Deaf students and the challenges they face in higher education

Abstract

This paper highlights the problems that deaf students face in their inclusion and development in higher education. This research involved two stages: the first consisted of an analysis of academic publications focused on the subject. Based on Cooper’s (1998) taxonomy on the review of educational literature, the researchers selected 24 publications in English and 10 in Spanish.  The second stage of the research involved a series of in-depth interviews with a deaf student, based on the methodological perspective known as a life story.  The findings reveal the communicative, cognitive and social barriers faced by these students, but above all, it is clear that the main problem deaf students face is not the lack of human and material infrastructure to support their learning, or even the hearing impairment itself, but rather the inability of the hearing academic community to understand, comprehend and empathize with this student sector.