UNIVERSITY SERVICES FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES IN SPAIN

The services or units that cater for students with disabilities, available in most Spanish universities, share common lines of action, focused on the removal of architectural barriers, on the improvement of accessibility, advice, guidance, and training and information to the entire university community. The descriptive study reported in this paper purported to know and analyze the current situation of these services, to help university institutions to establish new objectives and actions to be incorporated into their educational and organizational policies and to reinforce guidance and mentoring processes before, during and after entering university. For this purpose, the current situation of the services of attention to students with disabilities of 50 public and 26 private Spanish universities was compiled, described, and analyzed. The information collection was carried out using a record sheet designed ad hoc for the study. The main results show that in most of the universities analyzed, both public and private, there is a service or unit that caters for students with disabilities; these services are heterogeneous in their name, dependence, and actions; they seek to guarantee equal opportunities and inclusion of students with disabilities, and the main areas of intervention focus on guidance, and technical and pedagogical support. Finally, it should be noted that one of the priority lines of intervention is awareness raising, information and training for the entire university community and individualized attention.