Intellectually Disabled People Need Access to Higher Education: Examining the Alternatives to Higher Education and the Violence Behind Them
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Date
2021-05
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The Ohio State University
Abstract
Access to Secondary and Tertiary Education rarely extends to physically disabled people, and is almost never available for intellectually disabled people. As of 2016, only about 19% of undergraduate students were disabled, and only 12% of masters and PhD students were disabled (NCES). 26% of adults in the U.S. are disabled (CDC). This is an obvious disparity. Alternatives to higher education for non-intellectually disabled people exist as trade schools, retail, work force, and private businesses. These affordances are not often extended to intellectually disabled people. Instead, in lieu of education past high school, the main options for intellectually disabled people are living with family, group homes, nursing homes, sub-minimum wage under 14c operations, enclave work, homelessness, and imprisonment. It is a problem that these are the main options, because instead of access to education, or some other option in gaining life and work skills, institutionalization is the main replacement, as it appears in the aforementioned forms. Institutions are harmful places that have detrimental effects on mental and physical health of those living in them. There are some opportunities for intellectually disabled people as it relates to work; certificate programs.
In some universities, certificate programs are offered as an alternative to higher education. In certificate programs for intellectually disabled students, students typically audit classes in undergraduate settings for two or four years, depending on the program. The certificate program is similar to degree-seeking programs, in that the point of the program is for the students to graduate and get a job, based on what they have learned. The programs differ in other ways, in terms of curriculum, however, certificate programs are an opportunity that is most similar to a degree-seeking program available to non-intellectually disabled students. Certificate programs are not an adequate alternative to a degree-seeking undergrad experience. While they are a viable option for some, it is not enough to only offer programs like these in higher education for intellectually disabled people. People with ID deserve access to higher education in the same ways that nondisabled people do. While certificate programs are a viable option for some, I believe access needs to be offered for all, disabled or not, through open admission I suggest that certificate programs are a form of institutionalized ableism, under the guise of inclusion and equality. To only offer degree-seeking programs to non-intellectually disabled students is inherent exclusion. Intellectually disabled people are undervalued and underestimated in this sense, which is why I state that this is institutionalized ableism. It is not the fault of one individual, but rather, a problem that is a part of the system of academia.
Ohio State was an open admission university in the early 1980's, after the Reagan administration cut federal funding for education. Associate Professor Devin Fergus, at Ohio State, wrote for the Washington Post: "Spending on higher education was slashed by some 25 percent between 1980 and 1985...Effectively, these changes shifted the federal government's focus from providing students higher education grants to providing loans" (Fergus). Reagan's decision to limit the budget for education was the turning point that has led to the student loan crisis now. It also is what forced many universities to end their open admissions policies, and begin selective admissions. Not only are universities not open to intellectually disabled people, but they are also not possible for many poor people, as a result of their high costs and need for loans instead of grants.
Higher education and other programs that lead to jobs and careers are parts of a system of capitalism. Capitalism relies on labor, and the labor of intellectually disabled people is not deemed valuable because their work is viewed as sub-par. This is a result of the stereotypes around intellectual and cognitive disability – that people with IDD cannot learn, are not smart.
As a result, opportunities for education are not genuine for disabled students; opportunities are based around labor rather than learning. I am studying certificate programs because I want to point out the lack of access in higher education for intellectually disabled people in order to help our society to understand the pervasiveness of institutionalized ableism. From here, work can be done to dismantle this system, and therefore give access and equity within higher education for anyone who desires it. Through the works of various authors, discussions on the various types of institutionalization, stereotypes of disability, and an intersectional lens of critique, I will discuss and explain the disparity in higher education, and the lack of access for intellectually disabled people. I believe that higher education should be a right, just as K-12 education is, for all people, but especially for intellectually disabled people.
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Keywords
Disability, Access, Higher Education, Justice, Intersectionality