Stress Ans Students With Desabilities

Stress and Students with Intellectual Disabilities
Students enrolled in postsecondary education will experience stress at one point or another. Some of the causes of their stress includeexaminations, time demands, financial pressures, new responsibilities, meeting new people, fear of failure and parental pressure (Schafer, 1996). When students are stressed they may experience anxiety,excessive worrying, feeling guilty, sweating, stuttering, losing weight, and having body pains (Misra et al., 2000). Students experiencing high levels of stress are more likely to engage in unhealthybehaviors and are more likely to be dissatisfied with their overall health For many students perhaps the most significant response to stress is a reduction in their academic performance(Struthers et al.,2000).
Learning how to deal with stress through a variety of coping strategies, behavioral changes, and stress release methods is an important part of the postsecondary experience. Copingstrategies include learning how to prioritize activities, setting realistic goals, using positive self-talk and making time for play. Behavioral changes involve effectively using time management strategies,maintaining good physical health, and learning about what stressors impact the individual the most. Stress release methods include going for a walk and doing regular breathing exercises (Berkowitz,2004).
Literature on coping mechanisms and causes of stress for non-disabled college students, and disabled college students has been developed. However, little is known about the stress experiencedby students with a particular type of disability, intellectual disabilities. A small study conducted by Bramston and Fogarty (1999) sought to compare the levels of stress experienced by adults withintellectual disabilities as compared to non-disabled college students. Although the individuals with intellectual disabilities that participated in the study were not enrolled in postsecondary...