Webinar, June 3rd, 2026, with the Massachusetts Down Syndrome Congress. Friendships are personally valuable and developmentally important relationships for all people, yet friendships between individuals with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities remain infrequent.
* Extant research indicates that (a) opportunity barriers play a more prominent role in friendship than an individual’s skills or behaviors, and (b) direct support from adults (e.g., educators, families) is a critical facilitator of friendships.
* This presentation shares evidence-based and practical facilitation and direct support strategies to promote social connections outside of school and during the summer months.
About the Presenter: Zach Rossetti, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Special Education in the Wheelock College of Education & Human Development at Boston University. A former special education teacher and inclusion facilitator from New Hampshire, Dr. Rossetti’s research focuses on social interactions and friendships between students with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities, specifically the contexts and dynamics of such relationships and how educators and families may facilitate social opportunities. His research also examines family engagement in schools and communities, family-school partnerships of culturally and linguistically diverse families, and sibling roles and relationships.
** Dr. Rossetti co-authored Affirming disability: Strengths-based portraits of culturally diverse families, is an Associate Editor for Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities, and is on the editorial board of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, Career Development and Transition for Exceptional Individuals, and TASH’s new practitioner journal Inclusive Practices.
Fees apply, registration is required.
