Author: Anastazja Kruchelska
Translator: Urszula Lis
There are over a billion people worldwide affected by some form of disability. Among them, approximately 200 million individuals face challenges in their daily functioning. This number is expected to increase. As our society ages, there is a growing risk of disability in old age, not to mention the rising incidence of chronic illnesses such as diabetes, mental health disorders, or cancer. Many people also overlook groups of individuals with disabilities unrelated to physical mobility, such as those with hearing or visual impairments. Unfortunately, individuals with disabilities encounter numerous difficulties during the education process due to barriers that most of us wouldn’t even consider, as they seem easy to overcome. In Poland (as of the academic year 2021/2022), individuals with disabilities represented only 1.7% of all students.
We should reflect on what we can do to help individuals with disabilities gain access to full participation in the education process. What can we do to facilitate knowledge acquisition in higher education?
Let’s start with individuals with significantly reduced eyesight or complete visual impairment.
In the context of classes, lectures, and educational materials, we can ensure:
- Aligning text to the left side in presentations,
- Adjusting the contrast appropriately,
- Highlighting through spacing in the text,
- Providing spoken books (audiobooks) or tactile materials,
- Access to magnifiers for TV or electronic devices.
Regarding mobility and space:
- Ensuring optimal lighting and preventing glare,
- Easy access to educational aids (communication paths),
- Marking glass surfaces,
- Tactile marking of stairs, elevator doors,
- Enlarged numbers and captions on doors,
- Avoiding the use of protruding elements from walls.
For individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing:
- Providing access to translation services in Polish Sign Language,
- Transcriptions of lectures or hearing assistants taking notes,
- Using subtitles for video recordings shown during classes,
- Allowing the involvement of third parties in the teaching process (e.g., Sign Language interpreters),
- Sharing video lectures translated into Polish Sign Language for people who are deaf or hard of hearing,
- Individual language tutorials for foreign languages,
- Conducting practical Polish language learning sessions for individuals with hearing impairments.
Let’s not forget about individualizing assessments and exams for individuals with disabilities. In the case of visual impairments, the solution is simple—conducting oral exams. However, for individuals with complete deafness, the situation is more complicated. Generally, people with congenital hearing loss are often not proficient in written Polish. In written exams, they may make grammatical or stylistic errors that could be interpreted as a lack of knowledge and affect the exam grade. The best solution in such a situation is to provide a skilled translator familiar with the subject and terminology to accompany the student during classes (developing shared terminology). Unfortunately, as for now, this is a solution with very low probability due to the lack of Polish Sign Language dictionaries for specialized vocabulary, linked to the small number of deaf individuals in higher education, creating a vicious cycle.
As evident, there are many straightforward solutions to apply to facilitate education for individuals with hearing or visual impairments. However, certain results are still distant and involve an enormous amount of work and the implementation of many changes, including significant financial investments. The most crucial aspect is opening up to students with disabilities and raising awareness among others about their needs.
Sources:
Magda Lejzerowicz (Higher School of Rehabilitation in Warsaw): “People with Disabilities: Accessibility of Higher Education”
Emilia Śmiechowska-Petrovskij (Faculty of Pedagogical Sciences, Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw): “Support for Blind and Visually Impaired Students in the School Education Process”
https://bip.brpo.gov.pl/sites/default/files/Edukacja%20gluchych.pdf