Abstract:

Students with disabilities, when entering higher education, are often unprepared to advocate for their needs and ask for accommodations and support services. Self-advocacy skills help students with disabilities to become aware of the disabilities they face, feel more comfortable speaking out for their needs and requesting for accommodations. The crucial role of self-advocacy for students with disabilities in higher education underlines the need of training students with disabilities in self-advocacy skills. This study describes a training program, which aimed to enhance the self-advocacy skills for students with severe disabilities in a higher education institution (HEI).

A self-advocacy training program for tertiary students with disabilities was organized in a higher education institution (i.e. university). It consisted of five group workshops, which took place once per week. Each meeting lasted around two hours. The program was coordinated by three professionals who also acted as facilitators. Three students with multiple disabilities and diverse needs participated in all workshops. One student had specific learning difficulties and attention deficit disorder, the second student had autism spectrum disorder and epilepsy and the third student had autism spectrum disorder and severe learning needs.

The workshops included the following topics:
a) becoming aware of the meaning and role of self-advocacy in higher education,
b) identifying accessibility barriers and accessibility needs in their HEI,
c) getting familiar with accessibility services in their HEI,
d) addressing accessibility needs in their university.

The methodology of the program was based on experiential learning and each workshop included interactive activities and opportunities for practice. Following the completion of each workshop per week, the professionals met to reflect on the progress of the workshop, set the aims and develop in detail the content of the following workshop.

According to the findings, all participants were very hesitant at the beginning, and they needed strong encouragement to talk. Gradually, they became more willing to share their experiences regarding their access, they acknowledged several challenges they faced in relation to reading, writing, social interaction, communication and they also developed an understanding regarding the way they could address these challenges by contacting the accessibility center at their university.

In the end, they were all satisfied with the program and they wanted the meetings to continue because they felt that they helped them to develop an understanding regarding the barriers they faced as well as regarding their needs and the ways that they can express them. They also felt comfortable within the group and they were happy that they met new people with whom they interacted effectively.

Based on the results it was evident that experiential training had important functions such as increasing the level of awareness in students with disabilities, enabling them to elaborate and share their experiences without fear or shame. It seems that planning and implementing self-advocacy training programs in higher education may constitute the edifice of an accessible and inclusive educational system which paves the way for creating positive learning environments.

Keywords:

self-advocacy, access, inclusion, disability, higher education