The Challenges In The Everyday Of University Students With Disabilities: Barriers Or Facilitators?

Abstract

In view of the significant number of people with disabilities and the growth of the elderly population, it is necessary to carry out research that addresses the needs of people with disabilities, such as the right to come and go and to practice their citizenship. This study aimed to carry out a survey of the students entering a Higher Education Institution - IES do Sul do Brasil for the Affirmative Actions B and to identify the architectural or urbanistic barriers encountered by them. It is characterized as a quantitative study, carried out through a secondary data survey of the Accessibility Center of the Institution, in the period of November 2014. A descriptive analysis was performed with the help of Software Statistica 9. And the analysis of data related barriers architectural and urban planning, a comparison was made between the reality found in the buildings and the requirements of the NBR-9050. In the year of 2013, 233 academic students joined the Affirmative Actions, of which 155 were enrolled regularly; the university unit with the largest number of participants was the Health Sciences Center - CCS with 42 academics; and medical course is the most sought after by competitors (22 academics). The facilitators found themselves recessed guides, ramps, grab bars, adapted toilets. As for sidewalk barriers without recessed guides, improperly placed tactile floor, uneven pavement, old elevator, stairs with uneven stairs and smooth floor. Facilitators were seen as well as the reduction of physical barriers to the site of one of the centers. However, it has been observed that many barriers need to be extinguished for the best occupational performance in the practical life activities of these academics, as these obstacles end up generating impediments such as the difficulty of access for people with disabilities or reduced mobility.