Opening up a whole new world for students with intellectual disabilities within a third level...

O R I G I N A L A R T I C L E

Opening up a whole new worldfor students with intellectualdisabilities within a thirdlevel setting

Patricia O’Brien, Michael Shevlin, Molly O’Keefe, Stephanie Fitzgerald, Stephen Curtis

and Mairin Kenny, National Institute for Intellectual Disability, School of Social Work and Social Policy,

Trinity College Dublin, 4th Floor 3 College Green, Dublin 2. (E-mail: [email protected])

Accessible summary • Students with intellectual disabilities can go to University.

• This paper is about a course at Trinity College Dublin.

• The researchers talked to students, families and teachers involved with the course.

They asked them what they thought about the course.

• They found out that the people with intellectual disabilities were more included.

They felt better about themselves. They had more friends.

• The researchers will give ideas for making University work for students with

intellectual disabilities.

Summary The purpose of this study was to investigate the experiences of students with

intellectual disabilities gaining access into a university setting, specifically Trinity

College Dublin. The topic is important as gaining access to a university setting for

students with intellectual disabilities is not commonplace. The study was qualitative

in design and aimed to understand the phenomenon of inclusion by collecting

multiple sources of peoples’ understanding of what was happening for the students

with intellectual disabilities completing a 2-year certificate course entitled,

Certificate in Contemporary Living. The perceptions of the students, family

members and tutors were captured through focus groups, questionnaires, and use

of Photovoice and document analysis. Triangulation of the multiple sources of data

was used as well as open, axial and selective coding for thematic analysis. The

student voice echoed by that of family members and tutors found that inclusion

within a university setting led the students to see themselves more alike than

different to their peers. They felt more accepted, more competent and more socially

networked. Vital to the development of friendships was a mentoring programme.

The aspect of the certificate programme that supported students to participate in a

range of undergraduate classes will be described, and how this strategy is

continuing to be researched will be outlined. Being included within a university

setting opens up a whole new way of being for students who have previously

experienced marginalisation. Such inclusion is a cogent way to promote ability. The

safeguards to ensure that inclusion within university settings does not become

another form of segregation will be touched upon.

ª 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, British Journal of Learning Disabilities, 37, 285–292 doi:10.1111/j.1468-3156.2009.00584.x

British Journal of

Learning DisabilitiesThe Official Journal of the British Institute of Learning Disabilities

Keywords Curriculum, inclusion, intellectual disabilities, Ireland, learning disabilities,

learning styles, life long learning, peer mentors, third level education, transition

Introduction

The history of special education in Ireland has followed the

international trend of western countries in being influenced

by rights-based principles inherent in the United Nations,

UNESCO and OECD reports, treaties and declarations. Such

principles have also been aligned with enabling legislation,

such as the USA Individuals With Disabilities Education Act

(IDEA) 1997, 2004, the amended UK Education Act 1993 and

Ireland’s Education for Persons with Special Needs (EPSEN) Act

2004. Such legislation has mandated that students with

disabilities have the right to be included in the same school

as their same aged peers. This is the essence of inclusion,

that students can sit beside their peers without disabilities in

the same class undertaking the same activities, adapted

where needed, to meet their teaching and learning needs

(O’Brien 1999).

The principle of Inclusive Education was first adopted at

the World Conference on Special Needs Education: Access

and Equality, Salamanca 1994 (UNESCO 1994) and was

restated at the World Education Forum, Dakar 2000 (UNE-

SCO 2000) The ideal of inclusion is further supported by the

UN Standard Rules on the Equalisation of Opportunities for

Persons with Disabilities (Peters 2003).

More recently, Ireland became a signatory to the United

Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on

30 March 2007. Article 24 on Education requires that

‘effective individualised support measures are provided in

environments that maximise academic and social develop-

ment, consistent with the goal of full inclusion’ (United

Nations, 2006, Article 24, para 2e). If the Irish government

ratifies the Convention, it will be held accountable to its

Articles, unlike discretionary conditions that apply to other

EU Declarations and Treaties. To date the Convention has

been ratified in 66 countries (Retrieved on 4th September,

2009 from http://www.un.org/ disabilities/default. asp?

navid= 18 &pid =257), but overall ratification is a slow

process (Kallehauge 2009). The Convention is still to be

debated within the Irish Parliament.

Principles of inclusion over the last two decades have

been a focus within the Western world across early

childhood, primary and second level educational settings.

Griffin & Shevlin (2007) summarise the changes in Ireland:

It is apparent that special education policy has under-

gone significant changes throughout 1990s…. As a

result increasing numbers of children with special

needs are educated in mainstream schools. However

while legislation and policy documents make the

presumption for inclusion, a number of challenges

remain. (p. 68)

One of these challenges in Ireland is that although

progress has been made in including students with disabil-

ities in primary and second level schooling, there has been

little progress at the third level for students with intellectual

disabilities. This is not a phenomenon restricted to only

Ireland but internationally there is a paucity of programmes

particularly within university settings.

Where third level programmes do exist, such as through

the J. P. Das Centre at the University of Alberta (On Campus

2001), outcomes for students included a stronger sense of

self esteem, increased confidence; defined work aspirations,

improved employment and better friendships (McDonald

et al. 1997). Similar outcomes were found at Flinders

University in South Australia (Grantley 2000), where

students consistently attended 1 day a week to audit

mainstream courses. They were reported and observed to

be making friends, while modelling their social behaviour

on that of other university students.

The concept of students with intellectual disabilities being

fully included within university settings is growing partic-

ularly in the United States where 11 programmes now exist

where students gain individualised support to take college

classes with non disabled peers from the general academic

course offerings across a range of disciplines (Retrieved on

4th September from http://www.inclusioninstitutes.org/).

Three models of post-secondary education have been

identified by Hart et al. (2006) that include first a mixed

hybrid model, where students participate in both classes

with students with disabilities and without. The second

model is one which is substantially a separate model, where

students only participate in classes with other students with

disabilities and thirdly an inclusive individual support

model where students receive individualised support in

college/university courses for audit or credit.

The Trinity College initiative

Aligned with the context of equal educational opportunity

for people with intellectual disabilities, the National Insti-

tute for Intellectual Disability (NIID), Trinity College Dub-

lin, developed a 2 year full time Certificate programme for

students with intellectual disabilities, titled the Certificate in

286 P. O’Brien et al.

ª 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, British Journal of Learning Disabilities, 37, 285–292

Contemporary Living (CCL). In terms of Hart et al.’s (2006)

models the CCL is a mixed hybrid model where its aim is to

promote the full inclusion of individuals with intellectual

disabilities and facilitate their lifelong learning, providing

them with the strategic skills to become independent self-

reliant adults and giving them the potential to contribute

fully in society.

The 2 year certificate programme comprises 10 modules,

eight mandatory and two optional, which allow the

students to participate in liberal arts, expressive arts, and

career planning and employment opportunities, as shown

in Table 1. Each module consists of 72 h class contact and

28 h outside of class activity including tutorial assistance

and self directed learning. Several of the modules involved

the CCL students learning alongside other undergraduate

students. For example, Occupational Therapy and Clinical

Speech and Language students act as peer tutors for the

CCL students in the respective modules of Personal Effec-

tiveness and Written and Oral Communication. CCL

students also gain the opportunity to learn alongside other

undergraduate students in classes of their own choosing as

part of the Inclusive Studies Module. They are encouraged

to audit three or more lectures that are agreed to by the

tutor, who adapts the material for presentation. In 2008,

students chose to attend classes in the areas of Art, History,

Economics, Social Policy, Classics, English, Geography,

Drama and Zoology.

Documenting stakeholders’ experience

As the Certificate programme was the first of its type to be

offered on a full time basis in Ireland, it was decided to

document the benefits and challenges experienced by its

major stakeholders. The purpose of the project was to

explore what students, family members and course tutors

saw as the benefits and challenges of attending a pro-

gramme within a third level setting. In turn this would

identify the lessons that could be learned for the future

development of supporting students with intellectual dis-

abilities to gain access to third level education. A full report

on the study outcomes was compiled by O’Brien et al.

(2008). For the purpose of this paper, the focus is on the

students’ perspectives.

Design

An interpretative approach

The study was qualitative in nature and the research team

aimed to understand the phenomenon of inclusion by

collecting multiple sources of students’ understanding (after

Denzin & Lincoln 1994) of what was happening for them

within third level settings. Data collection (O’Brien et al.

2008) comprised holding focus groups, using Photovoice

(Booth & Booth 2003; Wang & Burris 1997), and analysing

curriculum portfolios student course diaries, and the out-

comes of individual student PATHs, a transition planning

tool (Forest & Pearpoint 1998).

The focus group interview schedules explored what the

student liked and disliked about the course, and what they

would change. The Photovoice strategy invited students to

take photos across a typical day in their student life for later

group discussion and analysis. Students chose for individual

interview and discussion three course module portfolios

which they respectively rated as the most enjoyable, some-

what enjoyable and least enjoyable. Reflective journals were

also were analysed as were their individual PATHS that were

done as part of their exit from the course. Each PATH was

graphically facilitated and recorded what the student and

representatives of their family or support network saw as

their goals and expectations for the future built upon current

achievements.

Use of triangulation

As a means of ensuring that the phenomenon of inclusion

was not interpreted from one angle only, triangulation

(Potter & Wetherell 1987) of the multiple sources of

understanding was used. Similar data within the study

were also compared from different points in its temporal

cycle (Hammersely & Atkinson 1983), for example, focus

groups occurred systematically at three intervals across a

2-year period and photographs were collected annually as

part of a day in the life Photovoice exercise. Open, axial and

selective forms of coding were used to synthesise the

material (Strauss & Corbin 1998).

Participants

Nineteen students with intellectual disabilities (six

male and 13 female) were invited and all accepted to

Table 1 Certificate in contemporary living – mandatory and optional

modules and their acronyms

Mandatory modules Optional modules

Written and Oral

Communication (WOC)

Drama and Dance (D&D)

Mathematics and Financial

Management (MFM)

Art and Design (A&D)

Information and Communication

Technology (ICT)

Special Topic (ST)

Personal Effectiveness (PE) Creative arts appreciation

and performance (CAA/P)

Inclusive Studies and

Research (IRS)

Career Development (CD) Music Appreciation (MA)

Social Science: An International

Perspective (SS)

Work Placement (WP)

Opening up a whole new world 287


participate in the project. Their ages ranged from 19 to

48 years. Educational level for all prior to coming to

Trinity involved attendance at special schools for students

with intellectual disabilities.

The voice of the participant groups is illustrated

through selected quotes that exemplify the themes that

characterise each student’s journey as a member of the

Certificate in Contemporary Living course. The quotations

are assigned codes to afford participant anonymity. Each

student was allocated an identifier between S1 and S19

followed by an acronym for type of data, viz. FG (focus

group); D (Diary entry); PV (Photovoice); I (interview)

and course module acronyms (as shown in Table 1). For

example, S1, FG1 means Student 1, Focus Group 1; S1,

PV1 (Student 1, Photo Voice 1); S1 A I = Student 1, Art

Module (Interview).

Journey of students

The course has made a big difference in my life … it’s

made me grow up and mature and open more doors.

(S11, FG3)

Being a student over the 2 years was a journey that

moved along different pathways, described below as:

student as a learner; student as a class member; student as

a friend; student as a worker; student as a different person.

Within the journey, students saw themselves as learning

new things, gaining new friendships, and raising hopes for

a different future. Each is considered in turn.

Student as learner

Initially students talked about learning new things, which

covered both academic learning and becoming more inde-

pendent. Learning was new and different.

What I like about the course is where we learn

different things, like we get to sit in on mainstream

lectures …I like everything… talking about different

issues ... also I like International Awareness and now

the course is running I like the lot and learning new

things. (S3, FG1)

Students had strong opinions on why they either liked or

disliked particular subjects.

Favourite subjects were aligned with gaining of new

knowledge:

Get to know my own country …. I liked finding out

about Budapest (S19, I)

International awareness is about your country and then

we talk about another European country. And the

capital city and we learn about that, identify the culture

and so on. (S12, FG1)

Being like other learners:

The research is very interesting to me because I have a

cousin of mine in America and he’s doing research and

my Mum’s friend does research; they all do the same

thing. And my cousin knows that I do it and he’s doing

the same thing that I am. (S15, FG1)

Supportive tutors:

She really takes the time out to help us and like if you

have a problem she’ll come over and sit with us and

help us. And I really like that. (S8, FG1)

Less favourite subjects were aligned with

Literacy difficulties;

Found it too hard trying to find words (S4, I).

Numeracy Difficulties:

Some of the numbers a bit too hard (S7, I)

Homework:

What I found hard was the homework that we got. It’s

very hard and I found the tests that we had to do the

first time were very hard, like knowing pictures and

going through the book at the time (S15, FG1)

Initially too much homework. (S18, I)

Personal learning

Over the 2 years of the course, what students reported as

learning changed from the concrete experience of the course

content to the development of personal characteristics such as

gaining increased confidence, perseverance, and becoming

more independent. These insights were described as follows:

More confidence with my friends and be there for them

and stuff like that. (S1, FG2)

I liked the module because … I learned to speak up for

myself… doing PowerPoint and talking in front of

people. (S5, I) (Special Topic)

I got to do my own work (Poetry)…something I hadn’t

done before (Numeracy). Learned how to teach other

people. (S16, I)

Reported understanding of Communication also deep-

ened from learning how to communicate better with other

students to giving presentations as well as decision-making

that goes with the organisation of events:

I liked giving presentations when I got confidence and

we organised to go to countries like Iceland and

Belgium .… I worked as part of a team .… I learned

to communicate with my peers better (S18, I)



In their role as a learner, students spoke of class work and

the different ways in which they were assisted and

supported to learn. Class work took several forms ranging

across being taught as a group by the tutors; being taught by

students from other faculties under the supervision of

lecturers; and being taught by specialists contracted by the

NIID.

The students spoke positively about the NIID staff and

the support they were given to do their work. As one

described succinctly, ‘tutors come in and they give you work

and they’d help you and all’ (S13, FG1). Students similarly

identified the individual support that they gained from the

key staff who accompanied them from their agencies on a

daily basis to attend the course. This in turn was combined

with support given by families. One student comment

exemplifies the three-way partnership in place for the

students to participate in the course, ‘I’ve had support from

my family, support from the staff here and support from (name of

agency)’. (S7, FG3).

When discussing the positive aspects about class work,

the students indicated that it was different from school, they

learned together with other Trinity students, classes were

bigger than what they had been used to at special school,

and they went on field trips to other countries arising from

both course requirements and Trinity extra curriculum

activities. The quotes below paint a picture of student

satisfaction with the differences they saw between school

and College:

Before when I was going to school in small classes but

now when we come to Trinity…it shows that I can

work in a large group. If I don’t want to sit I can go

outside. (S7, PV1)

We learn more here. (S4, I)

Student as friend

At the start of the course students spoke of making new

friends and by the time the course was coming to a close,

these friends were spoken of as best friends. The journey

from making new friends to having best friends and the loss

that was beginning to be felt towards the end of the course is

evidenced in the two quotes below:

Learning how to speak up for yourself and meeting

new friends (S5, FG1)

I have friends and best friends...and I have to say I’m

going to miss you all and I’ll miss everyone in here.

(S17, FG3)

In talking about friendship, the students were aware that

coming to College had widened their circle. They were now

mixing in several groups, such as:

Students with intellectual disabilities from other agencies

College helped me to make new friends from other

centres. This is a friendship, myself and X., best friends

and best buddies…and we go out to the Buttery for our

lunch and we talk and we have a chat and we get on

really well. (S1, PV1)

Students who were intellectually disabled but were not

attached to agencies

M. introduced us to new member joining our art group

and a bond started straight away…we go out after class

and we go to the cinema, out for a meal and a chat. (S12,

PV2)

Friendships were also considered to have developed

between the students and their mentors. The mentors were

also students of Trinity, undertaking undergraduate degree

courses. The students would meet weekly with their

mentors for friendship, sharing how their respective courses

were going and in some mentor relationships the students

went out for dinner or were invited home by the mentor.

The role of the mentor is reflected in one student’s observation:

I meet my mentor every Monday for lunch and we

share things together ... show her photographs of the

Trinity Ball and what I have done for the weekend….

She came to my ball and we share things together. (S11,

PV1)

Loss of friendship that would arise for the students when

the course was completed was in evidence from the start of

the course, but grew in intensity as the end of the course

grew closer. Mixed hopes accompanied the loss of knowing

people on the course was reported by one student.

Feel that I am a lot happier …. I have friends even all of

you and best friends for ever. And I have to say I’m

going to miss you all and I’ll miss everyone in here.

(S17, FG2)

Students had a desire to extend their social network but

reported how lack of transport and money and support

could limit keeping in contact with and making new friends.

Several students also indicated their hopes of having an

intimate relationship.

Student as worker

As the course progressed and work placements were made

following a module on career planning, the students were

asked to indicate preference for the type of job they would



like and placements were made accordingly. For example, if

the student expressed, ‘I’d like to be flying aeroplanes like my

friends’ (S15, FG1) he was found a placement at the airport.

Student participation in work experience is well illus-

trated in the case of student C. She had two interests, to

strengthen her role as a researcher and to work in an office.

She talked about both of these placements below:

My first work experience was working for (X a college

researcher). When I first started, I used make a picture

of the lives of people… do meetings and photocopying

and stapling, answering the phone and taking messages

for X. My second was with Y in an Occupational Health

Office and it was basically office work like putting

leaflets into one bundle to the next bundle and then

tying them up and giving them to the boss. (S11, PV1)

For several students, the work placement did lead to

being employed within the same organisation, as illustrated

below. Seven other students gained part time work on

leaving the course.

What’s been good is where I did a work experience and

when I asked them for a reference I got the job. (S12,

FG3)

I enjoyed the 2 years of being here and I am happy I got

a new job. A new job off Trinity College. Now I am

working at (Z)..(S7, FG3)

The student image of self as a worker was reinforced

within the PATH planning process. A major fear many

expressed within this process was that there would not be

openings for them in the jobs that they would like. This in

turn created another fear that lack of money usually made

through work would interfere with their hopes and dreams.

Student as a different person

From first enrolling in the course and attending Trinity, the

students talked of being happier and having a better life,

both interconnected with hopes for a job on leaving the

course. The sense of well being that came from participating

in the course lead to an enhanced construction of self which

is suitably described below.

When I come home from College now I’m happier and I

tell my parents about my day. I talk about College to

my family and cousins. They are glad for me that I’m

studying. (S15, FG1)

As the course progressed students also began to see the

implications of their being on the Trinity campus for the

wider issues of inclusion. They saw themselves as actually

becoming included. The historic significance of this is

captured in the quote below:

People our ages, for ages there was no college, there

was nothing there just…there was just your home and

then your training centre ... but now we are all getting

jobs. (S1, FG2)

It made me a good proper student and making all my

friends here. (S4, PV2)

Aligned with the realisation that the course was enabling

people with intellectual disabilities to go to college was that

this experience was changing the perception of others

towards them.

Our mentors are not treating us like we have disability.

They are treating us more like ordinary people ….they

have not got a disability and we have got disabilities

and like they don’t treat you like a kid. (S1, FG3)

A further realisation that came with being on the course

for students was that they were growing in independence.

This was particularly expressed in relation to their ability to

travel independently.

I learned how to travel independently on my own a

couple of times and I got very independent. And the

course has been kind of good in a way. (S11, FG3)

Throughout the course, student comments reinforced that

they saw themselves as having the potential to become

independent in other areas of their lives.

I am more independent. I am not reliant on my parents.

I have great support. I am really getting independent

and it is great … and I meet people and at 31 I am ready

to move on and get a life of my own. (S1, FG2)

We can just go to places like everyone else. (S 10, PV1)

Student as advisor

As a group of students, they were also good advocates for

the principle of ‘nothing about us without us’ (Charlton

1998) which extended to lobbying the student union when

there was a delay in getting their student cards that gave

them access to all Trinity amenities. The student card was

seen as a symbol that they were equal to all other Trinity

students, giving them the right to belong to Trinity societies,

to use the gym, the library and to go for a drink. They also

reminded the staff that if letters were to be sent home to

their parents they should be the initial recipient and that the

letters should be written in plain information.

Their long term and short term goals also saw the

students acting as advisors in their desire to continue adult

education. Several students wished to access other adult

learning opportunities, which in turn would be used to



advise on transition planning for students in future years of

the course.

Student as a dreamer

Students came into the course with dreams for their future

and these were reinforced throughout their time at Trinity.

At the beginning, a major dream was that the course would

lead to a job. On leaving the course their horizons had been

extended as reflected in their many voices when asked

about their hopes for the future,

Freedom…I’ll drink to that. (S1, FG3)

And I hope to meet some people and maybe looking to

get a house or something…because I want for my dad

to come and spend weekends. (S5, FG3)

A job and hopefully get married…and have my own car

as well. (S17, FG3)

Student hopes and dreams were summed up by one

student who captured the mood:

As H’s poem says that one door opens and another

closes, a door closes and a door opens, and I hope the

door opens for the other students as well.

Learning from the student journey

Students perceived that the course had advantages for

them associated with their increased independence, confi-

dence and social networking. This is in keeping with both

the Australian and North American experiences (Grantley

2000; Hart et al. 2006; McDonald et al. 1997). The course

was a means to an end in opening up a whole new way of

being for the students arising from their feelings of

increased confidence, independence and expectations for

their future.

The findings draw a picture of students entering a

whole new world which they are now advocating for

their peer group with intellectual disabilities. Sustaining

the course for others was expressed as a hope while for

themselves their hope for their own growth and devel-

opment after the course was explicitly voiced as a

concern. Their fears revolved around lack of transport

for networking, access to jobs as well as further oppor-

tunities for lifelong learning. These concerns make the

ratification of the United Nations Convention on Rights of

Persons with Disabilities all the more urgent because

embedded in its articles is a holistic approach to a rights-

based life for people who, because of their disabilities,

have previously been marginalised. Apart from Article 24

on Education, what the students were expressing relates

to those Articles that will counteract barriers associated

with discrimination and lack of opportunity as related to

employment (Article 27), housing (Article 19) and rela-

tionships (Article 30).

The overall reaction to the programme within Trinity

College Dublin has been positive. It has opened up a whole

new world for all who were involved. Acknowledging the

voice of the students that this course should be open to their

peer group with intellectual disabilities, the NIID has set up

a programme to roll out the Certificate course within third

level settings throughout Ireland. A major aim of this project

is that students with intellectual disabilities within Ireland

should have increased opportunities within such settings in

keeping with the Article 24 of the UN Convention to

maximise academic and social development, consistent with the

goal of full inclusion.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the students, their families

and tutors who participated in this research as well as the

National Disability Authority (NDA) for its research award

that funded the project.

References

Booth T. & Booth W. (2003) In the frame: Photovoice mothers with

learning difficulties. Disabil Soc, 18: 431–442.

Charlton J. (1998) Nothing about us without us: Disability oppres-

sion and empowerment. Los Angeles, University of California

Press.

Denzin N. K. & Lincoln Y. S. (1994) Handbook of qualitative research.

California, Sage Publications.

Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act (2004).

Dublin, Government Printer.

Educational Act (1993) London, HMSO.

Forest M. & Pearpoint J. (1998) Life is either a daring adventure or

nothing at all. Toronto, Geneva Centre for Autism International

Symposium Paper.

Grantley G. (2000) Towards inclusion in university of people with

intellectual disabilities. Paper presented at ISEC conference,

Including the Excluded. Manchester, 24–28 July 2000. Available

from http://www.isec2000 .org.uk/abstracts/papers_g/grantley_

1.htm. (last accessed on 12 Decemeber 2007).

Griffin S. & Shevlin M. (2007) Responding to special education needs:

An Irish perspective. Dublin, Gill & Macmillan.

Hammersely M. & Atkinson P. (1983) Ethnography: Principles in

practice. London, Tavistock Atkinson.

Hart D., Grigal M., Sax C., Martinez D. & Will M. (2006) Post-

secondary education options for students with intellectual

disabilities. Res Pract, 45: 1–4.

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (1990) PL 101–476, 20

U.S.C. 1400 et seq.

Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (2004) PL

161–406, 20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.

Kallehauge H. (2009) General themes relevant to the implementa-

tion of the UN Disability Convention into domestic law: who is

responsible for the implementation, and how should it be



performed? In: Arnardottir O.M., Quinn G., editors. The UN

convention on the rights of persons with disabilities: European and

Scandanavin perspectives. Boston, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers:

201–14.

McDonald L., MacPherson-Court L.O., Frank S., Uditsky B. &

Symons F. (1997) An inclusive university programme for students

with moderate to severe disabilities: student, parent and faculty

perspectives. Dev Disabil Bull, 25: 43–67.

O’Brien P. (1999) A parent advocacy perspective on inclusion: conflict

or harmony? SET Special 1999: Special Education. Wellington,

NZCER.

O’Brien P., O’Keeffe M., Kenny M., Fitzgerald S. & Curtis S. (2008)

Inclusive education: A tertiary experience and transferable model?

Lessons learned from the Certificate in Contemporary Living Pro-

gramme. Dublin, National Institute for Intellectual Disability.

TCD, No 3 Monograph series: 1–97.

On Campus (2001) J.P. Das Developmental Disabilities Centre: On

Campus. Available from http://www.ualberta.ca/~jpdasddc/

inclusion/oncampus/oncampus.html (last accessed on 16

January 2009).

Peters S.J. (2003) Inclusive education: achieving education for all by

including those with disabilities and special education needs. Wash-

ington, The World Bank.

Potter J. & Wetherell M. (1987) Discourse and social psychology.

London, Sage Publications.

Strauss A. & Corbin J. (1998) Basics of qualitative research: techniques

and procedures for developing grounded theory. California, Sage

Publications.

UNESCO (1994) The Salamanca world conference on special education:

access and quality. Paris, UNESCO and Ministry of Education.

UNESCO (2000) The framework for action: Education for all, world

education forum Dakar, Senegal. Paris, Author.

United Nations (2006) Convention on the rights of persons with

disabilities. New York, Author.

Wang C. & Burris M.A. (1997) Photovoice: concept, methodology,

and use for participatory needs assessment. Health Educ Behav, 24:

369–387.



Opening up a whole new world for students with intellectual disabilities within a third level...

Documents

Transcript of Opening up a whole new world for students with intellectual disabilities within a third level...