Inclusive university education viewed by the non disabled students

Abstract

In this paper we present a study that tried to understand how university students without disability evaluate the impact of disability on academic life. This study is part of a major research project: Integration processes and academic success of university students with disability, which is supported by the Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation. The purpose was to understand what they thought would have to change in their life in order to continue to study, if they had a disability. In order to see if there were differences between types of disabilities we distinguished three of them: physical, visual and hearing. 160 university students of different knowledge domains answered to a Perception of Disability Impact on Academic Life Questionnaire. We found that students with an affiliation to human and social sciences show more positive perception of the impact of disability on the academic involvement. In the same way, this positive perception is manifested by students who have a colleague with disability in their classes. Implications for university inclusive education will be discussed.