Open AccessStudents with disabilities in post‐secondary education: the perspectives of wheelchair users
Author(s) -
Paul Stanley
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
occupational therapy international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.414
H-Index - 37
eISSN - 1557-0703
pISSN - 0966-7903
DOI - 10.1002/oti.91
Subject(s) - wheelchair , promotion (chess) , medical education , psychology , qualitative research , higher education , theme (computing) , pedagogy , medicine , sociology , political science , social science , politics , law , computer science , operating system
Changes in higher education in the United States usually occur in response to societal attitudes and social and legislative policies. Over the past 15 years, post‐secondary institutions have experienced a significant increase in the enrolment of students with disabilities, a trend that has resulted in more wheelchair users in colleges and universities. Wheelchair users have unique problems among students with disabilities because of the presence of physical barriers in university environments and some negative attitudinal barriers. In this study, the university life experience of six students with disabilities, who used a wheelchair to attend school, was explored. A qualitative methodology involving one‐on‐one interviews was used with two undergraduate and four postgraduate students attending a large urban university. The interview sessions were analysed and the data coded into descriptive themes. The six major themes were: what college education means to us; making choices; personal support network; institutional responsibility; university community; and self‐promotion–a much‐needed business tool. ‘Experience is a wholesome process’ had emerged as a meta‐theme connecting all six themes together into describing the student educational experience. The data obtained describe university life from the perspective of these participants. Barriers to participating in university life are identified and facilitating factors for satisfactory university life are explored. Further research is recommended to understand the factors in a university environment that prevent students who are disabled and use a wheelchair from succeeding. A few suggestions recommended by the researcher are: rural and suburban institutions could be studied separately; studies could be done exclusively with undergraduate or postgraduate students; separate studies should be done with students with different disability categories and disability levels; the support network could be included in the data collection. Copyright © 1999 Whurr Publishers Ltd.