Check out the #DDAwareness17 campaign going on now
Post by Kit Mead, MCIE Communications Specialist
This month, March 2017, is Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month (DDAM)! Three disability organizations have created a social media campaign using the hashtag #DDAwareness17. Each week of March has a certain theme. Last week’s theme was education, and this week’s theme is employment. Individuals and organizations have been asked to follow the themes for each week if they participate. This post will highlight some research that shows meaningful inclusive education benefits post-secondary inclusion in society and employment.
In our Inclusion Works! brief, we highlight the 2006 research of M. Wagner, L. Newman, and P. Levine (see brief for full citation): “The National Longitudinal Transition Study examined the outcomes of 11,000 students with a range of disabilities and found that more time spent in a general education classroom was positively correlated with… better outcomes after high school in the areas of employment and independent living.”
A 2009 study highlights that inclusion in general education as a predictor of post-secondary outcomes was “the most common predictor category among the studies reviewed…” and notes that in addition to other outcomes, “it was also a predictor of employment with a moderate level of evidence.” And evidence indicates that students in postsecondary education programs for students with ID/DD have a more positive relationship with employment.
The theme for #DDAwareness17 is “Life Side by Side” — and we know that inclusive education creates more opportunities for people with ID/DDs to do just that. People with ID/DDs deserve to have those opportunities, including in employment. They deserve to meaningfully learn, work, and live alongside their non-disabled peers.
AUCD will be hosting Twitter throughout the month as well. Check those out too!
Originally published at www.mcie.org on March 13, 2017.
