Wertans, Emily and Burch, Leah (2022) ‘It’s Backdoor Accessibility’: Disabled Students’ Navigation of University Campus. Journal of Disability Studies in Education. ISSN 2588-8803
Preview |
Text (‘It’s Backdoor Accessibility’: Disabled Students’ Navigation of University Campus)
jdse-article-10.1163-25888803-bja10013.pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (272kB) | Preview |
Abstract
This article shares disabled students’ experiences of ableism, discrimination, and exclusion while navigating university life. Drawing upon these experiences, we argue that many of the ordinary systems and assumptions that govern university life often materialise as barriers for disabled students. Introducing the concept of ‘backdoor accessibility,’ this paper examines exclusionary practices and systemic ableism to propose that disabled students are routinely offered a lesser quality service that is argued to be ‘better than nothing.’ In order to navigate these barriers, many students reported the additional expenditure of time, resources and energy. In this article, we explore these barriers and strategies within the framework of affect
theory and pay attention to the diverse ways that university life can limit or enhance the affective possibility of disabled students. In conclusion, this article makes some
recommendations as suggested by disabled students as potential avenues to overcome disabling structures in higher education.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Additional Information and Comments: | © Emily Wertans and Leah Burch, 2022. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the CC BY 4.0 license. |
| Keywords: | Disability, Higher Education, Ableism, Students, Discrimination, Accessibility |
| Faculty / Department: | Faculty of Education and Social Sciences > School of Social Sciences |
| Depositing User: | Leah Burch |
| Date Deposited: | 04 Oct 2022 09:08 |
| Last Modified: | 04 Oct 2022 09:08 |
| URI: | https://hira.hope.ac.uk/id/eprint/3633 |
Actions (login required)
 |
View Item |
Altmetric
Altmetric
