An Investigation of The Support Available to Disabled Students in A Local Institution of Higher Education

Abstract

This study explores experiences and perceptions of disabled students related to the support that available to them in a local higher education (HE) institution in the United Kingdom (UK). This study focused on enabling the voices of disabled students to be heard in order to identify the strengths and complexities of the university’s services. This study follows a qualitative approach: semi-structured interviews were conducted to obtain insights about student attitudes towards disability support and related experiences of HE. The findings indicate that this group of learners had a diverse range of experiences regarding how the support services of the institution accommodated 'their' needs. Students were aware of the university’s disability support services (DSS) and most of them intended to use them to ease their transition into HE. Students regarded the support services as a useful resource. Despite these positives, this study highlights that there is still space for improvement to policy and practice, as a number of barriers were reported. For example, insufficient communication between the university and students, the academic staff’s dearth of expertise and training related to how to help disabled students accessing appropriate provisions, excessive study workload resulted in additional pressure, and a level of stigma that affected some disabled student. Research participant-derived recommendations included easier access to disability policies so that students know what to expect, simplifying the process of disclosing a disability, adjustments to the course delivery, and changing mind-sets by raising awareness of disabled students’ strengths, rather than having disability being medicalised and treated as a deficiency. This small-scale research provides insights into disabled students’ attitudes to identified barriers that persist and which may prevent them from an inclusive and equitable participation in HE.