Without question, policy and provision for disabled students in universities has grown in both quantity and quality in many advanced industrial societies throughout the world. This progress has been achieved for the most part in times when economies were strong and the allocation of resources to higher/third level education unquestioned. However, as the second decade of the 21st century passes, in many countries it is no longer possible to rely on the continuing availability of these resources. So, it seems prudent to consider whether current approaches to policy and provision are as cost effective as they might be and whether the implementation of alternative strategies might improve on value for money – and also perhaps yield “more for less” in terms of the amount of money spent yet still meet disabled students’ expectations of having educational experiences of the highest quality.In fact, a model for cost-effective provision exists already and could be developed further. This involves the creation/designation of universities as centres of specialist expertise. Perhaps the best known, existing example of this is Galludet University in the USA with its focus on students who are Deaf. Since this short paper is being published on the website of a European network, we can consider the current situation there and what might be possible to achieve in a short time. For instance, in France, the University of Grenoble has created an environment which is very accessible for wheelchair users and people with impaired mobility; in Belgium, the Catholic University of Leuven is well-known for its approach to the provision of personal assistance to students with complex impairments; in the United Kingdom, the University of Central Lancashire has a high reputation for its work with Deaf and hard-of-hearing students; and in Sweden, the University of Lund is making progress with greater accessibility of learning materials for students who have visual impairments.
Should such centres of expertise be supported and sponsored, they would bring with them the following: the immediate availability of specialist resources, the presence of considerable specialist knowledge/understanding/experience/expertise, the opportunity to undertake research and innovation, the focus for the direction of funding, the generation of accessible curricula and pedagogy, the commitment of all staff, the shared student experience of studying whilst having similar impairments.
In designating and supporting centres of expertise, the wider context of each country would need to be recognised. For example, in many countries, because of the numbers of disabled students with particular impairments, more than one single centre might be needed. If this had to happen, it would offer possibilities for partnership – for instance in research.
Developing centres of expertise, based around making high quality provision for students with specific impairments, would add to the range of choice of university that disabled students have. The greater the variety of provision should mean the better the chance of meeting the needs of particular individual disabled students.
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