How self-advocacy strategies help students with invisible disabilities' flourish beyond high school

This exploratory pilot of innovative support for college-age students with invisible disabilities investigated the effects of a seven-week self-advocacy intervention. A multiple methods approach was utilized to investigate the effect of a self-advocacy instructional intervention on six college-aged students with LD and/or ADHD abilities to advocate with their college professors and understand their disability. The data were collected via semi-structured pre/post interviews, pretest/posttest questionnaires on self-advocacy components, and pretest/posttest role-play sessions requesting accommodations from a professor. Findings revealed that the early disability experiences in K-12 shaped the participants' capacities to learn and demonstrate self-advocacy skills. Four main themes emerged from the stories and lived experiences of six college students with LD and/or ADHD: (a) interactions between family support and educational experiences; (b) self-advocacy knowledge; (c) self-advocacy experiences; and (d) perceived benefits of the intervention. Students found the intervention helpful in supporting future self-advocacy behavior. The findings from this study can be used as a starting point for future investigations and to support findings from other studies. Future research could include extending this study, however, conducting it with first-year students or students newly identified, beginning the first week of classes fall semester.