualized social goals, increased social participation, and a greater number of new friendships. Moreover, an appreciable proportion of relationships lasted one and two semesters later after the intervention had concluded. These findings challenge prevailing practices for supporting inclusive education and establish the efficacy and social validity of peer support arrangements as a promising alternative to individually assigned paraprofessional support.

“I Don't Have to Do This by Myself?” Parent-Led Community Conversations to Promote Inclusion

Parents have long played a pivotal and powerful role in advocating for improved services, supports, and increased opportunities for their children with significant disabilities. Yet inclusive opportunities remain strikingly limited in many schools and communities. We examined the viability and impact of parent-led community conversation events as an avenue for launching or strengthening efforts to involve children and youth with disabilities more fully in school, work, and community life. Events were held in 10 locales, used the World Café process by Brown and Isaacs, and addressed specific issues identified by parents (e.g., expanding employment opportunities, recreation options, extracurricular activities, and inclusive education). Interviews with parents and their collaborating partners, observations of the events, and anonymous surveys of more than 300 community members who attended the conversations suggested that the events were successful at accomplishing the goals of promoting greater awareness, generating new strategies and ideas for programmatic changes, encouraging school–community–family linkages, and drawing in new partners. Recommendations for supporting the contributions of parents as leaders in this type of local change effort are provided, along with directions for future research on conducting asset-focused change efforts.

Promoting Inclusion, Social Connections, and Learning Through Peer Support Arrangements:

T EA C H IN G E xc ep ti on al C hi ld re n , V ol . 48 , N o. 1 , pp . 9 – 18 . C op yr ig ht 2 01 5 T he A ut ho r( s) . D O I: 1 0. 11 77 /0 04 00 59 91 55 94 78 4 Ensuring students with severe disabilities access the rich relationship and learning opportunities available within general education classrooms is an important—but challenging— endeavor. Although one-to-one paraprofessionals often accompany students in inclusive classrooms and provide extensive assistance, the constant presence of an adult can inadvertently limit the social interactions and engagement of adolescents with severe disabilities within high school classrooms. Peer support arrangements can be a practical and promising alternative to exclusively relying on paraprofessionaldelivered support. We draw on our recent partnership with schools implementing these interventions for more than 50 high school students with severe disabilities and involving more than 100 peers without developmental disabilities. This article outlines practical steps for establishing these interventions in inclusive classrooms.

What Are You Doing After School? Promoting Extracurricular Involvement for Transition-Age Youth With Disabilities

The school activities, social relationships, and leadership opportunities youth with disabilities experience outside of the classroom can make important contributions to positive adolescent development and successful transitions to adult life. Unfortunately, many high school students with disabilities are not accessing or benefiting from the rich experiences and important learning experiences offered through extracurricular clubs and activities. This article examines common challenges to extracurricular participation and outlines steps school staff can take to ensure that students with disabilities participate fully and meaningfully in these activities.

Social Outcomes and Acceptability of Two Peer-Mediated Interventions for High School Students With Severe Disabilities: A Pilot Study

Abstract Adolescents with severe disabilities often have few opportunities to learn alongside and connect socially with peers without disabilities at their high school. In this pilot study, nine hi...