Bringing order or creating exclusion: systems for managing disability in a university

Yerbury, H; Darcy, S; Burridge, N; Almond, B

Bringing order or creating exclusion: systems for managing disability in a university

Yerbury, H

Darcy, S

Burridge, N Almond, B

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Publisher:: EMERALD GROUP PUBLISHING LTD
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: JOURNAL OF DOCUMENTATION, 2021, ahead-of-print, (ahead-of-print)
Issue Date:: 2021-07-16

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Yerbury, H https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1525-3268
dc.contributor.author	Darcy, S https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5394-2566
dc.contributor.author	Burridge, N
dc.contributor.author	Almond, B https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8107-0358
dc.date.accessioned	2021-08-02T23:43:05Z
dc.date.available	2021-08-02T23:43:05Z
dc.date.issued	2021-07-16
dc.identifier.citation	JOURNAL OF DOCUMENTATION, 2021, ahead-of-print, (ahead-of-print)
dc.identifier.issn	0022-0418
dc.identifier.issn	1758-7379
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/150027
dc.description.abstract	<jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Purpose</jats:title><jats:p>Classification schemes make things happen. The Australian Disability Discrimination Act (DDA), which derives its classification system from the World Health Organization's International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF), legislates for adjustments to support the inclusion of people with disability. This study explores how students with disability enrolled in a university experience the systems intended to facilitate their studying “on the same basis” as students without disability.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Design/methodology/approach</jats:title><jats:p>Through an online questionnaire and interviews comprising open and closed questions made available to students registered with the disability services unit of a university and follow-up interviews with a small number of students, students’ views of their own disability and effects on their participation in learning were gathered, alongside reports of their experiences of seeking support in their learning. Interview data and responses to open-ended questions were analysed using a priori and emergent coding.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Findings</jats:title><jats:p>The findings demonstrate that students are aware of the workings of the classification scheme and that most accept them. However, some students put themselves outside of the scheme, often as a way to exercise autonomy or to assert their “ability”, while others are excluded from it by the decisions of academic staff. Thus, the principles of fairness and equity enshrined in legislation and policy are weakened.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Originality/value</jats:title><jats:p>Through the voices of students with disability, it is apparent that, even though a student's classification according to the DDA and associated university policy remains constant, the outcomes of the workings of the scheme may reveal inconsistencies, emerging from the complexity of bureaucracy, processes and the exercises of power.</jats:p></jats:sec>
dc.language	English
dc.publisher	EMERALD GROUP PUBLISHING LTD
dc.relation.ispartof	JOURNAL OF DOCUMENTATION
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1108/JD-12-2020-0208
dc.rights	Emerald ‘This article is 2021 (c) Emerald Group Publishing and permission has been granted for this version to appear here (https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JD-12-2020-0208/full/html). Emerald does not grant permission for this article to be further copied/distributed or hosted elsewhere without the express permission from Emerald Group Publishing Limited.'
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess
dc.rights	‘This article is 2021 (c) Emerald Group Publishing and permission has been granted for this version to appear here (https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JD-12-2020-0208/full/html). Emerald does not grant permission for this article to be further copied/distributed or hosted elsewhere without the express permission from Emerald Group Publishing Limited.'
dc.subject	0806 Information Systems, 0807 Library and Information Studies
dc.subject.classification	Information & Library Sciences
dc.title	Bringing order or creating exclusion: systems for managing disability in a university
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	ahead-of-print
utslib.for	0806 Information Systems
utslib.for	0807 Library and Information Studies
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/DVC (Research)
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Business
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Business/Management Discipline
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Health
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/e-Press
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Health/Graduate School of Health
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Health/Graduate School of Health/GSH.Speech Pathology
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Centre for Health Technologies (CHT)
utslib.copyright.status	open_access	*
dc.date.updated	2021-08-02T23:43:04Z
pubs.issue	ahead-of-print
pubs.publication-status	Published
pubs.volume	ahead-of-print
utslib.citation.issue	ahead-of-print

Abstract:

PurposeClassification schemes make things happen. The Australian Disability Discrimination Act (DDA), which derives its classification system from the World Health Organization's International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF), legislates for adjustments to support the inclusion of people with disability. This study explores how students with disability enrolled in a university experience the systems intended to facilitate their studying “on the same basis” as students without disability.Design/methodology/approachThrough an online questionnaire and interviews comprising open and closed questions made available to students registered with the disability services unit of a university and follow-up interviews with a small number of students, students’ views of their own disability and effects on their participation in learning were gathered, alongside reports of their experiences of seeking support in their learning. Interview data and responses to open-ended questions were analysed using a priori and emergent coding.FindingsThe findings demonstrate that students are aware of the workings of the classification scheme and that most accept them. However, some students put themselves outside of the scheme, often as a way to exercise autonomy or to assert their “ability”, while others are excluded from it by the decisions of academic staff. Thus, the principles of fairness and equity enshrined in legislation and policy are weakened.Originality/valueThrough the voices of students with disability, it is apparent that, even though a student's classification according to the DDA and associated university policy remains constant, the outcomes of the workings of the scheme may reveal inconsistencies, emerging from the complexity of bureaucracy, processes and the exercises of power.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/150027