2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

The purpose of this WIP research paper is to explore and describe the experiences of engineering students with disabilities. Students with invisible or non-apparent disabilities, including learning disabilities and mental health challenges, can be reluctant to ask for accommodations or disclose to instructors their disability. Engineering students in particular may be less likely to seek help or self-identify as having a disability because of culture within engineering. This work is framed by Critical Disability Theory. We use the word “disability” broadly to account for medically diagnosed disabilities and disablement by social and environmental factors. In this model, disabilities exist due to institutional structures in place and not because of the individual themselves. The following work investigates how language and attitudes presented by the instructor influences a student’s attitude towards accommodations and their utilization. Using a convergent mixed methods approach, surveys containing the Attitudes Towards Requesting Accommodations (ATRA) scale and free response items were distributed to approximately 7,600 undergraduate engineering students at a large, public, research-intensive institution in the Midwest after the first week of class to assess their experiences. Video lectures and syllabi were collected from faculty members who taught an engineering course at the same institution in the same semester. This paper will explore the initial findings from the student survey. Data from this work provides valuable insight into the experiences of engineering students with disabilities as they navigate the accommodations process, with special focus on the influence of instructor actions and language. We hope this work can be utilized by faculty and administration to help improve student retention, success, and wellness in engineering.