Academic Accessibility : A Case Study of Carleton University from a Physically Disabled Perspective, 1942 - 2019

This thesis was completed in order to analyze how Carleton Univers ity has viewed accessibility during its history. It will do so by using two theoretical perspectives of disability, the medical and social models. They will be used to demonstrate how Carleton University has gone about building not only its physical infrastructure but also policy for its intellectual infrastructure under influence of the medical model. It first looks at how Carleton built its reputation of being one of Canada's most accessible post secondary institutions. To understand this a number of different sources were put to use. Along with standard secondary sources, such as books and journal articles, this thesis also contains a series of interviews, an accessibility audit, and personal vignettes. These interviews and vignettes are excellent tools to demonstrate how Carleton has shifted its focus of accessibility away from physical and towards cognitive disabilities.