Perceptions of university students with disabilities in Spain: ideas and beliefs about attitudes towards their inclusion

Abstract

Despite big advances, in recent years, students with disabilities have not been greatly present in the university world, and those who do enter higher education are confronted with architectural and psychosocial barriers. Among the latter category, it is necessary to highlight the attitudes of their classmates and teachers towards students with disabilities; but we also need to take their own ideas and beliefs into account. This study therefore examines the ideas and beliefs of university students in Spain with disabilities about attitudes towards disabilities. Taking their responses into consideration, it can be concluded that the students in question consider neither their disability nor the university to be an obstacle to them accessing and finishing their studies. Furthermore, they perceive the attitudes of their teachers and peers to be positive, thus feeling themselves to be fairly well integrated into the university community. However, they also call for better training on disability.