Perceptions of University by Students with an Invisible Disability

Context

This study was conducted in an Ontario university after the 2011 implementation of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act ( AODA). In this context, the institution has begun top operationalize accessibility programs such as an advisory committee and compulsory training program on “Accessibility Service Provision” for faculty, instructors, and teaching assistants.

“Passing”

Students with “invisible” disabilities experience the privilege of being able to “pass” as “normal.” This complex desire to pass reflects both self-stigmatization and self-preservation relative to their perceived experiences of disablism and ableism.

It has been found that students with disabilities often want to be treated as normal students, and they will often not disclose their disability in order to appear normal (Tinklin and Hall Citation1999).

Perceptions of academic accommodations and disability services

• Students reported using the accessibility office to write exams, use computers with text-to-speech technology to do assignments, use private/safe space for administering medication, use note-takers in lectures, counselling support, and a private area of the library for students with disabilities to use assistive technology and work with a dedicated librarian.
• Students reported that accommodations were “imperative for their success,” however they found requesting and using accommodations and services to be fraught.

‘I’ve probably filled out 100% more paperwork than anybody here. Like it is, the bureaucracy behind being a student with [dyslexia] is like, holy cow, the system is crazy’ (P6) [emphasis added]. This ‘bureaucracy’ included registering with the CSD every semester, and the complex system of paperwork, meetings, and organization involved in obtaining accommodations for examinations, note-takers, and automated texts.

Although some participants reported that they had largely positive experiences with their professors implementing appropriate accommodations, many participants indicated that their experience with professors has been mixed: “A lot of professors are very accepting, but I do, I do feel like sometimes they feel like you’re trying to get away with something. And I also think that, that the act of asking them is a bit degrading where, you know, because it should be your right. (P2)

Extra time accommodations are perceived to support learning

• Symptoms and experiences of disability are not static. Students reported they fluctuated over the course of the semester, and the onset could not be predicted or overcome.

… if you’re having a few good days you get lots of work done; if you’re having a few bad days you don’t get any work done and you hope that the bad days don’t all clump together at important points. (P2)

• In addition to the extra time it might take a learner to complete a specific task e.g., read a chapter, learners report spending more time on time-management and planning tasks than colleagues.

[Participants] expressed frustration when they compared themselves with other students and their ability to succeed without the enormous amount of effort that the participants have to expend. This additional time commitment means that students with disabilities have to be organized and utilize good time-management skills, an area that the students with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorders indicated was particularly difficult for them.

Students also reported that despite the extra time spent on academics, they felt their performance/assessment was not a “true reflection of their abilities and intellect.”

Disabling structures (other than assessment)

• Students were able to see and articulate what they felt were shortcomings of the structures imposed on learning.

…many participants reported that they perceived their education to be ‘one-dimensional’ (P6)[emphasis added]. The students reported that they believed that university is set up for one type of learner, from which they felt systematically oppressed: “Schooling’s very one dimensional. It’s very – you know, testing is all the same, how they test knowledge, how they, how they structure the classrooms. Like it’s for every, […] every situation is usually the same. So it’s not like they branch out and try and figure out how best people learn. So you know, a person with an [invisible disability] has to fit in that, in that environment. (P6)”

• Students commented that the university privileges reading and writing skills as a means of demonstrating knowledge, thereby privileging learners with typical reading and writing abilities, and disadvantaging learners with for example, dyslexia.

Students with dyslexia are often disadvantaged because of the privilege given to the written word (Baron, Philips, and Stalker Citation1996). According to Tinklin and Hall (Citation1999), this preference for written language poses additional challenges for the traditional modes of assessment used in universities, indicating that these forms of assessment may not reflect the students’ true abilities.

• Students were able to offer numerous examples of disabling organizational/environmental factors.

Specifically, participants noted that the size of the lecture halls, other noises, speech of professors, and the number of students in the class present them with difficulties. As a result, participants indicated that they are often not able to retain key points during the lecture.

Social Barriers

• Students reported being exposed to belittling comments about students with disabilities such as “students with disabilities don’t belong in a university”,  “Lucky you!” comments when making use of an accommodation, and that both instructors and students would question the validity of their disabilities.

Participants noted that having to provide documentation is emotionally difficult and made them feel less legitimate.

…when considering the effects of stigma, Corrigan and Watson (Citation2002) indicated that public stigma can sometimes be internalized, called self-stigma, which can lower levels of self-esteem and self-efficacy.

• Students reported a desire for educators and others in their campus community to have a better understanding of their disabilities. They however do not want to be put in a position to be the one educating them.