Accessibility and inclusion in higher education: experiences and challenges to the permanence of people with disabilities

Abstract

The theme of accessibility in higher education is becoming more prominent as the number of people with disabilities in universities increases. Among the possible approaches that address the dimensions of accessibility and inclusion and reaffirm the right to education for all, we consider that the perspectives and experiences brought by people with disabilities need to gain space, visibility, and understanding in the scientific community and in society. We intend to reflect on how accessibility happens and how its absence imposes borders and limits to the access and permanence of people with disabilities to higher education. To do so, we collected narratives of people with disabilities, thus relying on oral sources methodology, as a possibility of understanding and thinking about the inclusion of these students. The analysis point to some advances, however, there are still many challenges imposed on people with disabilities in their experiences in higher education.