The Importance of Self-Advocacy Skills for Students with Disabilities in Higher Education for a Full Inclusion and a Glimpse of Ethiopian Case: A Review of Related Literature
The transition from high schools to higher education
institutions can be especially difficult for students with disabilities as the
impetus for securing necessary accommodations falls on students themselves
rather than on parents or on the institution as it did in high schools.
Students with disabilities are still facing issues in both their transition to
higher education institutions and their retention to complete a degree or
certificate. Educators and researchers suggest that self-advocacy
skills would address the issue. A self-advocacy skill is an evidence-based
predictor in secondary transition, having an impact on improved post-school
outcomes in education and employment. Coming to Ethiopia, over the last few
years, higher educational institutions in Ethiopia increased from 11 to 32.
Universities and enrollment rate also reached to 100,000 per annum. However,
the number of students with disabilities in the universities is still low.
Those who joined the universities have experienced challenges of different types
ranging from academic to social. Ethiopian institutions do not have any
explicit policy for students with disabilities. Similarly, the available
provision for students with disabilities, if any, is negligible. For example,
in the university where I work in students with physical impairments are facing
lack of educational materials, non-inclusive
environment (inaccessibility of library, dormitory, toilet rooms, classrooms,
roads, and the like) and lack of awareness by the university community. Hence,
although making higher institutions to be inclusive for students with
disabilities is the responsibility of higher education communities and other
stakeholders, students with disabilities are also expected to play a role (by
using self-advocacy skills) to get appropriate services and supports to
complete their education with better academic and psycho-social achievement
that enable them to be competitive in the world of job and social integration, which
is the aim of this review literature.
Cite this paper
Tedla, T. A. (2017). The Importance of Self-Advocacy Skills for Students with Disabilities in Higher Education for a Full Inclusion and a Glimpse of Ethiopian Case: A Review of Related Literature. Open Access Library Journal, 4, e3174. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/oalib.1103174.
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