Assisting students with disabilities: a partnership between the Disability Unit of the Cape Peninsula University of Technology and its libraries

This presentation focuses on attempts at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) to develop a meaningful partnership between the five libraries and the Disability Unit, in order to reconstruct and enrich the academic experience of students with disabilities. CPUT hosts a variety of students from different countries, cultures, economic and social backgrounds, including a number of students with disabilities. In the past, students with disabilities could often not participate fully in academic and student life, due to a context of discrimination, inequity and even inhumanity. They experienced a sense of exclusion, and had the perception that they were not understood.Some of the challenges that CPUT faces in this regard is to transform its curriculum and learning environment in such a way as to enable these students to experience a meaningful and rich academic life, to fully integrate them into the student community, and to address prevailing misconceptions regarding disabilities. The Disability Unit, which was established in 2008, plays a key role in this regard, and uses a holistic approach to support students on a number of levels (academically, emotionally, socially and physically), in cooperation with other role-players.Against this background, research has been conducted by the presenters to investigate whether a partnership between the five libraries and the Disability Unit offers meaningful ways to train students with disabilities to use the library’s resources and facilities to enhance their academic development. The research methodology consisted of a data collection that included a literature study, a survey amongst students with disabilities, staff working in the libraries, as well as staff from the Disability Unit itself. Individual interviews were done with four students with disabilities, and a focus group discussion took place between the five libraries and Disability Unit staff members. This was followed by an analysis and synthesis, from which findings and recommendations were arrived at.The research showed that the partnership between the five libraries and the Unit plays an important supportive role in the academic development and enrichment of students with disabilities. The presentation will focus on the findings and highlight factors which contributed to the success of the partnership. Areas that need further attention will be indicated.