Facilitating Social Opportunities

Friendships between people with an intellectual or developmental disability (IDD) and people without disabilities are valuable and important. However, they don’t happen very often. One reason they don’t happen often is that there aren’t many opportunities to create those meaningful relationships. There is also a lack of assistance from educators, staff, and families that promotes friendships between people with and without IDD. This presentation shares examples of success, challenges, and strategies that will encourage authentic friendship between individuals with and without IDD.

Zach Rossetti, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Special Education in the Wheelock College of Education & Human Development at Boston University. Dr. Rossetti’s research focuses on social interactions and friendships between students with and with intellectual and developmental disabilities.