Post-Secondary Training and Experiences like College or Work
My name is Shawn. And I am a student at Temple University. Transition can be hard. But it's okay. You will get through this.
When I went to this college prep program and spent six months there a teacher told me that college was not for me. But I told him I'm going to prove him wrong. Because he was not right.
Then I found a post-secondary certificate program and it was amazing. One of my stronger supporters was my mentor. He helped me get totally involved on campus. He helped me get acclimated to campus.
We used to go out go out to events on campus and into the city. It really built my confidence up. I could start advocating for myself and I believed in myself and what I want to do. I've graduated from that program and become a matriculated student, Legal Studies and Finance. Now I am one of the university's top students. Now I work as a student researcher.
You can have a major impact if you just believe in yourself. You got this no matter what society thinks. You can make a important contribution to a research team. You can help build up the disability community and make sure that they get the resources that they rightfully deserve.
Transition be really hard. But if you believe in yourself and surround yourself with the people that believe in you.
Peer support can help young people learn academic skills like:
- taking notes
- communicating with professors
- managing deadlines, and
- having a social life.
Peer support can also help young adults learn job skills and soft skills like communication skills and time management. It can also help young people find jobs, and with job coaching or shadowing in work settings.
It is important for research teams to learn more about how peer support can affect someone’s school or work success.
In an interview, a young adult with IDD shared that peer support in their post-secondary program helped them
“Be a successful college student on my own and how to communicate with professors, how to do assignments.”
We asked a group of researchers what was important to research, and they said:
“The long-term impact of peer supports on outcomes of youth with IDD.”
It’s also important for research teams to learn about what peer supporters get out of providing peer support.
“You need to evaluate models that are currently being used that have never been evaluated. As well as further evaluation on models that already do have research but maybe on novel outcomes related to those intervention programs.” (Researcher Focus Group)
Go to the next page to learn more about Independent Living Skills.