Five Things to Help You Understand Disability Disclosure for College Students

Legislation in the United States mandates support services to assist students with disabilities in postsecondary settings, and research literature includes legislation and case law dealing with access rights to higher education and studies in areas of transitioning to postsecondary settings, including perceptions of support services and barriers to attainment. Yet, the processes that require students to divulge increasingly personal information related to their disabilities can discourage the students who need services. 

In this article, let’s look at five things that will help you understand the disclosure process. Improvements in policies and practices related to the disclosure process could provide positive social change for all learners in postsecondary institutions. 

1 – Making the Decision to Disclose Disabilities and the Transition Process. 

Under United States law, colleges and universities that receive federal funding must provide support services for students with disabilities. However, these institutions often implement a disclosure process that acts as a barrier between students and the support they are entitled to. This privacy requirement creates a dilemma: students must choose between maintaining their anonymity or disclosing their disability. 

Given the steady increase in the diagnosis of Americans with a disability and those applying for aid (Dorfman, 2017) there are already complex processes these students face at the beginning of their postsecondary experience. College entrance forms are the ultimate example of complexity, because entrance exams or admissions forms legally cannot outright ask the student if they have a disability (Hees et al., 2015). Because of this legal requirement, the process has become less straightforward. Admissions offices must foster more personalized outreach to students with disabilities to help make the process easier while still abiding by federal regulations. 

2 – Pathways from high school to college is difficult to navigate. 

Data shows that a significant number of students who spend at least 80% of their time in regular classrooms—despite having an individualized education plan (IEP)—surpass the known disclosures across American colleges and universities. When you are a K-12 student who is not fully integrated with your peers, everyone knows who you are and that you are a special education student. 

If you are a student with a hidden disability – including ADHD, anxiety or depression, dyslexia, or autism – and you can attend college, there is a desire to escape the stigma associated with having a disability that followed you through K-12 because you can “hide” among a college community who does not know you. However, the support you received in K-12 will not be available to you unless you disclose that disability, potentially leading to academic failure. 

Because there are no IEPs in higher education, some schools require proof of a disability. In many cases, students with a disability receive their diagnosis in early childhood. Being re-evaluated as an adult requires layers of navigating insurance and medical costs to acquire the appropriate documentation to receive accommodations designed to help them be successful students.  

3 – Disclosure is NOT a one-time occurrence. 

Hong’s (2015) observation from interviews with students with a disability, complex layers of services presents challenges in understanding or even intimidation in accepting access to support services. Because access to additional support services requires additional disclosures, more anonymous assessments and recommended resource pairings could be accomplished without requiring disclosure. Technology affords many opportunities to help address academic need help in English or writing. As many classes require online submission of written assignments, an example of providing support without requiring disclosure would be to leverage technology that can analyze these artifacts and look for deficiencies and problem areas. Processes that align student academic needs with appropriate support services benefits all students, not just those disclosing a disability. 

4 – Importance of Staff Interactions. 

The Department of Education’s  (2017) Postsecondary Education Quick Information System survey showed less than half of all public and private colleges in the United States posted learning resources on their internal website, offered regularly scheduled meetings, or had other forms of formal communication with faculty and staff, or to foster professional development on the topic of interacting with students with disabilities (Hinz et al., 2017). Inefficient communication processes or lack of training can negatively impact a student’s ability to persist. 

Let’s consider the example of housing. If a student receives accommodations for a private dormitory or requires a support animal, that information must flow seamlessly between housing and student management systems. Should the student show up for “move-in week” and information did not flow efficiently through systems or processes, immediate escalation would prevent a negative experience for the student. Integrated systems prevent negative experiences. 

The disability services support staff are unsung heroes because they can make a positive impact on the decision-making process to continue disclosing. 

5 – Faculty Interactions are Inconsistent. 

While number four focused on the importance of professional development to support staff, number five applies the same requirement for faculty.  

Improving faculty interactions in some schools may require a cultural shift. Faculty preparedness is inconsistent across the US. Until institutional leaders work to improve faculty execution when working alongside students with disabilities, students will continue to struggle.   

Blockmans (2015) discussed how the wrong kinds of interactions can single students out from their peers and communicate in ways that do not assume their ability level. Fostering more empathetic interactions with students is another area that helps all students, not just those disclosing a disability. 

Summary 

During a group therapy session where individuals exhibited less than supportive behaviors towards their group members when sharing private details, renowned psychotherapist Carl Ransom Rogers (1989) told the group about the risk involved in a situation when sharing personal details in that it gives that individual feelings of vulnerability as if they are exposed. Faculty, staff, and administrators working within institutions of higher education need to help students use disability disclosure—a sharing of information very personal and very private to the student—as a form of empowerment, not a reason to hide and risk failing them failing as college students. 

References 

Blockmans, I. G. E. (2015). “Not wishing to be the white rhino in the crowd”: Disability-disclosure at university. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 34(2), 158-180. doi:10.1177/0261927x14548071 

Christian, Matthew. (2021). College Students and Their Decisions to Disclose Disabilities. 2021 AERA Annual Meeting. http://dx.doi.org/10.3102/1693799. 

Dorfman, D. (2017). Re‐claiming disability: Identity, procedural justice, and the disability determination process. Law & Social Inquiry, 42(1), 195-231. 

Hees, V., Moyson, T., & Roeyers, H. (2015). Higher education experiences of students with autism spectrum disorder: Challenges, benefits and support needs. Journal of Autism & Developmental Disorders, 45(6), 1673-1688. doi:10.1007/s10803-014-2324-2 

Hinz, S., Arbeit, C., & Simone, S. (2017). Characteristics and outcomes of undergraduates with disabilities. Retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2018/2018432.pdf 

Hong, B. S. S. (2015). Qualitative analysis of the barriers college students with disabilities experience in higher education. Journal of College Student Development, 56(3), 209-226. doi:10.1353/csd.2015.0032 

Rogers, C. R., Kirschenbaum, H., & Henderson, V. L. (1989). The Carl Rogers Reader. United Kingdom: Houghton Mifflin. 

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2017). Digest of education statistics, 2015. Retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d15/ch_3.asp