This paper presents findings from a study designed to identify skills and strategies students with visual impairments have developed to aid their social integration into higher education campus life. Attending college provides numerous learning opportunities outside the classroom. The study explores the process by which students at two universities in the Commonwealth of Virginia were able to identify, navigate, and participate in extra-curricular activities. Previous research by Roy & MacKay (2002) and Hodges & Keller (1999) provides a quantitative framework from which a qualitative tapestry was woven. A secondary purpose of the study was to verify the validity of Roy & MacKay's finding that the age that individuals first experience visual disability and the visibility of their visual impairment (the variance in their ability to appear sighted) are valid predictors of social integration of visually impaired students among college students. This study is important for several reasons, including, (a) to help develop a more inclusive campus environment, (b) to identify factors that have influenced the selection of post-secondary educational experiences by visually-impaired students, and (c) to give a voice to visually impaired students to help administrators understand their needs and desires (Henderson, 2001). / Ph. D.

There are several aspects which need to be considered while planning a building to achieve sustainable environment for people's well-being. One of the significant aspects is social sustainability which is largely about promoting everyone regardless of the circumstances. In a socially sustainable city, there should be access to meeting places to improve social life. The Park Paradiset and the Broparken in Vallastaden were designed to improve socializing between people. The parks in this work are examined based on social aspects; interaction and identity. In addition, a park should be designed based on different aspects to suit different people. This work considers aspects such as recreation/ leisure, cultural identity, accessibility and safety. Beyond these aspects, the stormwater management in the parks is also studied. These studies were conducted with systematic literature studies, site visits, survey and qualitative interviews. A site visit was in Vallastaden, where the authors explored the district and handed out survey to the resident. The interview for the Park Paradise was conducted with Ulrika Gunnman from White Arkitekter and the interview for the Broparken was conducted with Lina Moström from 02landskap. The result shows that the architects worked differently to achieve the social aspects. It can be concluded that Park Paradiset fulfills the aspects better than the Broparken based on survey results, site visits and the interviews. The results further show that the stormwater management for the parks consists of open systems. Open systems have even been current in the Park Paradiset. The open ditches in the park leads the water in the transverse dikes to a longitudinal dike. It can be concluded that the architects utilized stormwater management better in Broparken compared to the Park Paradiset, when the architects transformed the ordinary ditch into something attractive and gave the park a character.

Submitted by Emanuel Varela Cardoso (emanuel.varela@ufcg.edu.br) on 2018-09-10T20:48:42Z No. of bitstreams: 1 EMANUEL VARELA CARDOSO – DISSERTAÇÃO (PROFIAP_CCJS) 2018.pdf: 4419205 bytes, checksum: 0abbcb92a2cee9b5e0ff836f5c99030c (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-09-10T20:48:42Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 EMANUEL VARELA CARDOSO – DISSERTAÇÃO (PROFIAP_CCJS) 2018.pdf: 4419205 bytes, checksum: 0abbcb92a2cee9b5e0ff836f5c99030c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-02-05 / Movimentos sociais em prol das pessoas com deficiência lutaram pela conquista de direitos e garantias fundamentais junto ao poder público, refletindo posteriormente na criação de leis que orientam a administração pública a adotar políticas de acessibilidade em suas repartições. Entretanto podem haver obstáculos que dificultem os objetivos visados na legislação nas instituições públicas, pois essas devem se adequar a tais normas devido a sua própria natureza de recepção do público apesar de contar com recursos insuficientes. Contudo, estas barreiras à autonomia de pessoas com deficiência devem ser minimizadas o máximo possível aliado à oferta de uma prestação de serviço com qualidade. Nesse contexto, a biblioteca universitária é um lugar onde estudantes, pesquisadores e público em geral podem ter acesso a informações que auxiliarão em suas atividades de pesquisa, mostrando-se como canal de entrada e manutenção da comunidade acadêmica, o qual deve ser acessível e promotora de autonomia na locomoção de seus usuários. O presente trabalho visa analisar as políticas de acessibilidade da instituição e como seus aspectos refletem na Biblioteca Central da Universidade Federal de Campina Grande-PB por meio da aplicação de entrevistas semi-estruturadas a gestores e usuários da instituição, além de listas de verificação do cumprimento da Norma da ABNT 9050, propondo explorar como é a execução da política de acessibilidade na instituição pesquisada. Para verificar a prestação dos serviços à comunidade acadêmica, foi elaborado um diagnóstico, com base nos dados levantados na pesquisa, que permitiu identificar problemas nas políticas de acessibilidade da instituição. Essas informações permitiram elaborar um plano de ação com nove sugestões que tem por finalidade melhorar a comunicação das ações sobre o tema. Percebe-se, nas considerações do trabalho, que as políticas de acessibilidade e inclusão na instituição estão sendo executadas, mas há problemas de comunicação entre os setores da autarquia que prejudicam a realização de processos e ações. Essas dificuldades são refletidas no desenvolvimento e divulgações dos trabalhos do Núcleo de Acessibilidade e Inclusão, que ainda não conta com lugar fixo, e na Biblioteca Central, a qual apresenta elementos que contribuem para não tornar o local acessível a todos seus usuários. / Social movements on behalf of people with disabilities strived for the attainment of rights and fundamental guarantees with the Public Power, later reflecting in the creation of laws that guide the public administration to adopt policies of accessibility in their offices. However, there may be obstacles that hamper the targeted objectives of the legislation in public institutions, as these should be in accordance with norms due to the natural reception of the public, even with insufficient resources. Meanwhile, these barriers to the autonomy of people with disabilities should be minimized as much as possible, combining with the provision of quality service. In this context, the university library is a place where students, researchers and the public in general can have access to information that will aid in their research activities, showing itself as a channel of entry and maintenance of the academic community, which should be accessible and promote autonomy in locomotion of its users. This paper aimed to analyze the institution's accessibility policies and how its aspects are reflected in the Central Library of the Federal University of Campina Grande-PB through the application of semi-structured interviews to managers and users of the institution, as well as checklists of compliance with the ABNT 9050 Standard, proposing to explore how the accessibility policy has been performed in the research institution. In order to verify the provision of services to the academic community, a diagnosis was elaborated, based on data collected in these work, which allowed to identify problems in the institution's accessibility policies. These informations enabled to elaborate an action plan with nine suggestions that focused on the improvement in the communication of actions about the theme. It could be seen in the work considerations that the policies of accessibility and inclusion in the institution have been executed, but there are problems of communication between the sectors of the municipality, wich hinder the accomplishment of processes and actions. These difficulties are reflected in the development and dissemination of the Center for Accessibility and Inclusion work, which still does not have a fixed place, and in the Central Library, which presents elements that contribute to not making the site accessible to all its users. Keywords: Accessibility. Autonomy. Policy .