Summary
Disability does not exist in isolation; it factors in identities, experiences, and systems that shape how students navigate higher education. Understanding these intersections helps institutions recognize diverse barriers and create more accessible environments.
When we talk about disability, conversations often center on disability itself, including accessibility. Other topics include accommodations, diagnosis, assistive technology, barriers, and inclusion. These conversations are necessary, but they can sometimes leave out an important reality. Disability doesn’t exist in isolation, and neither do disabled students.
Disability and accessibility are not the only factors that shape the experiences of disabled students in higher education. The interplay among identity, institutional culture, socioeconomic circumstances, relationships, and the systems they must navigate to succeed affects those experiences. Depending on the type of disability and other identities, students may experience different forms of barriers or support.
It can be tempting to think about disability as an individual characteristic. Someone has a disability and therefore needs certain accommodations or supports. However, the environment and systems play a part in disability experiences.
A student may have a disability, but their college experience is heavily shaped by their individual circumstances. For instance, one student might have the financial security to live on campus, strong family backing, and a culture that openly supports disability disclosure. In contrast, another student might struggle to access healthcare, worry about losing wages if they miss work, feel intense pressure to hide their condition, or face cultural and institutional stigma. Their disability may be the same, but their experiences are not.
We must recognize that disability is part of a much larger social experience. A disabled student does not leave their race, gender, class, culture, sexuality, or other identities at the door when they enter a classroom. Those identities travel with them. They can influence how others perceive them, how they understand themselves, what barriers they encounter, what resources are available to them, and what strategies they use to navigate systems that were not always designed with them in mind.
If we want to create genuinely accessible institutions, we have to stop treating disability as a standalone category. We have to see the whole person, because disability doesn’t exist in isolation, and neither does accessibility.
