Participation of the family of students with disabilities in the university

Abstract

The present work exposes the participation of the family of students with disabilities in the university educational process. The study was developed in the context of the Salesian Polytechnic University, Quito headquarters. “The family is considered as the first environment where the members develop at different levels: social, emotional, physical and intellectual” (Martínez, Sánchez y Ruiz, 2012). With the passage of time, the relationship between family and education has changed, in such a way that family participation occurs only in the school environment but not in the university environment. However, as Solernour affirms: the family-school relationship in the university is something that needs to be addressed in order to overcome in this way the criterion that the family does not participate in university education (Solernou, 2013). Hence, the objective of this research is to show how the family of students with disabilities participate in the university educational process and how the participation of the family contributes to the achievement of the achievements of students with some type of disability. The study is qualitative with a descriptive design and uses as research tools, interviews and focus groups of students with disabilities and their families. Among the main findings, it can be shown that transdisciplinary collaborative work in which the family is integrated as part of the educational team strengthens the configuration of supports that facilitate the educational process of their children. Additionally, family support generates higher levels of autonomy in students on a personal and social level.