Abstract

In spite of the French public policies implemented to meet the needs of students with disability and the promulgation of laws promoting inclusion in higher education, many barriers leading to social exclusion remain. The present paper analyzes the impact of health issues on young people educational path using com semi-structured interviews with high school and university students affected by serious and chronic diseases (n = 19) from a sociological survey. The objective was to identify the needs and aspirations of these young people with disability to propose a suitable response to those needs, while also taking into account existing resources using a co-constructive approach. The analysis highlights the disconnect between the different domains of social interaction in which disabled students are included. Parental support and the transition between upper secondary and higher education are hindered by a lack of institutional cohesion. We investigate how stakeholders in the three institutional domains concerned with the disabled students (educational, medical and family) interact with each other using a systemic and polycentric approach. Our study shows that that a mediator is required to help solve the problems encountered by students with serious and chronic diseases as one possible approach to address their needs.