The 'Forgotten Learners.' The Plight of Tertiary Learners with an Intellectual Disability: An Opportunity for Provider Partnerships

This paper discusses the issue of tertiary education for adults with intellectual disabilities. It argues there is a dearth of such opportunities, particularly within the mainstream tertiary education system and this limits employment opportunities and social inclusion for adults with intellectual disabilities. This is not consistent with the explicit and implicit commitments from government to tertiary education opportunities for this learner population in both disability and education policy. Therefore, specialist disability support providers and mainstream education providers must work in partnership with employers in order to create more appropriate, inclusive tertiary learning opportunities that will lead to more employment outcomes and ensure greater levels of social inclusion. Moreover, having a range of tertiary education opportunities would not only help to increase employment outcomes in a quantitative sense but would open up a wider range of employment areas.