More than a third of Maritime university students report disabilities

A growing number of university students across the country are reporting disabilities — and receiving academic accommodations — with Maritime institutions leading the way.

Academic accommodations can include extra time for exams and assignments, note-taking assistance, a quiet space to write tests and reduced course loads.

According to the Canadian University Survey Consortium, 29 per cent of Maritime university students reported a disability in 2019. That number jumped to 37 per cent in 2022. 

That's higher than universities outside the Maritime provinces, where 24 per cent of students reported having a disability in 2019, climbing to 30 per cent in 2022. 

Mental health issues, particularly anxiety and depression, make up more than half of all reported disabilities.

These figures come as no surprise to Amanda Manning, manager of accessibility services at St. Thomas University in Fredericton. She said the number of students reporting a disability tripled between 2013 and 2023 at STU.

She suspects the rise could be attributed to a number of factors, including reduced stigma, especially related to learning disabilities and mental health. 

The pandemic also "played a significant role in disrupting education," she said, and some support is needed for that academic recovery to take place. 

At the University of New Brunswick, there has been a 53 per cent increase in students receiving accommodations since 2018, UNB spokesperson Kathleen McLaughlin said in a statement.

Academic accommodations are primarily for mental health, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and learning disabilities. 

"We have created new strategies to increase our ability to support additional students," McLaughlin said.

That includes implementing new software to help streamline the approval and delivery of accommodations, and adding team members on both campuses to support students who need academic accommodations.

Ainsley Congdon, executive director of the Learning Disabilities Association of New Brunswick, often helps students navigate the system and get their paperwork in order. That can include getting a psycho-educational assessment, which is sometimes required for accommodation, and must be done within the past five years. 

She said individuals with a learning disability have full capacity to learn, "they just need accommodations," which is more important now than ever.