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From 2016-17, academics at a leading Irish university collaborated with a group of self- advocates with intellectual disabilities to co-design, co-deliver, and co-assess an entire disability module for third-year undergraduate social work students. There are few, if any, reports of university modules of this type, involving adults with intellectual disabilities, in the existing literature. Alongside and after the module, our group of academics and self-advocates conducted inclusive research regarding relevant stakeholders' experiences of the initiative. This paper relates to university students' experiences of being taught and assessed by adults with intellectual disabilities. These experiences were overwhelmingly positive with reported benefits including increased comfort around disability and greater empathy with people with people with disabilities. This said, some aspects of being taught and assessed by self-advocates with intellectual disabilities also provoked considerable anxiety among students. From 2016 to 2017, academics at a leading Irish university collaborated with a group of self-advocates with intellectual disabilities to design, teach and mark a disability module for social work students. The group also conducted inclusive research regarding people's experiences of the module This paper explores how university students experienced being taught and marked by adults with intellectual disabilities. Students' experiences were generally very positive. They said the module led to more empathy with disabled people and reduced their discomfort around disability At the same time, some aspects of the module, particularly the idea of being marked by adults with intellectual disabilities, made them very nervous. We hope that our research might encourage others to employ adults with intellectual disabilities as university lecturers and markers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how an intersection of critical cultural disability studies and rhetorical studies can inform a critical education on 'mental health (problems)' for psychology students. Building on cultural theories of disability/impairment, a conception of 'mental health (problems)' as culturally constituted is introduced. We propose the rhetorical perspective as a particularly relevant analytical and pedagogical approach to enable students to critically reflect on the cultural assumptions underpinning various (professional) understandings of 'mental health (problems)'. Our contribution is based on a research project in which clinical psychology students rhetorically analysed cultural constructions of 'mental health (problems)' in a graphic novel on 'bipolar disorder'. Based on a qualitative analysis of students' reflective reports, we argue that rhetorical perspectives enable students to develop reflexive stances towards the different cultural logics, and the ethical and political ramifications of these logics, in which psychological practice and knowledge on 'mental health (problems)' are inevitably embedded. This article argues that clinical psychology students need to think critically about the language they use to think and talk about mental health problems because this language has an impact on their beliefs, attitudes and actions towards people experiencing mental health problems. Educators can support students in this endeavour by introducing them to stories that challenge some of the dominant ways society thinks and talks about mental health problems, for example by working with stories or art work of survivors. In this study, clinical psychology students read an autobiographical graphic novel on 'bipolar disorder'. The graphic novel made students reflect on how the main character in the novel experiences mental health problems, on their personal and professional assumptions about mental health problems, and on dominant societal assumptions about mental health problems and their impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the experiences of students with chronic illnesses in UK universities. Sixty-seven students with chronic illnesses completed an online survey with open-ended questions about their experiences in higher education. Questions covered four main topics: academic work; university staff; social and extracurricular activities; and participants' miscellaneous opinions. Using thematic analysis, the data were analysed with references to the social model of disability and social representations of chronic illness. Participants wrote of misconceptions surrounding chronic illnesses, a sense of inequality, and feeling undervalued. Many staff members seemed to lack understanding and so 'policed' academic regulations rather than accommodating for their chronic illnesses. However, some participants wrote of social and academic 'allies' who offered understanding and proactive support. The findings add substance to the chronic illness literature with the focus on students at university, and we offer recommendations to universities for improving inclusivity for students with chronic illnesses. Disabled students with energy-limiting chronic illnesses are frustrated by a lack of support and feel that they have fewer opportunities than non-disabled students. Some university staff may hold negative views of disabled individuals, and so provide inadequate support. This can lead to students' reluctance to disclose chronic illnesses. Students with chronic illnesses felt that some staff and peers did not class chronic illnesses as 'real' disabilities and felt that they were perceived lesser than those with visible disabilities. Some students proudly owned the label of 'disabled' to educate others, including staff, who sometimes used university regulations inappropriately to excuse not adjusting support for disabled students. Some staff and students were perceived as supportive allies. Universities must listen to disabled students and those with chronic illnesses to ensure they fulfil their legal and moral obligations of providing equality of opportunity, enabling all students to succeed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The voice of disabled students in higher education (HE) has been widely explored in the global North but relatively little is known about the experiences of their counterparts in the global South. The paper attempts to address this lacuna by focusing on disabled students in HE in India. A part of the author's doctoral study in 2013–14 explored the lived experiences and aspirations of 29 students with a visual impairment using phenomenological methodology. Their access to courses and subsequently, career opportunities were found to be restricted by an interplay of systemic exclusion, lack of information, internalised oppression, pedagogy, and employment opportunities. While disability legislation in India focuses on widening participation in HE, the issue of access to courses for students with a visual impairment has received little attention. This paper emphasises the importance of facilitating their access to their desired courses in HE and to this end, provision of support in school. This article highlights the experiences of students with a visual impairment regarding enrolling in different courses in higher education (HE) in India. The research found that four main factors prevented many students with a visual impairment from pursuing science-and mathematics-based courses in HE. These were i) exclusion from science and mathematics in early education, ii) inadequate support systems, iii) inaccessible teaching practices, and iv) limited work opportunities. Little or no support and motivation was available for them to study these subjects. The research recommended that HE authorities must recognise the ability of students with a visual impairment to learn visual-based subjects. It also highlighted the need to provide support for learning mathematics and science to these students in school so that they can study mathematics- and science-based courses in HE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers instructions for authors when submitting articles for the Student Perspectives section of the academic journal "Disability & Society," such as following all instructions for submitting a peer-reviewed paper, paying attention to the journal's policy on language, and uploading all submissions at Student Perspectives in the ScholarOne system at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/cdso.

This paper studies barriers and support affecting access, experience and performance as identified by students with disabilities at the University of Seville. Biographical-narrative research methodology is employed and the study is limited to an analysis of the design and development of subjects across the curriculum. Findings, which give voice to the students themselves, are organized in four topic areas: subject structure, methodology, tutorials, and assessment. The paper concludes with a review and discussion of key findings as well as suggestions for improvement and policy-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on transition to higher education and young people with disabilities has increased in recent years. However, there is still limited understanding of transition issues and how digital technologies, such as social media and mobile devices, are used by this group of students to manage these issues. This article presents the findings of an empirical study that addressed this matter based on young people's views and experiences. The qualitative study was conducted in the context of a group of students with vision impairments transitioning to a New Zealand university. The findings draw from observations, a researcher diary, focus groups, individual interviews, and data from social media. The study shows that, like their non-disabled peers, the students actively engaged with interactive and collaborative digital technologies to make sense, individually and collectively, of different transition issues before, during and after the first academic trimester of their university journey. This research shows that, from the perspective of students with vision impairments, key issues for transitioning to higher education include the academic system, social connections, disability support, family involvement and their own impairment(s). Transition issues in higher education, in the context of disability, are complex and interconnected. Students with vision impairments actively engage with and adapt digital technologies to manage transition issues. These findings expand the current understanding of transition as well as student retention in higher education in the context of disability and the role of digital technologies. This research recommends tertiary institutions use creatively collaborative and interactive digital technologies to complement transition services and activities for students with disabilities so their participation and inclusion in higher education can be encouraged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports the findings of two small-scale qualitative studies at an English university which engaged service users and carers (SUACs) as researchers in co-production with an academic researcher. Findings were that SUAC participants reported considerable levels of self-transformation via involvement in training health and social work professionals. Students reported heightened empathy and having had their perceptions about disability challenged. Further research regarding whether any learned values and attitudes regarding disability are carried through to the world of practice is recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]