Disability, Citizenship, and Higher Education: Humber College's Community Integration Through Co-Operative Education Program

Individuals labelled with intellectual and developmental disabilities encounter a severe lack of choice when it comes to deciding what they will pursue once they are ready to exit high school. For those individuals that are interested in continuing their studies at the post-secondary level, the options are limited or non-existent depending on their perceived disability and/or impairment. In the province of Ontario, the Community Integration through Co-operative Education (CICE) program is one viable possibility for individuals labelled with intellectual and developmental disabilities that are able to meet the program admissions standards. Using a Critical Disability Studies analysis, this paper questions if inclusive higher education can exist within current neoliberal structures. This paper also aims to contextualize how having barrier-free access to post-secondary programs (like the CICE program) impacts substantive citizenship for individuals labelled with intellectual and developmental disabilities.