Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Experiences of Disabled College Graduates

• In Event: Thursday Roundtable Session 2:30 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Charting the Contours of Transition: Exploring Postsecondary Possibilities for People Who Identify as Disabled (Table 5)

Abstract

Using data from an ongoing grounded theory study, the paper details three themes about how disabled college graduates experienced the COVID-19 pandemic. Theme one, “Inequities Exposed,” highlights how disabled adults were heightened to racial, gender, and economic disparities in their own lives and within the historical context of the pandemic. The second theme, “Resilient Response,” describes how participants relied on their previous experiences facing adversity to persevere during a time of crisis. The last theme, “Shift in Ableist Culture,” explicates how disabled adults found commonalities with people without disabilities, particularly regarding how the COVID-19 pandemic required everyone to experience what it is like to approach a task in a different way and learn new methods of utilizing and accessing information.

Authors

• Adam Moore, University of Rhode Island

• Annemarie Vaccaro, University of Rhode Island