This manuscript explores the depression disease management of Black Americans (N = 50) who post their experiences on YouTube. The narratives garnered five themes: (1) personal and national histories as a barrier to treatment and contributor to depression, (2) utilizing the social network as informal counseling and as the catalyst for formal counseling, (3) long-term undiagnosed depression management and mismanagement, (4) advocating to destigmatize and treat depression, and (5) positive experiences initiating and engaging in treatment. Novel findings include how participants discuss narratives in third person, the importance of the Youtube community, and advocacy to destigmatize and treat depression.
Young adults with intellectual disability (ID) continue to experience the least successful postschool outcomes among transition-aged youth ( Sanford et al., 2011 ). Experts disagree on the most effective approach to improve outcomes such as employment, postsecondary education, and community living. In 2015, the National Goals Conference brought together educational researchers to set an agenda to guide the field in terms of research, practice, and policy ( Thoma, Cain, & Walther-Thomas, 2015 ). One of their recommendations, based on promising research and practices, urged the field to identify effective personnel preparation and professional development practices that ensure general and special educators can implement a UDL framework ( Thoma, Cain, et al., 2015 ). This study surveyed program coordinators at accredited universities to determine what is currently being done to prepare educators to implement a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework, the extent to which a UDL framework is being incorporated into preservice courses in higher education, and how a UDL framework is being used to improve postschool outcomes for youth with ID.
Online graduate programs have been increasing in number and attendance over the past decade. Ensuring that the quality of teacher preparation programs is maintained in an online learning environment is essential. After reviewing the pedagogies of both special education and online learning, it was determined that Universal Design for Learning (UDL) was the best framework for developing a new graduate online course in a distance learning program. The goal is to highlight a model for designing an online course within a special education teacher distance education program and embed UDL principles within the project. This research adds to the body of literature on distance education and the potential for future research is discussed.
Objective: Our objective was to provide the first comprehensive picture of alcohol use and binge drinking by US college students with disabilities (SWDs), who represent at least 11% (1.6 million) of the US college student population.Methods: In fall 2013, we used a stratified random sampling technique to identify and recruit 2440 SWDs from 122 US colleges and universities. A total of 1285 (53%) SWDs from 61 (50%) colleges and universities completed a survey of alcohol and other drug use and the use of substances by student peers. We conducted 4 multiple logistic regression analyses to compare binge-drinking and non-binge-drinking SWDs by potential correlates of such use and a final model that included only significant variables.Results: SWDs aged <21 vs >= 21 (odds ratio [OR] = 0.90; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.82-0.99) who spent more time vs less time socializing (OR = 1.24; 95% CI, 1.11-1.38), who spent less time vs more time studying (OR = -0.89; 95% CI, -0.80 to -0.99), and who used vs did not use marijuana (OR = 1.44; 95% CI, 1.18-1.75) or amphetamines (OR = 1.82; 95% CI, 1.15-2.89) were significantly more likely to binge drink. SWDs who reported using barbiturates were less likely to binge drink than were those who did not use barbiturates (OR = -0.36; 95% CI, -0.21 to -0.61). In the final model, use of amphetamines (OR = 1.74; 95% CI, 1.15-2.65) or marijuana (OR = 1.60; 95% CI, 1.32-1.94) was the highest predictor of binge drinking.Conclusion: SWDs' reported rates of binge drinking, although high, were not as high as those of nondisabled college students. Nevertheless, prevention efforts should be targeted toward college SWDs.
Teacher education programs are increasing the use of online courses to train and prepare teachers. The Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework is one strategy used to effectively train and prepare special education teachers in the online learning environment. The purpose of this study was to examine participants’ perception of UDL in online graduate-level courses and their preparation after completing the online courses using UDL. Mean ratings are reported for course alignment with UDL principles as are teacher preparation ratings. Participants reported that they perceived the online courses to be aligned with the UDL principles and that their learning and preparation was positively impacted. The results contribute to the application of these findings to online coursework and teacher preparation. Limitations and implications are discussed.