In institutions of higher education, disability resource professionals (DRPs) have the responsibility of upholding compliance with federal legislation regarding college students with disabilities. Specifically, DRPs are tasked with determining reasonable accommodations to ensure access to all aspects of the campus community while simultaneously…

While there has been a long-standing practice of providing service options for students with disabilities within the K-12 classroom, universities have less experience and fewer resources in this area. University students who have been diagnosed with a disability are expected to self-advocate and produce sufficient evidence in order to access…

The process of providing students with disabilities access to an education that is of appropriate quality is still a relatively new endeavor. Students with disabilities benefit from the support of family, educators, and many other professionals addressing the inequality that is faced in school. Ultimately, progress has been achieved from…

This survey study investigated understanding and use of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), self-advocacy, self-determination, and campus resources by college students with disabilities. Thirty-one students registered with a student disability office at a Midwestern state university completed an anonymous survey. Thirty-two percent of…

The 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act improved access to postsecondary education for disabled students, yet they are still marginalized and leave university at rates 17% higher than nondisabled students (Lombardi & Lalor, 2017). The specific problem is that disabled students face compounding barriers to success, including oppressive…

The purpose of this qualitative narrative study was to explore how deaf college students tell stories reflecting on their acculturation experiences at a four-year university in California. The problem addressed by this study was the lack of knowledge about the acculturation experiences of deaf college students on campuses. The target population…

College students with disabilities face institutional challenges related to pursuing their education. In addition to the developmental changes that occur during young adulthood, these students also must overcome obstacles involving inaccessible environments, programs, services, and instructional approaches. Colleges and other service providers are…

The Americans With Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2008 expanded the legal definition of disability to establish broader coverage for individuals with disabilities, including college students, than the definition in the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990. The new interpretation of the definition of disability shifted the main purpose of…

This research study examines the perceptions of current community college students relative to the impacts of their disabilities on their needs and continued enrollment in post-secondary study. An increasing number of students with disabilities are attending post-secondary institutions. With the establishments of the Individuals with Disabilities…

Ableism often prevents college students from disclosing their disabilities. This practice brief, co-authored by a non-disabled faculty member and a disabled disability services professional, explores implications of crip theory to create campus cultures that foster self-disclosure of disabilities. Using tenets of crip theory--compulsory…

The present study explored how student support service administrators responded to the observed transitional challenges of students with disabilities during a period of systemic imbalance. Administrators at four community colleges in Tennessee, responsible for the coordination of student disability services, participated in a multi-site case…

A review of 29 juried journal articles from 2009-2022, among other sources, found that autistic students face numerous systemic barriers to success in postsecondary settings. Despite autistic students being academically prepared, many are not persisting and completing a postsecondary program. Major findings from the literature include the benefits…

Higher education is reckoning with the ramifications of its exclusive history, but does not seem to know how to include disability in these efforts. Like other systems, higher education is built upon institutionalized ableism. Ableism is a system that advantages nondisabled people and centers their experiences. Three decades after the passage of…

This article describes the inclusion challenge children with special needs face on playgrounds and public parks with universal design guiding the rights of children both with and without special needs to have play opportunities. This study evaluated 68 public school elementary playgrounds to determine whether they met Section 502 guidelines for…

On January 18th, 2018, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) required all federal aid-receiving institutions of higher education (Title IV) to publish web accessible websites for people with disabilities. To be compliant with federal law, Title IV institutions must now adhere to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 standards at the…