Evaluating of "the disabled student units" in terms of disabled students to ensure accessible universities

Creating an unhindered and equal social order for disabled people is among the most important issues of today's social policies. Today, disability has not only been an issue of concern for the disabled individual but has become an issue of concern for all the segments of the society. There is no difference between the individuals with disabilities and other individuals except for the physical differences. The society's perspective, perceptions and attitudes towards disabled people is what makes the difference. There are inequalities for people with disabilities in all the aspects of the social order, and individuals for disabilities are constantly forced to tackle these inequalities. Educational institutions are where inequalities are most prevalent. Education for disabled people becomes unsustainable because of the reasons such as negative attitudes towards people with disabilities, architectural obstacles, and non-compliance of the educational materials with disability etc. The aim of this study is to examine and evaluate the exent to which disabled student units provide support in solving the problems faced by disabled students during their education. This study is a single screening type of a general survey model. The universe of the study are private and State University in Turkey. Within this framework, it is aimed to reach all universities. 92 disabled students (physically-handicapped, visually impaired, hearing impaired etc.) have been included in the sample at 13 Universities participating in the sample. The data of the study; It consists of information obtained from a pre-structured questionnaire that was created online and contains opinions about demographic information and disability student units. In this study, the effectiveness of the Disabled Student Units, which was made compulsory in university with "Consultation and Coordination Regulations for the Disabled of Higher Education Instiutions"in 2006, was examined. In addition, the problems faced by the disabled university students in the university life was examined, and the level of the actions and solutions of the Disabled Students Units realating to these problems was tried to be evaluated. As a result of findings obtained from the study, the fact that there is a unit in Higher Education institutions that individuals with disabilities can apply to for all the problems they face in education life has both created a sense of trust and the belief that the problems they face will be solved. Accessibility to information and science has been partially provided in line with the needs of students with disabilities through Disabled Students Units. In addition, Disabled Students Units has enabled to raise the awareness about disability in universites. However, it has been found out that they do not completely eliminate the problems that the disabled students experience in education life and do not make the education life entirely easier.