Helping students with a disability achieve their academic aims

ABSTRACT

This paper considers the situation of students with a disability studying in institutions of higher education, and how they can be helped to achieve their academic aims with the minimum of personal discomfort. Three main groups of students are identified—ambulant disabled and wheelchair bound students, students with partial or complete loss of sight, and students with hearing impairments—and their particular problems and needs are discussed. Strategies for helping them achieve their academic aims are offered, including the suggestion that each institution should formulate a statement of policy in relation to admitting such students so as to ensure their welfare while they are studying.