Section 4: Fading student support at college
Learners will:
- Explain the purpose of fading support and how support can be decreased.
- Describe ways to build natural supports to help students request support as needed.
- Discuss the role of a peer mentor and their benefits and limits including examples.
- Explain the notion of fading adult supports including why and how to engage in the process.
Practice 1: Consider reducing certain supports
Fading paid supports is an important step as students with IDD enter adult settings such as college. Students and families should continue to employ supports that are necessary for the individual to effectively and actively participate in daily activities. However, supports that naturally occur in the student’s daily life should be used when possible. For example, a student might identify a peer in their class and ask if they can gather a study group to review lecture notes once a week.
The New Jersey Center for Inclusive Education has spelled out a set of considerations when fading supports used by people with disabilities:
- Formally encourage the student and family to consider and promote strategies to increase independence.
- Determine the level of independence currently provided.
- Brainstorm alternatives to supports that are not natural.
- Prepare a plan for reducing the types and level of supports.
- Develop measurable goals and objectives for the reduction of supports.
Mentor Relationships: Mentoring has been shown to help students improve their transition to work and postsecondary educational experiences to be more effective. In fact, mentors can help students in an array of areas including academic, community, and social settings.
In time, the reliance upon mentors should be faded so that the mentor is no longer needed, or at least adjusted so that the mentor is used only on an as-needed basis. This means that a plan must be prepared at the start of the mentor relationship. The plan should spell out the mentor’s role and how, over a prescribed period of time, the mentor promotes the development of skills and strategies that encourage greater independent behavior on the part of the mentee.
Recommendations and Resources: When determining natural supports (see next practice in this section for more), look specifically at school-based activities in which the student engages (e.g., clubs), neighborhood activities, and work environments (if appropriate). This will inform the program team (and family) how the student spends a typical day. Support systems within these settings can then be identified and promoted with the intent of having them serve as more typical natural supports that all people use. For example, if an IPSE staff member has been assisting with campus navigation, working with the student to identify peers willing to serve in this role would be appropriate. A student living in a residence hall might have another friend in the same facility taking a class in the same building at a similar time and the two could walk together to class.
Practice 2: Develop natural supports
Natural supports can be any person or process that is accessed through a natural routine (e.g., work) or relationship (e.g., friend in a school club) that allows a person with IDD to interdependently participate in school, work, and community events. We all use supports of this type. For example, when a friend picks you up so that the two of you can attend a book club meeting, that is a natural support.
It is often necessary to help students with IDD to identify natural supports, particularly as they leave the high school setting and begin college and/or work. Students can observe a college or work setting with assistance and consider who in the setting might be best positioned to play the role of a natural support. The student could also be observed in these settings to determine with whom the student makes contact that might be an appropriate natural support. Lastly, students could be presented with a case study type activity in which they use the study example to consider who might be an appropriate natural support. The IPSE staff member would guide the student through the case example and discuss with the individual who might be an appropriate natural support and why.
The key to effectively helping students identify such supports is to know the student’s strengths, interests, and needs to help them select effective and appropriate natural supports (Dahm et al., 2018).
Recommendations and Resources: Foundational skills are especially important. because they allow students to develop other vital academic and employment skills. Examples of foundational skills include problem solving, time management, and communication. These are sometimes also referred to as “soft skills.”
Students, families, and educational personnel can use this tool for helping students learn foundational skills in natural settings: Think College: Teaching Foundational Skills in Naturally Occurring Settings
Module users are encouraged to explore the definition and types of natural supports student may use at the Project 10 natural supports page.
Roberts-Dahm, L.D., Dukes, L., & Hart, D. (2018). Collaboration and support strategies to create college access. In M. Grigal, J. Madaus, D. Hart, & L. Dukes (Eds.), Navigating the Transition from High School to College for Students with Disabilities (pp. 157-187). New York, NY: Routledge.