The Untold Story: African American Men with Learning Disabilities at the Postsecondary Level from the Perspectives of Parents and Students

Fifty percent of African American men with learning disabilities will not persist past their first year of college (Newman et al., 2011). A bachelor's degree for an African American man means that he is five times less likely to be incarcerated than his peers with a high school diploma and will, on average, make approximately $32,000 per year more than his counterparts without a bachelor's degree (Trostel, 2015). Frequently neglected and inadequately represented in existing literature on learning disabilities are the experiences of African American men with learning disabilities in higher education. The purpose of this phenomenological multi-case study was to examine the postsecondary educational experiences of African American men with learning disabilities by exploring the perspectives of both parents and students. Ten semi-structured interviews were conducted; six parent interviews and four student interviews. The study answered the following research questions (1) What are the psychosocial experiences of parents of African American young men with learning disabilities at the postsecondary level? (2) What are the primary roles of parents of African American young men with learning disabilities at the postsecondary level? (3) What do parents perceive about the intersecting identities of disability, race, and gender on the social and academic experiences of their African American young man with learning disabilities at the postsecondary level? (4) What are the psychosocial experiences of African American men with learning disabilities attending a postsecondary institution? (5) What are the experiences of African American men with learning disabilities attending a postsecondary institution regarding social and academic supports? Based on the data analysis, three parent themes, and two students, four cross themes emerged respectively: (1) Bubble Wrap Parenting (2) The Changing of the Guard, and (3) In the Intersection of Black and Disabled (1) Right in the Middle of the Dichotomy and (2) The Juggling Act. As well as cross-case themes (1) Higher Education Goals (2) Self-Disclosure the Key to Access (3) Seeking Normalcy and (4) Racism. The findings underscore that when Black men with learning disabilities receive services that segregate them from their peers, they face a forced choice between preserving their identity and accessing necessary support. One recommendation arising from these findings is to make support services universally available. This entails granting all students access to supports such as assistive technology and note-taking apps that have traditionally been exclusively available for the disabled population. By taking this action, any stigma surrounding segregated support would be eliminated. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]