Nearly 80 percent of university students with intellectual disabilities graduate in four years, a study released yesterday by the National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) showed.
The study, which was led by researchers at the university’s Special Education Center, was based on questionnaires and interviews with students with intellectual disabilities, as well as with lecturers, counselors and vocational rehabilitation staff at 48 universities and colleges, NTNU said.
The universities and colleges surveyed had a combined 304 students with intellectual disabilities who graduated either in 2018 or last year, it said.
The survey showed that about 70 percent of the students attended a private university focused on science and technology, it said.
Researchers found that although counselors try to provide students with intellectual disabilities various resources, their use among students was limited, it said.
Three-quarters of students with intellectual disabilities said they enrolled in a university because they wanted to become a public servant, the study showed.
Seventy-eight percent of university students with intellectual disabilities were able to obtain their diploma within four years, according to the study.
This was compared with 90 percent of all university students who did the same, the researchers said, citing Ministry of Labor data.
Forty-seven percent of university students with intellectual disabilities who graduated in 2018 or last year were employed within three months of graduation, the survey showed.
In comparison, 77 percent of all university students landed jobs three months after graduating, NTNU researchers added.
Citing last year’s data from the Ministry of Education, NTNU said that there were 1,348 students with intellectual disabilities attending universities and colleges across Taiwan.
Ministry of Education data showed that students with intellectual disabilities make up about 10 percent of all university students with disabilities, it said.
To encourage these students to make decisions on their own, they should be given enough support and opportunities to make choices, the NTNU researchers said.
The researchers recommended that the Ministry of Education make it easier for students with intellectual disabilities to take university-level classes, or help universities with students with intellectual disabilities to adjust their courses to better meet those students’ vocational needs.
Universities could create courses focused on encouraging social interactions and vocational training aimed at helping students with intellectual disabilities, they added.
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