This study explores the lived experiences of students with learning disabilities (LDs) in higher education through a strength-based approach, challenging the dominant deficit-based approach to characterizing learning disabilities– one that decontextualizes, problematizes, and individualizes a person's experience. often associated with LDs. Through in-depth interviews, participants shared their experiences of what it is like to navigate the higher education system with a learning disability. The interviews were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. Key themes included the value of reciprocity and mutual humanization in educational environments, and the impact of supportive accessibility, internalized stigma and ableism, and academic gatekeeping. Taking an empowerment and strength-based approach to understanding the lived experience of students with learning disabilities in higher education provides a more holistic understanding of experience.
