This study aims to generate thorough and comprehensive review of the teacher's perspective and hands-on experience in mainstreaming LSENs in a regular classroom, including teachers' attitudes and perceptions, challenges encountered, and teaching approach in handling mainstreamed classrooms. A scoping review framework by Arksey and O'Malley's…

Background: Despite anatomically correct models (ACMs) being recommended internationally for their ability to serve as real-life, age-appropriate, and practical models in comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) for learners with visual impairment, there is still limited research exploring South African teachers' views regarding their use.…

Key-word-signing (KWS), an unaided augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) strategy, has an important role to play in the education system. To date, limited research exists regarding the use of unaided AAC strategies in the school environment, especially in low- and middle-income countries. To address this research gap, the current study…

This article reports on a study conducted to explore the barriers towards accessible quality higher education for students with disabilities (SwDs) in a South African Open Distance and e-Learning (ODeL) institution. The ultimate purpose of this study is to understand and shed light on the challenges that need to be addressed to improve the Unisa…

Access arrangements are pre-exam arrangements that aim to remove any barriers that might prevent students with specific needs from accessing the assessment and demonstrating their knowledge and skills. Access arrangements are not intended to change the assessment demand or reduce its validity. Using a survey questionnaire, the present study…

Since 1994, the South African government has committed itself to transforming its entire education system with global initiatives related to inclusive education. One of these changes has seen increased support for deaf students in inclusive education settings, as deaf students are increasingly being educated in mainstream classrooms along with…

Despite there being much research on the needs of students with more visible disabilities, this is not the case with students with invisible disabilities such as psychosocial disabilities -- especially in university settings. The unique needs of students with psychosocial disabilities have received less attention with not much research in this…

The purpose of the qualitative study on which this article is based was to explore the experiences of students with visual impairments registered at an Open Distance and e-Learning University in South Africa, through a phenomenological research design. Literature was reviewed on student support in distance education and concepts from the critical…

Despite a renewed interest in music teacher education practices with real-world implications, the heterogeneity of learners is often daunting to early-career educators. There is a lack of specific and adequate coursework in undergraduate music education programs to prepare preservice music teachers (PSMTs) for teaching diverse learner populations,…

This qualitative study investigates the service experiences of differently-abled students within the Financial Aid Department of a prominent South African University of Technology. Employing a semi-structured interview schedule aligned with the Service Quality model (SERVQUAL), five dimensions--tangibles, assurance, empathy, reliability, and…

The experiences of students with disabilities are the focus of the study, guided by the research question: What can we learn about inclusive formative assessment in work-integrated learning (WIL) from the experiences of students with disabilities? The capability approach was drawn on to theorize how inclusive formative assessment in WIL could…

Background: Autism spectrum disorder is one of the most common disabilities in schools, with up to 50% of such children displaying behaviours that challenge, bringing about demanding teaching circumstances and a negative impact on educators' well-being. Strength-based interventions has not formally been used in autistic classrooms in South Africa…

Distance education celebrates its humanitarian mission of providing opportunities for disadvantaged and marginalized individuals who do not have access to traditional campus-based higher education. Large enrolments of students necessitate an industrialized approach in planning, design, and delivery informed by a normative assumption of ableism. In…

Society's inadequate response to disability impacts people's physical health, social relationships and lives in general which can be perceived in the realms of family, friends, neighbours, psychological state and level of independence. The consequences of a disability can have an impact on multiple levels, the personal, interpersonal, family and…

Many discussions have taken place around the issue of the special needs of learners, special schools and inclusivity. UNESCO argues that inclusive education will accommodate all children, regardless of their physical, intellectual, social, emotional, linguistic or other conditions. This would include disabled and gifted children, street and…