Sustainability of Disability-Related Services in Canada and Israel: Will the Real Universal Design Please Stand Up?

Exceptionality Education International. University of Alberta, Department of Educational Psychology, 6-102 Education North, Edmonton, AB T6G 2G5, Canada. Tel: 780-492-0800; Fax: 780-492-1318; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: http://ir.lib.uwo.ca/eei/

Y

17

Sustainability; Access to Education; Disabilities; Foreign Countries; Academic Accommodations (Disabilities); Higher Education; Educational Principles; Community Colleges; Open Universities; Learning Disabilities; Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder; Instructional Materials; Tests; Models; Student Characteristics

Canada (Montreal); Israel

1918-5227

We have examined the sustainability of providing services for students with disabilities in higher education in Canada and Israel. The two countries differ in their approaches: Israel subscribes to the accommodations model of service delivery; Canada, to the universal design approach. Case examples of services to students with disabilities in Canada and Israel are used to illustrate these approaches in a descriptive, illustrative study of 214 students with disabilities in Israel and the 127 in Canada who self-reported a disability and who had or had not registered for disability-related services from their school. Contrary to expectation, the Canadian sample (universal design) had a larger proportion of students with disabilities registered for disability-related services than the Israeli sample (accommodations model). Moreover, in Israel, disability-related services were extended to more diverse populations. While the universal design model has the potential to enhance sustainability of disability-related services in higher education, this has yet to be demonstrated empirically. Recommendations for increasing sustainability through universal design are made.

As Provided

48

2016

EJ1108771