Salient resources facilitating business startup for adults with intellectual disability: Parents’ perspectives

Malouf, Emily T.

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/121503 Copy

Description

Title

Salient resources facilitating business startup for adults with intellectual disability: Parents’ perspectives

Author(s)

Malouf, Emily T.

Issue Date

2023-07-12

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Corr, Catherine

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

• Corr, Catherine
• Tarconish, Emily

Committee Member(s)

• Strauser, David
• Schutz, Michele
• Goodnight, Melissa

Department of Study

Special Education

Discipline

Special Education

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Degree Level

Dissertation

Keyword(s)

• small business startup
• self-employment
• intellectual disability
• parents
• parent perspectives

Abstract

Individuals with disabilities engage in self-employment at higher rates than individuals without disabilities. Despite this, research regarding self-employment and small business startup for individuals with disabilities is scant. Research understanding self-employment and small business startup for individuals with intellectual disability (ID) is even more limited. The purpose of this exploratory qualitative research study was to identify the resources that parents utilized when starting a business for their adult child with ID and understand how these resources facilitated business startup. It is important to understand parents’ perspectives because individuals with ID may receive ongoing support from their parents as they start a small business; however, parents’ voices are largely missing from this body of literature. Self-Determination Theory (SDT) served an underlying framework to explain the interplay between parents’ motivations (e.g., internal versus external, controlled versus autonomous) for starting a business for their adult child with ID. Eleven parents were interviewed using a semi-structured interview protocol and each parent shared their perspectives about the resources that facilitated the startup of their child’s business. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis and emergent themes included (a) accessing financial capital and physical resources, (b) leveraging human resources, (c) generalizing previous experience and knowledge, (d) applying learned business acumen, and (e) utilizing entrepreneurial disposition. Parents themselves were an important facilitator of small business startup success as well. Findings from the study will increase understanding about self-employment and small business creation for individuals with ID as well as provide insights into resources that facilitate and support small business startup.

Graduation Semester

2023-08

Type of Resource

Thesis

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2023 Emily Malouf

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