Joe Madaus, Nicholas Gelbar, and Sally Reis co-authored this article based on their recent research.

And if the countless issues and complaints brought up by disabled students weren’t enough to demonstrate the importance of remote learning, Nicholas Gelbar, an Associate Research Professor at the Neag School of Education, conducted a study to consolidate it even further. Gelbar’s study, published in the Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability, surveyed students regarding the abrupt transition to online education in the spring semester of 2020. After tabulating the data collected from 340 student survey responses on personal experiences with remote learning, Gelbar concluded that “[disabled students] were able to change how they took notes, because they were able to watch an online lecture and then watch it over again.”

Students who are both academically talented and also on the autism spectrum can enjoy greater success in college based on the correct high school experience. That’s the finding of research performed by a UConn team in the Neag School of Education and published in a recent issue of the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. The study used the largest sample of academically advanced students, who also have autism, in any research study ever conducted. The authors were interested in researching a group where the focus is typically on disabilities, not talent and abilities.