Abstract:

The right to access higher education and the ability to benefit from higher education services effectively is among the fundamental rights of disabled individuals as well as other individuals. In addition, these rights constitute an important part of the right to education, which plays a key role in exercising and learning other rights. The problems of students with disabilities who have access to higher education are the subject of this research. This research, which aims to determine the possible policy and support strategies by determining the opinions of the students and faculty members working in the relevant units regarding the quality of service provided to disabled students studying in higher education institutions, is designed as a qualitative study. The study group consists of two disabled students who continue their university education in the fall semester of the 2022-2023 academic year and two faculty members working in the disabled units of these universities. The data collected in the study were analyzed by Critical Incident Technique (CIT) analysis, which allowed the participants to examine the stories they told based on their own experiences. According to the results of the research, although students with disabilities have the same basic rights and freedoms as individuals without disabilities and legal measures are taken at international and national levels, they cannot use their rights effectively in higher education as in many fields. The problems faced by disabled students are divided into three dimensions as (i) education and training services, (ii) exam services, and (iii) support services. Students with disabilities have problems in issues such as the physical conditions and accessibility of the campus, library services, and dining hall layout, which are mainly included in support services. Failure to organize the exams in accordance with the type of disability, the inadequacy of some assistants working as lecturers to express the visuals, long questions, not preparing the visual questions in the form of embossing and not granting an exemption in return are among the most important problems experienced by students with disabilities in exam services. In addition to these, the problems faced by disabled students in education and training services constitute situations that negatively affect the understanding and comprehension of the course, such as in-class materials not being suitable for the type of disability and not sharing notes. It can be concluded that identifying the problems faced by disabled students studying at universities is a prerequisite for increasing the awareness of both university administrations, academic staff and peers without disabilities, solving these problems, and developing the necessary policies and strategies.

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