The increased number of disabled students in Higher Education (HE) means that they have increased opportunities for study. This means that universities in many countries, including Thailand, must provide Disability Support Services (DSS) for such students. The experiences of disabled students with DSS have been the subject of international research for many years. Although DSS were founded in universities in Thailand over a decade ago, there is little research on DSS and most of this research has focused on large universities in the capital city. This thesis, therefore, seeks to address this gap in the research by investigating the experiences of disabled students in 21 universities in all of the regions of Thailand that have DSS for disabled students attending university. The aim of this study is to explore and analyse the perspectives of disabled students on their experiences with DSS in HE in Thailand. The research objectives include the examination of disabled students’ conceptualisations of DSS, the exploration of disabled students’ experiences of access to DSS, and the exploration of their views on the advantages and disadvantages of DSS. To achieve these objectives, the study uses a mixed-method research approach formed of two stages. In the first stage, a questionnaire was conducted online via a web survey for disabled students with over 203 responses. In the second stage, the study adopted a qualitative approach and data was collected by means of individual in-depth interviews with four disabled students. The research finds that disabled students know about DSS in HE. Some disabled students were familiar with DSS before commencing their studies at university and others only knew about DSS after having commenced their studies at university. In terms of disabled students’ experiences of access to DSS, the findings show that most disabled students use DSS. In particular, they use DSS for help with induction, registration, and enrolment services. In terms of the exploration of disabled students’ experiences of access to DSS, this research shows that the 2 students undertook different procedures for accessing DSS. There are also different time lines for providing services to the students. Additionally, there is dissimilarity between non-open universities and open universities in terms of the services provided by the DSS centre, the learning system, the method of providing services, and the means of the implementation of the services. Regarding the advantages and disadvantages of using DSS, disabled students identified the advantages of DSS in various ways, specifically which DSS are useful for helping them access financial support from their university and for helping them learn and enjoy university life. In addition, some of the students did not experience the advantages of DSS as they did not use the services. They are able to learn without such assistance.

The use of technology has become fairly integrated into our personal, educational, and professional lives. Students with disabilities attending postsecondary institutions may require the use of Assistive Technology (AT) for their educational pursuits and access to other technology. This study quantified students' general knowledge of AT and specific knowledge of Dragon NaturallySpeaking software. In addition, this study examined the relationship between disability support services received and current knowledge of AT among students with disabilities in a postsecondary environment. Participants were recruited from those who received disability support services at a midsize university in Illinois. An online survey was administered to 41 participants that included the Prior Knowledge of Assistive Technology Instrument (PKATI). Results indicated that participants' knowledge was influenced by three factors; prior training in AT within a postsecondary institution, access and availability to AT within postsecondary environments, and personal confidence in understanding of AT.

Students with disabilities at the postsecondary level face a number of different barriers to accommodation use. Past research has shown that students with disabilities that use accommodations obtain greater academic achievement and higher graduation rates. Limited research has been conducted to identify barriers to accommodation use, and the research that has been conducted has not sampled a population that was specifically identified as having faced barriers to accommodation use. By interviewing students with disabilities, who had been identified as having faced barriers, this study identified seven themes. Four of the identified themes were considered complex as they contained sub-themes, while the other three themes were more straightforward and contained no sub-themes. The four complex themes were Desire for Self-Sufficiency, Desire to Avoid Negative Social Reactions, Insufficient Knowledge, and Quality and Usefulness of DSS and Accommodations. The three straightforward themes were Negative Experiences with Professors, Fear of Future Ramifications, and Accommodations are Not Needed. It is hoped that the findings of this study help both disability support service providers and students with disabilities in making better and more informed decisions regarding barriers to accommodation use.

Advances in medication and support services in high schools have influenced the growing number of students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) enrolling in colleges and universities. Unfortunately, their lower graduation rates and extended time to graduation creates multiple challenges to themselves, their institution’s, and their communities. Limited information is available regarding how disability services impact graduation rates for students with ADHD in higher education. More information is needed about how the practices instituted by disability support center leaders in post-secondary institution’s impact the graduation rates of students with ADHD. Retention, a financial and ethical concern for universities, is pushed to the forefront by lawmakers who demand an increased return on their state’s educational investment. Disability resource directors, school registrar officials, and disability resource center websites were data sources. Information was gathered about the number of students with ADHD that have graduated from each institution over the past three years. A non-experimental quantitative design (correlation) was used that provided a process for gathering information about use of disability services, which was then correlated and compared to the overall graduation rate of college students with ADHD over a three-year period. Qualitative information regarding types of services highlighted commonly used services and responses from directors were discussed regarding collaborative partnerships and training for faculty and staff. A positive correlation between use of services and graduation rate was found from examining one school that submitted complete data. Overall, the response rate was low, particularly for the colleges, which impacted the ability to respond to some of the research questions. Some directors noted a preference for the social theory of retention in support of why they don’t collect data on specific groups of students with disabilities, while others chose to not participate at all due to a lack of data tracking. Because funding for programming and targeted services depend on knowledge gained from data tracking, these findings may have implications for policy and practice. Educational leaders may be able to utilize the results of this study to shape future institutional policies and practices that impact the success of their students.