A growing number of university students across the country are reporting disabilities — and receiving academic accommodations — with Maritime institutions leading the way.
Mental health concerns make up more than half of all reported disabilities
Allyson McCormack · CBC News
· Posted: Jan 21, 2025 5:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 26 minutes ago
The University of New Brunswick has seen a 53 per cent increase in students receiving accommodations since 2018, primarily for mental health reasons, learning disabilities and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. (Edwin Hunter/CBC)
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.
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