Family social support for college students with disabilities

Objective

The purpose of this work was to provide insight into the complex processes through which families support their children with disabilities as they move into and through college.

Background

Students with disabilities, like all traditional-age college students, must adapt to increased levels of freedom, opportunities for autonomous decision-making, and expectations of self-directed behavior. However, students continue to need social support as they adapt to the new demands of college environments and to changing postsecondary contexts where family roles are more limited.

Method

Constructivist grounded theory methods were used to examine the qualitative narratives from a study of 59 college students with disabilities in the United States. Using grounded theory constant comparative analysis (Charmaz, 2014), emergent themes related to perceived family support surfaced.

Results

Students described familial support in ways that expanded on the common types of family support documented in prior literature. Findings are organized into five sections with examples of the following: instrumental support, informational support, emotional support, support by resilience modeling, and support by reframing disability.

Conclusion

Findings suggest that students with disabilities experience various types of family support during college.

Implications

Policy-informed implications for families and educators are discussed. Recommendations are made for parents and college educators about recognizing the variety of types of familial support to foster effective support for youth with disabilities as they transition away from home and into college.