This article investigates the need and sources of knowledge among LSS administrators in Sweden (i.e. social workers handling service and support for individuals with disability according to the Swedish Disability Act [LSS]). Changing and challenging working conditions and issues concerning professional status warrant the aim. A questionnaire distributed via gatekeepers in a number of municipalities demonstrated that knowledge about ‘disability’, ‘law’, ‘ethics’ and ‘augmentative and alternative communication’ was rated highly. This result is particularly interesting given that many social work education programmes do not have compulsory courses in disability. Colleagues appear to be relied upon as essential sources of support and knowledge, but the knowledge sharing seems unorganised. Findings are discussed in relation to communities of practice (CoP) and shows that, due to the lack of essential knowledge from formal education and the strong dependence on colleagues, a locally developed praxis might be established. Inadequate theoretical and research-based knowledge, together with this local praxis knowledge, may result in the LSS administrators’ work becoming inadequate. A specialist education in disability studies is proposed as a prerequisite for being employed as an LSS administrator, and the inclusion of a theoretical and scientific framework in the regular CoP interaction is also recommended.

This chapter is based on collaborative autoethnography about being disabled in contemporary working life. It draws from the two authors’ experiences as instructors and researchers at a Swedish university and focuses on examples of inaccessibility in everyday situations. Disabled people are underrepresented in academia and disabled academics are hindered from fully participating. We find ableist structures and practices within working life and the current neoliberal organisation, together with the individualisation of work environment problems and diffuse responsibility, as the main obstacles to accessibility. The chapter opens up a critique of hindrances to accessibility within the academic walls. It is proposed that the focus be shifted from the problematised outsider to how ableism, built on the idea of the normal worker, excludes. While waiting for the person responsible for accessibility to raise his or her hand, one way of achieving change is to become crip killjoys, and thus pay attention to injustice. 

Frågor kring breddad rekrytering och breddat deltagande utgör en del av den sociala dimensionen av högre utbildning och är ett prioriterat område för det europeiska samarbetet. 2017 års förslag om att ändra i högskolelagen och vidga lärosätenas uppdrag till att aktivt främja ett brett deltagande gav upphov till en debatt bland såväl politiker som företrädare för lärosäten, vilken synliggjorde flera utmaningar, förhoppningar och farhågor. Föreliggande reflektion tar avstamp i denna debatt och fördjupar sig i frågor kring breddat deltagande för studenter med funktionsnedsättning. Syftet med reflektionen är att diskutera och reflektera kring vad breddat deltagande för denna målgrupp innebär och vilka krav det ställer på resurser, tillgänglighet, bemötande och attityder samt på högskolepedagogisk kompetensutveckling, kunskap om funktionsnedsättning och funktionshinder samt inkluderande pedagogik. Utgångspunkten för reflektionen är svensk forskning och pågående utvecklingsarbete om breddat deltagande för studenter med funktionsnedsättning samt författarnas erfarenhetsbaserade kunskaper om högskolepedagogisk undervisning och kompetensutveckling.

The aim of this paper is to discuss challenges for staff in Higher Education encountering students in disabling conditions. The study takes a point of departure in a series of workshops designed to strengthen the competence among staff at Malmö University to develop inclusive learning environments in their field of responsibility. The research questions concern the participants’ understanding of what constitutes an inclusive learning environment and their preparedness for acting in line with rights for people with disabilities to an education free from discrimination. Content analysis from field notes taken in dialogues with the participants showed that barriers exist e.g. due to procedures in order to get a statement qualifying to support as well as not having a statement meaning that the student becomes carrier of her/his own problems, responsible for telling each staff member about the disabling conditions and needs. Tension appeared in the analysis between giving support to the individual student and a proactive problem solving in a flexible learning environment to the benefit of all students. Principles of equal access and widened participation are not easily applied leading to the conclusions that further efforts need to be made to disseminate existing knowledge in the field and moreover to identify knowledge gaps by involving students, coordinators of support and other staff in different survey studies. The framework for the coming studies is anchored in theory and practice developed in Universal Design for Learning focusing staff development and students’ sense of belonging when facing disabling conditions in higher education.