Support for Students With Developmental Disabilities in Higher Education

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to learn about counseling and support for students with developmental disabilities in postsecondary education. Student counseling rooms (or centers) were studied at universities and junior colleges in Tokyo and areas near Tokyo, including Chiba, Saitama, and Kanagawa prefectures. A questionnaire was used. The results were as follows: Students with developmental disabilities received much more counseling than did students with other disabilities. Most of the students with developmental disabilities at the institutions of postsecondary education studied were individuals with high functioning autism or Asperger syndrome. These students received support in the form of "informational sharing with related personnel at their university or junior college," "cooperation with guardians," and "support in deciding on their courses." However, students with developmental disabilities were offered hardly any support related to learning. Important points are: (a) promotion of understanding by the staff of universities and junior colleges about students with developmental disabilities, (b) construction of support systems, and (c) arrangements about support methods and their contents. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)