Abstract:

In recent decades, there has been a consistent increase in the number of students with disabilities studying at institutions of higher education. This trend reflects the importance of education and its central role in the social, economic, and personal development of people with disabilities.

The two major foci affecting a student’s ability to succeed in academia can be termed “internal” or “external.” The external focus is the support students receive from their environment. The internal focus is the student’s self-determination and self-advocacy. Individuals with disabilities can succeed in academia if they develop both foci.

Studies show that a lack of self-determination or self-advocacy in people with disabilities is not necessarily due to the disability itself. In fact, in an encouraging and supportive environment, self-determination and self-advocacy are expressed no matter what the nature of the disability: cognitive disabilities, sensory impairments, or physical or mental disabilities. In environments that allow choice, self-expression, and academic realization and accessibility, the levels of self-advocacy and self-determination rise.

The purpose of this study is to determine whether a difference in the self-determination and self-advocacy of students in institutions of higher education can be detected between students with learning (cognitive) disabilities or those with hearing (sensory) impairment, based on defined sources of support: family and academic institution.

Thirty-eight students between the ages of 22-26 participated in the study. Students with hearing impairment were recruited via advertising on social networks. Students with learning disabilities were invited to participate in the study by the social internet forum's.
The study tool was an AIR questionnaire (Wolman et al., 1994) translated into Hebrew.

The results of the study indicate that, regarding indices related to self-determination and self-advocacy, students with hearing impairment appraise themselves higher than students with learning disabilities.

Indices relating to “academic” and “family” sources of support indicated that students with hearing impairment regard them to be more significant than do students with learning disabilities.

The suggested conclusion is that hearing-impaired students value internal and external foci more than the other students.

Keywords:

Sources of support, self-advocacy, students with disabilities.