In Portugal, in recent years, there has been a growing attendance of students with disabilities in higher education (HE), which makes a deepening reflection on inclusive education (Antunes et al., 2020; DGES, 2023). This is a challenge, both for students with disabilities and teachers, non-teaching staff, colleagues and the institutions themselves. According to the data collected by the DGES (2023), in the academic year 2022/23, the overall number of students with disabilities enrolled in HE increased 35% compared to the previous academic year. The completion rates of HE courses for students with disabilities, however, do not follow this trend due to various challenges they face including contextual barriers, lack of resources and support materials, content inaccessibility issues, and attitude barriers (Pires, 2018). University support is typically delayed and palliative (Björnsdóttir, 2017; Mara, 2014). Thus, research and work in the area are urgent not only for students, but also for teachers, non-teaching staff and institutions. Some isolated initiatives seek to support teachers' actions and encourage students with disabilities in HE. This data evidence suggests that, for HE institutions to deliver the most inclusive solutions, it is vital to discuss the changes that must occur regarding students with disabilities.

The development of inclusive practices raises concrete questions in institutions and demands immediate answers. The arrival of students with disabilities has created challenging situations in the classroom, that sometimes don’t even reach the level of institutional discussions. On this path towards inclusive HE, developing and implementing effective policies that empower the academic community and society is crucial. As defined by the international convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (UN, 2018), it is essential that everyone actively participate in this inclusive process, so that education and participation may become a reality for everyone. In this context, it is essential to give voice to students with disabilities to better understand the challenges they face in HE and to collect good inclusion practices in their institutions (Martins et al., 2022).

The main objective was to find out the perceptions of students with disabilities on the challenges of the HE experiences in Portugal. In addition, the researchers defined four secondary objectives: i) to understand their perceptions of the support services for their inclusion in ES; ii) their opinion on the relationship and attitude of their teachers; iii) the perception of the attitudes of their colleagues; and iv) the viability of technologies and the adequacy of the infrastructures. This study adopted the case study methodology, which allows an in-depth investigation of a current reality problem (Yin, 2005). This online questionnaire was administered for two months. The research involved 24 students with disabilities from two Portuguese HE institutions (16 female, 8 male; aged 18-43), who voluntarily agreed to participate in the study. Participants responded to a survey with 39 questions, concerning their perception about their inclusion in HE, divided into the following groups: i) student characterization; ii) the support services; iii) relationships with teachers; iv) relationships with peers, and v) the role of technologies and infrastructures. Most of the surveyed students were graduating (11/ 45.8%), seven (29.2%) were attending Higher Technical Professional Courses and six (25%) Master's Degree courses. Nine of the students (37.5%) attended computer science courses, eight (33.3%) engineering courses, four (16.7%) marketing courses and three (12.5%) management courses.

Regarding the perception of inclusion support services in HE, most respondents were happy with individual support. However, 16.7% of students were dissatisfied with the support provided regarding requests associated with their special needs. A large majority of the respondents mentioned that specialized professionals are available to help them in educational institutions. Concerning ensuring the rights of students with disabilities, 66.7% of participants agreed that the inclusion support offices ensure these rights. Participants bring out the fact that the faculty is still not used to welcoming and including students with disabilities. Regarding the relationship with teachers, 45.8% of students considered that there was prejudice towards people with "disability", and 50.0% even said teachers are not flexible regarding their needs. One of the students said that a teacher advised him to leave the course because of his condition. No student considers that teachers have the needed training to help them understand their characteristics and adapt their methodology accordingly. The majority of students mentioned prejudice towards people with disabilities or stated that their colleagues are not flexible. Respondents believe that digital technologies can positively impact their academic paths, offering them individualized help according to their needs. Students suggest implementing initiatives that support eradicating stereotypes and deepening an inclusive culture, including efforts to increase technical, human, and technological resources for the entire academic community, as well as activities to provide knowledge and training to everyone. According to participants in this study, relationship-related issues are essential to the inclusion process. HE for all, requires measures, policies, and practices in line with truly inclusive education. According to the study findings, inclusion in HE depends on several factors: curriculum adaptation, effective pedagogical methodologies and strategies. Cooperation between teachers/families/students, the viability of technologies and the adequacy of the infrastructures are also some of the factors that influence inclusion in HE.

Antunes, A. P., Rodrigues, D., Almeida, l. S., & Rodrigues, S. E. (2020). Inclusão no ensino superior português: análise do enquadramento regulamentar dos estudantes com necessidades educativas especiais. Revista Fronteiras: Journal of social, technological and environmental science, 397-422. Björnsdóttir, K. (2017). Belonging to higher education: inclusive education for students with intellectual disabilities. European journal of special needs education, 32(1), 125-136. DGES (2020). Contingente especial para candidatos com deficiência. Retrieved january, 2023 from: https://www.dges.gov.pt/pt/pagina/contingente-especial-para-candidatos-com-deficiencia Machado, M. M., Santos, P.. C., & Espe-Sherwindt, M. (2020). Inclusão de pessoas com dificuldades intelectuais e desenvolvimentais no ensino superior: contributos da literatura no contexto europeu. Revista portuguesa de investigação educacional, (20), 143-165. Mara, D. (2014). Higher education for people with disabilities - Romanian education experience. Procedia - Social and behavioral sciences, 142, 78-82. Martins, I. C, Tymoshchuk, O., Albuquerque, E., Santos, P., & Van Hove, G. (2022). Parents’ voices: Inclusion of students with intellectual and developmental disabilities in higher education. In Polyphonic construction of smart learning ecosystems: Proceedings of the 7th conference on smart learning ecosystems and regional development (pp. 157-175). Springer Nature. Singapore. Pires, l. A. (2018). O processo de inclusão no ensino superior nos últimos 30 anos. In "Inclusão no ensino superior”. Assembleia da República, Lisboa, Portugal. UN (2018). Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities. Retrieved january, 2023 from: https://www.un.org/disabilities/documents/convention/convoptprot-e.pdf