An environment that disempowers? The main infrastructure and transport barriers identi ed in Rafa’s life story

Abstract

This article presents part of the results of a PhD thesis that analyses the facilitators and barriers facing students with disabilities during the time they spend at higher education institutions. The biographical-narrative method is used to bring to light the perspective of students with disabilities, by identifying and explaining the barriers they come up against and the help available to them during their university education. A range of tools was used to gather information for the study, including interviews and photographs. The results of this study speci cally identify the architectural and urban infrastructure barriers that one participant in the research identi ed when entering and moving around the university. Some of the main conclusions drawn from the study were that owning one’s own vehicle is essential for moving around, some pavements have no access, and that public transport connections and accessibility are poor.