Some disabilities are more equal than others: Community college completion among youth with stuttering, obesity, and other socially stigmatized disabilities

Community colleges have increased post-secondary educational access for youth who were denied access in past decades, including youth with disabilities. The Americans with Disabilities Act protected people impairments in major life activities. This study identified disabilities that predicted lower educational attainment among community college students in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (n=1774). For each disability, we estimated the relative risk of earning an associates (AA) or bachelors degree (BA) in 2008 using a Poisson working model with robust standard errors, controlling for pre-college factors in 1995, including high school grades, test scores, parents' household income, and school attachment problems. Seven percent (7%) stuttered, which predicted 57% lower likelihood of BA, after adjusting for pre-college characteristics (incidence rate ratio 0.43 (0.22, 0.84)). Twenty-three percent (23%) were obese, which predicted 20% and 33% lower likelihood of an AA and BA, respectively, after adjusting for pre-college characteristics (IRR 0.80 (0.68, 0.93) for AA; 0.67 (0.49, 0.91) for BA). By contrast, 17% had asthma, 6% were prescribed asthma drugs, 7% had visited psychologist, 5% were prescribed anti-depressants, and 6% and 5% had vision and hearing impairments, none of which predicted lower educational attainment. Colleges are morally and legally required to accommodate all students. This research finds that students with obesity and stuttering had lower educational attainment. These conditions are visible, socially stigmatized, and not always recognized as disabilities. Further research will identify protective characteristics that predict graduation among students with obesity or stuttering.