University Students with a Disability:

The Transition to Inclusion

Jennifer Gillies, BA, MA (Waterloo)

MA Critical Disabilities StudiesYork University

Overview

Introduction

Background Literature

Purpose

Research Question

Method

Findings

Conclusion

Introduction Increase of university students with disabilities

(Hartman, 1994)

Universities have progressively been accommodating the needs of students with disabilities (ODA, 2001).

Services provide students with disabilities support with both academic and social pursuits.

Minimal research has focused on the services provided for young adults with disabilities who attend higher education institutions (Duquette, 2000).

Background Literature

The transition to university can be an overwhelming experience.

Students may encounter disabling obstacles in their pursuit of higher education.

Recreation, social opportunities, and support services

can help students with their transition

This transition becomes smoother as students

accumulate academic successes and make friends

(Feldman, 2000).

Purpose

To examine how a small group of first year students with

disabilities integrated into the life of a large Canadian

university in South Western Ontario.

The study considered how certain factors, such as the

utilization of services available to students with

disabilities (special and general services), as well as

recreation and leisure participation, influenced the

students’ overall transition and inclusion into university

life.

Research Questions

1. How do the university services assist students

with disabilities in the transition and integration

into university life?

2. What is the role of recreation and leisure in

facilitating the integration into the university

community?

Method

Qualitative Research Method

Letter of introduction mailed to approx. 70 students

with disabilities who were entering the university that

year.

Four (4) female students with varying disabilities came

forward to participate in the study (Pseudonyms have

been used)

Data Collection

1st interview conducted within the first three

weeks of term. Questions related to:

Frosh week

Their current living arrangements

Recreational and social opportunities they planned to

pursue

Services that they were currently aware of and

planned to utilize

Things that were helpful thus far in their transition.

Data Collection

2nd interview conducted six months later. Questionsrelated to:

The services and activities they had accessed

What the experience was like

How they generally felt about the transition

Whether or not they pursued their recreational and

social plans

Data Analysis

Interviews were tape recorded and transcribed

Comparative pattern analysis was utilized (Patton, 2002)

Categories were compared across each person’s experiences, suggesting several common patterns.

The patterns were used to interpret study participants’ accounts of their transitions to campus life.

Qualitative inductive analysis allowed for several themes to emerge from the data

Findings

Data from both phases of interviews were blended

Two principal patterns which were common to their

transition into university life were:

1. Becoming part of campus life

2. Goal achievement and adjustment

The patterns and themes suggested theory building

related to overcoming barriers and experiences of self-

efficacy

1. Becoming Part of Campus Life

A) Formal Supports:

Increased communication and understanding between the student and the professors

Provide encouragement, support and resources Enabled students to come together

The reliance on others sometimes caused stress and anxiety from the lack of control over certain matters

“They provide inserts, and papers, and prepare your letters for the professors so they know what you need in class, and the service helps me on almost everything I need” (Dianne).

1. Becoming Part of Campus Life

B) Social and Informal Supports:

Frosh Week Orientation

Residence helped them meet and maintain friends

Joining clubs or teams

Used leisure as a means to eliminate stress, improve and maintain health, and to remain active in their new community.

“It’s helped to get to know the university better and all of the resources that I have… not only friends, but people that I can go to for help” (Claire).

2. Goal Achievement and Adjustment

Following analysis of the second interview data, it became evident that for the most part, these participants had established and met their goals.

In the case of their leisure and recreational pursuits, they generally felt they were involved in what they wanted to pursue.

Constraints to goals included factors such as lack of time, money, and ability.

2. Goal Achievement and Adjustment

Some goals invariably changed as the students

became more immersed in the reality of university

life.

Goals were then adjusted:

“Originally, I thought, and heard, that if you go to clubs you can make friends... but you know, I have enough friends as it is...I have my friends and I have time for them, so I have enough people” (Anne).

Overcoming Barriers and Experiencing Self-Efficacy

Participants felt successful in their transition to university when they were able to overcome obstacles, do well academically, and make friends.

The participants utilized a variety of services provided and reported both competency and confidence in their personal abilities.

While participants experience challenges, they also experienced personal perceptions of efficacy.

Overcoming Barriers and Experiencing Self-Efficacy

Self-efficacy Framework (Bandura)

High self-efficacy has positive effects

Theory helps to explain the achievements of the students in the current study.

Informal and formal support services facilitated their ability to do well

Supports and Barriers Model of Self-Efficacy

Low High

Positive Influences

Negative Influences

Supports•Peer Support

•Academic/Personal achievements

•Extra Curricular Involvement

Barriers•Time pressures

•Impairment•Communication

challenges•Sense of dependence

on others

Availability and utility of services for students with disabilities

Conclusion

Aspects of university life, including support services, opportunities for leisure, and peer support, all played an integral role in the participants’ successful transition into the university community.

Inclusion is intricately tied to both access to, and the effectiveness of, special services to students with disabilities.

Through these services and activities, it is suggested that persons with disabilities exhibit more confidence in their abilities, are better adapted, and generally feel more comfortable within the university milieu.

Thank You

Questions, Comments?

jlgillie@yorku.ca