Effects of a Self-Advocacy Intervention on Latino Male College Students' Ability to Request Academic Accommodations

Abstract

While the number of students with learning disabilities entering the postsecondary environment is rising, many of these students have not yet acquired the skills to help them request necessary academic accommodations. Students with learning disabilities need to recognize how their disability affects their academic learning, and need to have the strategies and skills known as self-advocacy, so that they can request and obtain these accommodations. Unfortunately, many of these students, particularly Latino students, have not been given the opportunity to acquire advocacy skills prior to entering the postsecondary education setting. Trainor (2005) identified that Latino male students' plans for life after high school were not reflected in their individual transition plans. While the number of Latino males graduating with college degrees is declining (Sáenz & Ponjuan, 2009), Hurtado, Sáenz, Santos, and Cabrera (2008) have identified an upward trend among Latino males' self-rated academic abilities and desire to achieve. Due to Latino males avoidance of help-seeking behaviors, even when they are aware of academic resources that are available (Cabrera, Rashwan-Soto, & Valencia, 2016), they are a population that would benefit from instruction in these skills. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a self-advocacy intervention on Latino male college students' abilities to request academic accommodations. Findings demonstrated a functional relationship between the self-advocacy intervention and students' abilities to request academic accommodations in a role-play situation. In addition, all students were able to fully generalize the target behaviors to the real life setting as well. Last, data obtained from social validity surveys revealed the significance of the effects of the intervention on the dependent variables.