Increasing positive attitudes toward individuals with disabilities through community service learning.
A 20-hour mix of class plus community volunteering turns college students into allies for people with disabilities.
01Research in Context
What this study did
College students took a 20-hour course that mixed lessons with hands-on volunteering.
They worked directly with people who have disabilities in community settings.
Before and after the course the students filled out attitude surveys.
What they found
After the 20 hours, students held noticeably more positive views about people with disabilities.
The change happened even though none of the students had prior disability contact.
How this fits with other research
Farley et al. (2022) extends the same idea to medical students. Brief school visits during pediatric clerkship lifted their confidence in supporting children with disabilities.
Gladstone et al. (1975) did the reverse: they taught high-school helpers the actual teaching skills. That paper focused on skill acquisition, while the 2017 paper focuses on attitude change, so the two complement rather than clash.
Gatzunis et al. (2023) and Simmons et al. (2024) show that short, structured training can work online too. They taught interview skills over Zoom and got strong gains, proving the format—not just face-to-face contact—can deliver quick wins for college students.
Why it matters
You can copy the 20-hour model in your own college or practicum site. Pair short lessons with real volunteer hours and you will graduate students who see clients as people first. Positive attitudes reduce stigma and make future collaboration smoother for everyone on the team.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Providing equal-status contact between those with and without disabilities can improve attitudes and reduce discrimination toward individuals with disabilities. This study investigated community service learning as a means by which to provide college students with equal-status contact with individuals with disabilities and increase their positive attitudes toward those with disabilities. A total of 166 college students in one university in the United States enrolled in an Introduction to Disability course received content on disability in society and participated in community service involving 20h of direct contact with individuals with disabilities. Findings indicated that college students who had prior contact with individuals with disabilities had more positive attitudes toward individuals with disabilities than college students who did not have prior contact at the start of the course. For the college students who did not have any prior contact, their attitudes toward individuals with disabilities became significantly more positive at the end of the community service learning course. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2017 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2017.07.013