Students With Disabilities Within Academia

Abstract

Students with disability identities face a variety of obstacles navigating college in the United States. Therefore, this chapter examines how empathy can guide educators to support students with disabilities more effectively, design strategic measures to address issues of access, accommodations, and increase inclusion in campus life. Utilizing empathy requires educators to fully understand the student's perspective and their lived experience. Consequently, empathy is critical to meeting the needs of students with disabilities, since disability status is often misunderstood. Empathic educators can create more equitable outcomes for students with disabilities by understanding (1) their own awareness of disability; (2) disability accommodations; (3) disability identity; (4) the intersection of disability, racial, and social identities; and (5) the application of Universal Design Theory.