TY - GEN
T1 - Inclusion and education
T2 - 17th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility, ASSETS 2015
AU - Buehler, Erin
AU - Easley, William
AU - McDonald, Samantha
AU - Comrie, Niara
AU - Hurst, Amy
PY - 2015/10/26
Y1 - 2015/10/26
N2 - Over 60% of adults with intellectual disabilities (ID) in the U.S. are unemployed; this is more than twice the unemployment rate of the general population [19]. Of the adults with ID who are employed, only half receive competitive wages alongside coworkers without disabilities. While the enactment of IDEA [20] has helped to promote access to education for people with ID and other disabilities, there are still obstacles to employment. Misconceptions about ability and lack of opportunities to learn and practice employability skills contribute to this problem. Our research explores employability and integration through the lens of 3D printing, an innovative technology touted as a means to self-employment. We successfully taught young adults with intellectual disabilities many technical skills required for 3D printing through an integrated, post-secondary course on 3D printing for entrepreneurship. In this paper we report on our methods for designing this course and discuss the benefits, challenges, and strategies for teaching 3D printing to an integrated cohort of students. We offer recommendations for educators and describe technology obstacles unique to this user demographic, and the impact of integrated, postsecondary courses on employment outcomes for students with ID.
AB - Over 60% of adults with intellectual disabilities (ID) in the U.S. are unemployed; this is more than twice the unemployment rate of the general population [19]. Of the adults with ID who are employed, only half receive competitive wages alongside coworkers without disabilities. While the enactment of IDEA [20] has helped to promote access to education for people with ID and other disabilities, there are still obstacles to employment. Misconceptions about ability and lack of opportunities to learn and practice employability skills contribute to this problem. Our research explores employability and integration through the lens of 3D printing, an innovative technology touted as a means to self-employment. We successfully taught young adults with intellectual disabilities many technical skills required for 3D printing through an integrated, post-secondary course on 3D printing for entrepreneurship. In this paper we report on our methods for designing this course and discuss the benefits, challenges, and strategies for teaching 3D printing to an integrated cohort of students. We offer recommendations for educators and describe technology obstacles unique to this user demographic, and the impact of integrated, postsecondary courses on employment outcomes for students with ID.
KW - 3D modeling
KW - 3D printing
KW - Cognitive impairment
KW - Disability
KW - Education
KW - Intellectual disability
KW - Special education
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84962699253&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84962699253&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1145/2700648.2809844
DO - 10.1145/2700648.2809844
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:84962699253
T3 - ASSETS 2015 - Proceedings of the 17th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility
SP - 281
EP - 290
BT - ASSETS 2015 - Proceedings of the 17th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility
PB - Association for Computing Machinery, Inc
Y2 - 26 October 2015 through 28 October 2015
ER -