1. Postsecondary Students With Disabilities: What Do They Need, How Do They Fare?
Catherine Fichten, Ph.D.
In Collaboration with L. King, A. Havel, J. Asuncion, M. Jorgensen, J. Budd, M.N. Nguyen, S. Jorgensen, R. Amsel, A. Chauvin, N. Martiniello, A. Tibbs, C. Vo, E. Marcil, G. Lesage, A. Lussier, L. Schaffer, E. Libman
Department of Psychiatry Research Day, Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, April 1, 2016

2. Objectives: Learn About
Latest findings
College & university students with disabilities
Adaptech Research Network’s database
Free and inexpensive assistive technologies

3. Agenda Adaptech Research Network overview Research Funding Findings
Enrollment of students with disabilities
Obstacles and facilitators
Grades, graduation, employment
Universal design and learning disabilities
Adaptech’s free and inexpensive assistive technology database

4. Adaptech Research Network: Overview
Focus
College/university students & grads with disabilities
Information and communication technologies
Free or inexpensive assistive technologies

5. About the Research Empirical Bilingual
Methods: qualitative, quantitative, archival
Research grants
SSHRC
FRQSC
MEESR
TIPSA

6. Who are We Talking About: Enrollment
Self-reported disability: 11%-17% of students1
≈ 2/3 not registered for campus disability services2
Mainly students with
Learning disability/ADHD
Mental health conditions
Chronic health conditions
≈ 50% have multiple disabilities
1Fichten, C.S., Heiman, T., Havel, A., Jorgensen, M., King, L., Nguyen, M.N., & Budd, J. (2016). Will the real universal design stand up? Postsecondary students with disabilities in Canada and Israel. Manuscript submitted for publication.
2Fichten, C.S., Jorgensen, S., Havel, A., Barile, M., (2006). College students with disabilities: Their future and success. Final report to FQRSC. Montréal: Adaptech Research Network, Dawson College.

7. Obstacles to Academic Success
Study of obstacles and facilitators
Convenience sample
n = 70 college students with a disability
School based
Poor college environment
Lack of access to computers
Inaccessibility of computers
Nguyen, M.N., Fichten, C.S., Barile, M., & Lévesque, J.A. (2006). Facilitateurs et obstacles à la réussite des étudiants handicapés. Pédagogie Collégiale, 19(4), / Facilitators and obstacles to success for students with disabilities. Pédagogie Collégiale, 19(4a),

8. Obstacles To Academic Success
Poor teachers
Unsatisfactory course schedules
Crammed exam schedules
Personal
Difficulty transitioning to higher education
Inadequate study skills
Illness / poor health

9. Facilitators of Academic Success
Disability related accommodations
Note taker
Services for students with disabilities
Extended time for exams/assignments
Academic
Satisfactory schedules
Adequate study skills

10. Facilitators of Academic Success
People
Good teachers
Supportive friends
Helpful family
Finances
Adequate finances

11. Grades College 6 year archival study1 Program
Learning Disability / ADHD 
All Other Disabilities
No Disability n
Grade
Social Science
166
64%
103
70%
13,908
62%
Career/Technical 32 40
71%
4,634
67%
All Programs
347
285
40,262
66%
1 Jorgensen, S., Fichten, C.S., Havel, A., Lamb, D., James, C., & Barile, M. (2005). Academic performance of college students with and without disabilities: An archival study. Canadian Journal of Counselling, 39(2),

12. Graduation / Persistence
Students with/without disabilities graduate at the same rate1
Higher graduation rate of students with disabilities
But not significantly
Take an extra term
1 Jorgensen, S., Fichten, C.S., Havel, A., Lamb, D., James, C., & Barile, M. (2005). Academic performance of college students with and without disabilities: An archival study. Canadian Journal of Counselling, 39(2),

13. Employment - Graduates of 3 colleges 5-10 months after graduation1
Students
Working Full Time
Working Part Time
Looking for Work
Studying
Unavailable For Work
Pre-University
With a Disability 90
10% 4% 1%
83%
No Disability
752 8% 5% 2%
84%
Career/Technical 86
51%
15%
30%
540
49%
14% 3%
31% n
Employed
Pre-university
14% with a disability
13% nondisabled
Career/technical
66% with a disability
63% nondisabled
1 Fichten, C.S., Jorgensen, S., Havel, A., Barile, M., Ferraro, V., Landry, M-E., Fiset, D., Juhel, J-C., Chwojka, C., Nguyen, M.N., Amsel, R. & Asuncion, J.V. (2012). What happens after graduation? Outcomes, employment, and recommendations of recent junior/community college graduates with and without disabilities. Disability and Rehabilitation 34(11),

14. Employment: 4 Year Follow-up1
175 university & 77 college students
4 years later
193 graduated from original program
59 dropped out
Employment outcome
9% not in the labor force
Of those in the labor force
82% employed (94% if no disability2)
Jobs of grads closely related to field of study
2Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey. (2015). Unemployment rates of 25-to 29-years-olds, by educational attainment, Canada and provinces, 1995, 2000, 2005, and to Retrieved from
1Fichten, C. S., Jorgensen, S., Havel, A., Barile, M., Ferraro, V., Landry, M.-E., Fiset, D., Juhel, J.-C., Chwojka, C., Nguyen, M. N., & Asuncion, J. V. (2012). What happens after graduation? Outcomes, employment, and recommendations of recent junior/community college graduates with and without disabilities. Disability and Rehabilitation, 34(11),  

15. Learning Disabilities & Universal Design
Study of reading comprehension1
432 college students
LD (learning disabilities)
Poor readers
Very poor readers
Adequate readers
Universal design
If tasks / technologies designed to be accessible from the inception, less need for accommodations2
2 Fichten, C. S., Nguyen, M. N., King, L., Havel, A., Mimouni, Z., Barile, M., Budd, J., Jorgensen, S., Chauvin, A., & Gutberg, J. (2014). How well do they read? Brief English and French screening tools for college students. International Journal of Special Education, 29(1),  
2 Thomson, R., Fichten, C., Budd, J., Havel, A., & Asuncion, J. (2015). Blending universal design, e-learning, and information and communication technologies. In S. Burgstahler (Ed.), Universal design in higher education: From principles to practice (2nd ed.), pp Boston: Harvard Education Press.

16. Created a bilingual database to
Adaptech’s Response to Problems with Commercially Available Assistive Technologies
Created a bilingual database to
Identify
Test
Compile free and/or inexpensive technologies
Provide students the opportunity to try different technologies that could help
Ongoing since 1999

17. Examples TextAloud Inspiration Evernote Dragon NaturallySpeaking
OmniPage
WordQ
C-Pen ® ‎
Smartpen®‎
VuPoint Magic Wand® ‎

18. Conclusion Universal design Students with disabilities can
I.e., designing for accessibly
Sustainable
Can help “level the playing field”
Students with disabilities can
Succeed in academe
Get jobs after graduation
Especially with necessary tools & support

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