ACCESS, TECHINAL SUPPORT, AND READING PRACTICE OF STUDENTS WITH HEARING IMPAIRMENT AT THREE ECUADORIAN UNIVERSITIES

The access of students with sensory deficits to quality educational services persists as one of the challenges of higher education worldwide. This work aims to determine the level of access and technical support that three Ecuadorian universities offer to students with hearing impairment for the development of reading skills. The mixed approach of scientific research is used for data collection. The instrument used is the Inclusive Education Access Questionnaire created by Real (2011). The techniques used were: contextualized observation, in-depth interview, and survey. The results show that in the universities studied, limitations persist in providing technical support to students with sensory disabilities, reducing the development of reading skills in the group studied. The research concluded that to improve the reading skills of students with hearing impairment, the participating universities must install pedagogical/technical supports, design intervention routes, and strengthen the knowledge and motivation of the teaching staff to implement curricular adaptations and specific tutorials.