Challenge Question
How might post-secondary institutions better support individuals with invisible disabilities?
Partner: Teaching and Learning Research in Action
Project Summary
Students with disabilities have much to gain from post-secondary education, and they have a lot to offer in the post-secondary environment as well as the workplace upon graduation. Invisible disabilities include a broad range of challenges primarily related to various cognitive processes and the challenges that invisible disabilities present are often not visible from an outsider’s perspective. Invisible disabilities consist of many diagnoses, including but not limited to ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorder, mental health conditions, learning disorders, and psychiatric disorders. An increasing number of students with invisible disabilities are attending post-secondary institutions and meeting the needs of these students continues to be an important goal. However, understanding the needs of these students, and developing and implementing innovative ways to support them continues to be a challenge. This is the problem that the research team for this challenge will address.
This project will focus on developing a better understanding of the needs of post-secondary students with invisible disabilities and producing suggestions for how post-secondary institutions might be able to better support this population of their student body. Throughout this project, the team will undertake research about individuals with invisible disabilities in order to understand some of the challenges they face.
The team will be encouraged to think outside the box about how some of the structures that are built into post-secondary institutions can create barriers for individuals with invisible disabilities, and how institutions might work to break down these barriers and develop unique strategies to support these students. The team’s work on this project will bring awareness to an important issue, make a lasting difference in the lives of these students, and change the lens on how people view some of the socially constructed aspects of higher education. The research team for this project might be composed of individuals with an interest or specialization in psychology, social work, counselling, education, and disability studies.
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Organizational Profile
Teaching and Learning Research (TLR) In Action conducts research on effective instructional and learning practices and helps unpack the results of this research to make it more accessible to the public.
We are an incorporated not-for-profit organization, and our mission is to support and promote effective, evidence-based pedagogical practices. To this aim, we investigate effective instructional and learning practices and we disseminate our findings through academic and popular public platforms. We believe that education should be universally accessible and inclusive, and that pedagogical practices should be founded on evidence.
Key Words
- Equity
- Inclusion
- Education
- Disability Studies
Partner Website
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