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Exploring Experiences of University Students with Learning Disabilities
Shaping Student Engagement in South Africa
Exploring Experiences of University Students with Learning Disabilities
Shaping Student Engagement in South Africa
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Description
This book examines the experiences of students with learning disabilities in South African higher education, exploring the different factors that shape students' university engagements.
Students' experiences, gathered through semi-structured interviews, are analysed within the Capability Approach to assess the way social arrangements influence students with learning disabilities' academic engagements. The book then discusses the ways universities can foster opportunities that contribute to students' multi-dimensional achievements for their academic and general wellbeing. The book exposes inequalities in higher education that impact students with learning disabilities who often operate in inflexible educational systems, practices and standardised learning outcomes that do not take into account the unique ways by which students with learning disabilities process information. The book sheds light on the educational trajectories and conditions which students with learning disabilities operate in.
Table of Contents
1. Theorising students with disabilities' university engagements: The Capability Approach
2. Understanding Learning Disabilities
3. The Status of Learning Disabilities in Higher Education
4. Education and Disability in South Africa
5. Disability and Inclusivity in Higher Education
6. Supporting University Students with Learning Disabilities
7. Capabilities and Functionings for University Students with Learning Disabilities
8. The World of Work Realities and Imaginings of University Students with Learning Disabilities
9. Conclusion
References
Product details

Published | 27 Mar 2025 |
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Format | Ebook (PDF) |
Edition | 1st |
Extent | 168 |
ISBN | 9781350351943 |
Imprint | Bloomsbury Academic |
Illustrations | 10 bw illus |
Series | Understanding Student Experiences of Higher Education |
Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
About the contributors
Reviews
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Ndakaitei Manase's book profoundly resonates with the challenges faced by students with learning disabilities in South Africa. The book's innovative application of the Capability Approach offers a powerful lens on how social structures and personal agency shape educational journeys. By boldly confronting the often-overlooked intersection of neurodiversity and African higher education, it champions the inclusion of African voices in disability discourse. Amidst ongoing decolonisation efforts, this book emerges as an essential resource for many stakeholders: educators, policymakers, and advocates committed to fostering equitable learning environments in higher education.
Oliver Mutanga, Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan
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Exploring Experiences of University Students with Learning Disabilities: Shaping Student Engagement in South Africa makes an invaluable and timely contribution to ongoing discussions on learning disabilities in higher education. The comprehensive examination of student narratives and institutional perspectives offers profound insights into some often-overlooked challenges faced by neurodiverse students in the South African context. For educators, policymakers and disability support practitioners committed to fostering inclusive learning environments, this scholarly work is an important resource.
Sandra Makwembere, Walter Sisulu University, South Africa

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