Date of Conferral

3-14-2024

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Counselor Education and Supervision

Advisor

Marta Sheridan

Abstract

Rehabilitation counselors work with families to assist in transitioning adolescents with intellectual disabilities (ID) from school to adult services. Currently, there is no evidence base for rehabilitation counselors to conceptualize and promote disability acceptance in parents. The purpose of this research was to identify interventions used by rehabilitation counselors with parents at various levels of disability acceptance. The research questions focused on what experiences rehabilitation counselors have had coordinating services with parents of adolescents with ID experiencing various degrees of acceptance and how do they understand and intervene with parental acceptance? The theoretical foundations girding the formation and interpretation of the research questions include stage models of acceptance and the social model of disability. The research was a qualitative study using general qualitative inquiry with an interpretive descriptive design of data collected from semi-structured interviews. The researcher identified themes inductively and codes deductively. Findings included conceptualizing parental disability acceptance process categories of (a) Fear versus Growth, (b) Proactive versus Reactive, (c) Correct Information versus Misinformation, and (d) Realistic versus Unrealistic Expectations. Interventions included: (a) developing a therapeutic relationship with parents, (b) leveraging that relationship to encourage growth, and (c) Increasing access. Recommendations include training counselors on these interventions as they begin vocational rehabilitation work. Based on the findings of this study, counselors can help families move from lower acceptance to higher acceptance, resulting in increased independence and inclusion for individuals with ID.

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