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Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Individuals
with Disabilities
Follow
these links for real-life, real-time insight into dealing with issues faced
by persons with disabilities as they seek success in posecondary education.
Brian Kajiyama is a Japanese-American with cerebral palsy who is a graduate
student at the College of Education, University of Hawaii at Manoa. Jim
Skouge is a professor in the Special Education Department who is supporting
Brian to complete his graduate program in Counselor Education. Each is
maintaining a blog (web log) of their experiences. Click here to go to Brian’s blog, and here to go to Dr.
Skouge's blog.
University
Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD)
University of Hawai‘i at Manoa
1776 University Avenue, Honolulu, HI 96822
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Cultural
and Linguistic Diversity Transition Success Research Project
Study of Cultural and Linguistic Diversity, and Disability
Factors, Related to Successful Transition to Postsecondary Education and
Post-school Adjustment.
It
is becoming increasingly important for Americans to continue their
educations beyond high school if they want to obtain quality jobs in the
modern economy, with its emphasis on knowledge and technology. However, as
demonstrated by numerous studies, youth with disabilities are much less
likely than their peers without disabilities to successfully access and
participate in postsecondary education. Problems in achieving success in
postsecondary education are particularly evident for youth with
disabilities from culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) backgrounds.
Efforts to support CLD youth with disabilities to successfully prepare for
and transition into postsecondary education are given added importance and
urgency by the facts that CLD youth tend to be overrepresented in certain
special education categories and that the numbers and proportion of CLD
youth in the nation’s schools are increasing rapidly.
However, little is known about what contributes to successful post-high
school outcomes for CLD youth with disabilities, with important unanswered
questions including:
- What specific factors (personal,
familial, cultural, socioeconomic) support the educational progress of
CLD youth with disabilities in high school resulting in successful
access and participation in postsecondary education and other lifelong
learning opportunities?
- What contextual factors in high school
(resources, scheduling, special programs, expectations, etc.) support
the educational progress of CLD youth with disabilities resulting in
successful access and participation in postsecondary education and
other lifelong learning opportunities?
- How do high schools and other service
providers effectively support CLD youth with disabilities to
successfully transition into postsecondary education?
In order to answer these questions, the CLD Transition
Research Project is implementing a research design consisting of four different
research activities using a consumer-driven participatory action research (PAR) approach.
Through the PAR approach, the project is tapping the expertise of CLD
persons with disabilities who have successfully accessed and participated
in postsecondary education. Research results and recommendations are being
summarized in a variety of accessible formats tailored for a range of
audiences and disseminated through an extensive national network, and are
also being posted on the products page of this Web site.
The CLD Transition Research Project is an initiative of the University of
Hawai‘i at Manoa’s Center on Disability Studies (a University Center for
Excellence in Developmental Disabilities). The research is also being
conducted by four collaborating US Mainland sites with strong records of
research in disabilities and/or cultural and linguistic diversity, thereby
providing national scope. Each of the sites is focusing on different CLD
groups, as follows:
- North Carolina Agricultural and
Technical State University (Department of Curriculum and Instruction):
African Americans.
- Northern Arizona University (Institute
for Human Development): Native Americans and Hispanic Americans.
- Ohio State University (Nisonger Center
for Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities): African
Americans.
- University of Hawaii at Manoa (Center
on Disability Studies): Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.
- University of Washington
(DO-IT—Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology):
Asian Americans and Hispanic Americans.
The CLD Transition Research Project is funded by the US
Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) for
the period July 1, 2002 to June 30, 2006 (Project #H324C010090).
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