“WE ARE RESEARCHERS”: STUDENTS WITH AND WITHOUT INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES RESEARCH THE UNIVERSITY EXPERIENCE IN A PARTICIPATORY ACTION RESEARCH COURSE

Abstract

This article describes an undergraduate Participatory Action Research (PAR) course in which students with and without intellectual disabilities collaborated as co-researchers in order to explore various aspects of the university experience. The article describes the university course as well as presents results of the students’ PAR projects. The students’ PAR projects revealed that (a) eating healthy at the university was challenging, expensive, and at times, impossible; (b) although University of Vermont (UVM) is thought by many to be a haven for social justice, misunderstanding of and discrimination against students who identify as transgendered occur on the campus; and (c) students’ home cultures often clash with the mainstream