Autodeterminación y acceso a la educación superior en personas con discapacidad

Abstract

The study of self-determination and access to higher education in persons with disabilities, focuses on determining the personal and contextual factors that allow or hinder the access and / or permanence of students with Special Educational Needs, in Higher Education. The work is based on the integrative approach which values the biological and sociocultural characteristics that are evident in the cognitive, behavioral, affective and interpersonal manifestations of the individual. The categories of analysis were: self-determination-disability and higher education. Three students participated in the study; two women and one man, with their respective family representatives, and four authorities belonging to the Academic Unit of Social Sciences of the Technical University of Machala. This research was based on the mixed approach (qualitative and quantitative) is based on the narrative design specifically autobiographical, trying to collect information on stories and experiences in relation to the subject based on the set of testimonials about realities, events , attitudes, among other aspects. The techniques and instruments used were the semi-structured interview on the sample classified for students, structured by four questions, focused on issues of self-determination, support and obstacles encountered in accessing and remaining in Higher Education; to parents, composed of four questions and inquires about aspects related to coping with their child's disability and factors influencing the development of self-determination; and to the authorities, which consists of three questions, which address issues related to the access and permanence of students with Educational Needs in Higher Education. In addition, the ARC-INICO Self-Determination Evaluation Scale was used, which assesses the level of each dimension: autonomy, self-regulation, empowerment, and self-knowledge and the global level of self-determined behavior, granting a full assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of young students of different nature of disability