The experiences of a disabled university student: An evaluation with two different analysis methods

The literature consists of different perspectives relating disability. The most known models are the medical model, social model and biopsychosocial model. This study is conceptualized within the social model perspective, which argues that disability is a fact of life, a different life experience and it might also be interesting and affirmative. It is aimed to investigate the experience of a disabled university student. Initially a 55- minutes interview was conducted and transcribed verbatim. Afterwards, with the usage of two different qualitative methods (interpretative phenomenological analysis –IPA- and discourse analysis), a quest for meaning was started. The two different methods revealed similar results. These results, focusing on relation based, emotional, and coping like different aspects of being a disabled university student, were presented in detail. The results were discussed in relation to the well-being and quality of life characteristics of disabled people. Particular emphasis was placed on the results’ potential contribution to the intervention programs on improvement of well-being and quality of life of disabled university students