| Disability issues in Lebanon are not being addressed on a national scale. Among the myriad of underrepresented groups, individuals with disabilities in Lebanon continue to be marginalized in education, employment, health care, politics, and all aspects of society.;The focus of this project investigation was to identify the attitudes of faculty members and students without disabilities toward students with disabilities at one university in Lebanon and the underlying social implications inclusive education has on Lebanese higher education. In order to achieve its aims, the study addressed these issues through the research questions: 1.What are the attitudes of faculty members toward students with disabilities at NDU? 2. What are the attitudes of students without disabilities toward students with disabilities at NDU? 3. How do students with disabilities at NDU perceive the attitudes of faculty and students without disabilities?;Past investigations in the United States report certain demographic categories as key contributors in understanding attitudes of faculty members, attitudes of students without disabilities, and perceptions of students with disabilities. For faculty members, those categories include: gender, country of origin of terminal degree, department affiliation, tenure, and pervious and current level of contact with people with disabilities. For students with and without disabilities those categories include: age, gender, country of origin, faculty of study, and previous and current level of contact with people with disabilities. Those demographic variables appear in the three separate surveys for the three populations addressed in the research questions.;Findings of all three surveys show faculty members and students without disabilities at Notre Dame University in Lebanon possess positive attitudes toward students with disabilities. Based on the findings, the investigator made recommendations based on best practice to the Lebanese Ministries of Finance, Education, and Social Affairs, and the Notre Dame University Leadership Team. Those recommendations will hopefully be used to integrate individuals in Lebanon in education, employment, health care, politics, and all aspects of society. It is the hope of the researcher to expand on the literature of attitudes of university faculty members and students without disabilities in Lebanon toward individuals with disabilities in order to raise awareness toward individuals with disabilities and develop an area requiring attention. |
