Development of a System with Multi-layered Support for Supporting Students with Developmental Disabilities

Abstract

Universities are facing the challenge of providing individual support for students with developmental disabilities ever since the implementation of the Discrimination Elimination Law, which added “support for students with disabilities” based on the social model. To address this issue, the author analyzed practical cases of support for students with developmental disabilities at a medium-sized university over a period of eight years and examined how to improve it. Results showed that the supporting institution played a role in institutionalizing support based on the social model within the university organization, working in various ways with university members and strengthening inter-organizational cooperation. This led to a shift in the support system for students with developmental disorders from a system centered around the supporting institution to a system of universal support within the whole university organization. Additionally, as the learning environment for students with developmental disorders was developed, it became possible to provide multi-layered support that could be applied universally through the combination of counseling and coordination with other functions of the supporting institution.