Engaging Disabled Students

In this chapter, we examine how disabled students experience academic and co-curricular engagement in higher education. We draw on social, critical, intersectional, and disability justice frameworks to analyze how engagement is shaped by ableism, institutional structures, and broader social contexts. Research on student engagement highlights inaccessible environments, unwelcoming campus climates, and reliance on self-identification for accommodations as barriers to disabled students’ engagement. At the same time, we emphasize the importance of students with disabilities in challenging academic norms, reframing ideas of worth, fostering interdependence within the learning environment, and nurturing creativity. We conclude the chapter by recommending policies and practices that prioritize adequate staffing of Disability Resource Offices, the application of universal design to student engagement, mentoring and career development opportunities, and institutional support for disability culture and identity.