Postsecondary education and persons with intellectual disabilities: An introduction

Legislation in recent years, including the ADA, IDEA, and the Olmstead Act, has vastly affected the accessibility of postsecondary education for persons with disabilities. This paper presents an overview of that legislation and considers how the resultant supports and services have become more flexible and increasingly tailored to the individual's unique educational needs and academic/professional goals. This paper also examines a sampling of educational models and projects that have been undertaken with the intent of maximizing accessibility and inclusion, and it looks at the various issues concerning supports, policy, financial concerns, and systemic coordination that arise from those models and projects. Finally, the need for future research is addressed, and questions intended to give direction thereto are posed.