The Importance of Self-Advocacy Skills for Students with Disabilities in Higher Education for a Full Inclusion and a Glimpse of Ethiopian Case: A Review of Related Literature

Abstract

The transition from high schools to higher education institutions can be especially difficult for students with disabilities as the impetus for securing necessary accommodations falls on students themselves rather than on parents or on the institution as it did in high schools. Students with disabilities are still facing issues in both their transition to higher education institutions and their retention to complete a degree or certificate. Educators and researchers suggest that self-advocacy skills would address the issue. A self-advocacy skill is an evidence-based predictor in secondary transition, having an impact on improved post-school outcomes in education and employment. Coming to Ethiopia, over the last few years, higher educational institutions in Ethiopia increased from 11 to 32. Universities and enrollment rate also reached to 100,000 per annum. However, the number of students with disabilities in the universities is still low. Those who joined the universities have experienced challenges of different types ranging from academic to social. Ethiopian institutions do not have any explicit policy for students with disabilities. Similarly, the available provision for students with disabilities, if any, is negligible. For example, in the university where I work in students with physical impairments are facing lack of educational materials, non-inclusive environment (inaccessibility of library, dormitory, toilet rooms, classrooms, roads, and the like) and lack of awareness by the university community. Hence, although making higher institutions to be inclusive for students with disabilities is the responsibility of higher education communities and other stakeholders, students with disabilities are also expected to play a role (by using self-advocacy skills) to get appropriate services and supports to complete their education with better academic and psycho-social achievement that enable them to be competitive in the world of job and social integration, which is the aim of this review literature.