Youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities (ID/DD) face significant barriers to social inclusion (Hill, Davis, Prout, & Tisdall, 2004; Koller, Pouesard, & Rummens, 2018; Simplican, Leader, Kosciulek, & Leahy, 2015) that are counter to their fundamental rights (Browne & Millar, 2016) and associated with negative social and emotional outcomes (e.g., Koller et al., 2018). It is therefore critical that research uncover strategies for removing these barriers. Extracurricular activities provide an important context for fostering social inclusion of youth with ID/DD, and federal law has language specific to ensuring students with disabilities access to extracurricular activities (Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act, 2004, ยง 614[d][1][A][i]; U.S. Department of Education, 2011). However, relatively few students with ID/DD participate in extracurricular activities compared to students with other disabilities and students without disabilities (e.g., Lipscomb et al., 2017). States hold increasingly significant power and autonomy over the implementation of federal educational policy (Knackstedt, Leko, & Siuty, 2018). Yet, heretofore there has been no systematic, state-level analysis of policies related to social inclusion for youth with ID/DD in extracurricular activities. This study provides a state-level analysis of policies related to social inclusion of youth with ID/DD in extracurricular activities. Directed content analysis found that states varied widely in their number and content of policies regarding inclusion of students with disabilities in extracurricular activities. No states used the terms inclusion or social inclusion in their policies, highlighting the divide between academia and policy in defining and examining special education issues. There was no finding of a formal, regular mechanism federally or by states to measure and report extracurricular activity participation for students with disabilities. Through the lens of a rights-based, leisure justice, socio-ecological framework, several areas for potential research were identified and recommendations are provided for researchers, federal and state policymakers, school districts, extracurricular program staff, students, and families. These results can inform stakeholders of potential avenues for increasing participation of youth with ID/DD in extracurricular activities, and in turn can help to optimize the social inclusion of youth with ID/DD.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PROQUEST/oai:pqdtoai.proquest.com:27547826 |
| Date | 01 January 2020 |
| Creators | Gillispie, Carrie M. |
| Publisher | The George Washington University |
| Source Sets | ProQuest.com |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis |
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