Research Trends and Challenges in Reasonable Accommodations for University Students with Developmental Disabilities:

A Text Mining Analysis of Research Abstracts Across the Pre- and Post-COVID-19 Periods

Abstract

Background: Reasonable accommodation for university students with developmental disabilities has increasingly attracted attention. While it has traditionally been discussed within the framework of support, its institutional and environmental aspects require further examination.

Objective: This study aimed to clarify changes in research trends on reasonable accommodation by comparing pre- and post-COVID-19 periods.

Methods: Article abstracts published in 2016–2019 and from 2022 onward were analyzed using text mining, including co-occurrence network analysis and multidimensional scaling.

Results: Core terms such as “students,” “support,” and “disability” remained consistent across periods. However, in the post-COVID period, terms such as “accommodation,” “environment,” and “needs” increased, indicating a growing emphasis on environmental adjustment. Research topics also became more differentiated into institutional, individualized, and analytical perspectives. Reasonable accommodation, previously treated as part of “support,” was increasingly associated with “provision” and “system development,” suggesting its institutional positioning, although overlap with support remained.

Conclusion: Reasonable accommodation is becoming more clearly positioned not only as individualized support but also as a process involving environmental adjustment and institutional responses.