Perceptions of Anxiety, Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, and Learning Disabilities

Abstract

An increasing aspect of diversity in higher education is disability, with approximately 19% of college students reporting a disability. To promote full inclusion of students with disabilities, it is important to understand how disability is perceived. Various studies have demonstrated that disability is not always perceived positively by college students and these perceptions may impact the persistence and satisfaction of students with disabilities. Green found that college students tend to share a common perspective that feelings of sadness, pity, and awkwardness are often felt towards students with disabilities. It is likely that multiple factors such as faculty attitudes, availability of services, campus culture, and peers’ attitudes and knowledge about disabilities are associated with students with disabilities satisfaction with their college experience. The Purpose of this study was to explore college students’ attitudes towards and knowledge of disabilities. By using an online Qualtrics survey methodology, college students’ attitudes towards and knowledge of three specific disabilities, namely anxiety disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and Learning Disabilities (LD) were examined.