UVM Theses and Dissertations
Format:
Print
Author:
Camp, Marsha E.
Title:
Dept./Program:
College of Education and Social Services
Year:
2009
Degree:
M. Ed.
Abstract:
Students with disabilities can experience a more successful transition to higher education when they avail themselves of disability services at their institution. One of the responsibilities of disability services is to provide both a welcoming place and community which enable students to develop a sense of belonging and place identity in their new educational setting. These in turn provide the foundation for the student to become an effective self advocate within their institution.
Scholarly Personal Narrative (SPN) serves as a tool for the educator to help the reader build complete cognitive structures with regard to the concepts being taught, learned, and/or investigated. Cognitive structures require four elements: denotation, example, vicarious or actual episode, and connotation. While most instruction provides denotation and example, SPN contributes episodes and connotations through personal narrative. Stories reflecting personal experiences interweave with definitions and examples from education, advocacy, place and identity concepts. In this way this paper's methodology builds complete cognitive structures for belonging, inclusion, traditional and untraditional place identity, displaced identity, sick role identity, cognition and problem-solving, self advocacy, social and medical models of disability, exclusion and power differential, parent advocacy, transition to higher education, universal design for instruction (UDI), disability disclosure, disability specialist and student relationship, disability law, and institutional responsibility.
Students with disabilities in higher education face enormous obstacles to academic and social inclusion. Those with hidden disabilities, particularly in the form of psychiatric disability, grapple with the episodic nature of their symptoms and side effects from medication and social stigmas. Students who have visible disabilities have little choice regarding disclosure to the community; they struggle daily with basic accessibility issues: physically, as they try to enter buildings, classrooms, or spaces designed without their needs in mind; educationally, as they seek to learn, understand, and integrate instructional material. Inaccessibility in academia results in social isolation, low retention rates, and lost opportunities for society, the institution and for the individual with disabilities.
The value of higher education disability services is highlighted by increasing rates of admission and enrollment by students with disabilities. Often arriving empty-handed, many of these students have a limited capacity to self advocate (describe their disability, understand its effect on their life, and know what accommodations can support a successful academic experience). Unfortunately, some who received K-12 special education services will wish to free themselves of the "sped" (special education) label which has overshadowed their lives. Offered a chance at a clean slate, they hide their disability and relish in a new sense of independence. For many in this group, the loss of their first year to poor grades, academic probation, and/or compounded difficulties as they seek to transition on their own may mean their four year experience dramatically suffers, if they make it at all. When disability services professionals, institutional policy, and student engagement intersect synergistically, self advocacy in a context of accessibility levels the playing field and supports success in higher education and for years beyond in society.
Scholarly Personal Narrative (SPN) serves as a tool for the educator to help the reader build complete cognitive structures with regard to the concepts being taught, learned, and/or investigated. Cognitive structures require four elements: denotation, example, vicarious or actual episode, and connotation. While most instruction provides denotation and example, SPN contributes episodes and connotations through personal narrative. Stories reflecting personal experiences interweave with definitions and examples from education, advocacy, place and identity concepts. In this way this paper's methodology builds complete cognitive structures for belonging, inclusion, traditional and untraditional place identity, displaced identity, sick role identity, cognition and problem-solving, self advocacy, social and medical models of disability, exclusion and power differential, parent advocacy, transition to higher education, universal design for instruction (UDI), disability disclosure, disability specialist and student relationship, disability law, and institutional responsibility.
Students with disabilities in higher education face enormous obstacles to academic and social inclusion. Those with hidden disabilities, particularly in the form of psychiatric disability, grapple with the episodic nature of their symptoms and side effects from medication and social stigmas. Students who have visible disabilities have little choice regarding disclosure to the community; they struggle daily with basic accessibility issues: physically, as they try to enter buildings, classrooms, or spaces designed without their needs in mind; educationally, as they seek to learn, understand, and integrate instructional material. Inaccessibility in academia results in social isolation, low retention rates, and lost opportunities for society, the institution and for the individual with disabilities.
The value of higher education disability services is highlighted by increasing rates of admission and enrollment by students with disabilities. Often arriving empty-handed, many of these students have a limited capacity to self advocate (describe their disability, understand its effect on their life, and know what accommodations can support a successful academic experience). Unfortunately, some who received K-12 special education services will wish to free themselves of the "sped" (special education) label which has overshadowed their lives. Offered a chance at a clean slate, they hide their disability and relish in a new sense of independence. For many in this group, the loss of their first year to poor grades, academic probation, and/or compounded difficulties as they seek to transition on their own may mean their four year experience dramatically suffers, if they make it at all. When disability services professionals, institutional policy, and student engagement intersect synergistically, self advocacy in a context of accessibility levels the playing field and supports success in higher education and for years beyond in society.