Social Support and Barriers to Post-Secondary Education: Experiences of Students with Physical Disabilities in Canada

Individuals with disabilities are less likely to receive post-secondary education than their non-disabled peers. This may be related to the barriers faced by students with disabilities or a lack of appropriate support in addressing them. A group of post-secondary students with disabilities (n=24) and a group of non-disabled post-secondary students (n=66) completed the Perceived Support Network Inventory (PSNI) and a semi-structured interview which included social network mapping. Using a case-control, cross-sectional research design, the results showed that social network composition did differ between the groups and gender was significantly correlated with overall social support (p<0.0001). Students with disabilities included, on average, more professionals in their social network. Females with disabilities received higher PSNI scores, suggesting greater use of social support than males in this sample. A set of social support themes emerged from the content analysis performed on the interview data that were unique to the students with disabilities: overcoming barriers, emotional support and ongoing adjustment to disability. The clinical implications of these findings for occupational therapy practice are discussed along with suggestions for future research.