Learning support
Do you have a documented disability, such as dyslexia, ADHD, autism or vision impairment? If so, you have the right to receive support from the university in order to succeed in your studies on the same terms as other students.
You can, for example, get help with note-taking, get support with planning or customised exam formats. Further down this text, you will find information about what might be relevant and important to know when the teaching or examination is entirely or partly digital.
Do you have the right to learning support?
If you have a documented permanent disability, you should have the right to learning support. You apply via Disability Support Services’ website, and when you apply you must be able to upload documents of your disability.
If you’re unsure of whether or not you have the right to learning support or if you have other questions about application, you can always schedule an appointment with a coordinator. On Disability Support Services’ websites, you can see which coordinator to contact depending on which programme you’re taking. There, you will also find the link to the application.
Disability Support Services’ website – lunduniversity.lu.se
What happens when you apply?
Once Disability Support Services receives your application, they will contact you in order to schedule a meeting with the coordinator responsible for your subject field. During the meeting, you will discuss what type of support might be relevant considering your diagnosis and subject of study. After the meeting, a decision regarding learning support is taken which describes what type of support is recommended for you.
If you have been approved for learning support, you have the responsibility, as a student, to inform your programme about it. There are usually refined procedures for you to follow which you will be informed about. If you’re unsure about who you should contact, you can always start by contacting your coordinator at Disability Support Services or your study adviser.
It’s up to you if you want to tell your coursemates about your disability or about possible support measures. This is not something your teacher or study adviser will do unless you specifically ask them to.
Talk to your teacher well in advance of your exam
If you need customised exam formats (extended time, private exam or oral exam, for example), this will be recommended in your decision from Disability Support Services. But in order to customise an exam or assignment, the programme often needs a lot of time. Therefore, make sure that you know who is responsible for informing your teachers that you need customisations and make sure that everybody concerned gets the information as early as possible.
Disability Support Services can decide if you have the right to a mentor or note-taking support, for example, but only your programme can decide if it’s possible for you to have customised exam formats. The programme usually chooses whatever it is that Disability Support Services recommends, but in some courses the teacher can decide that a certain support measure is not feasible since it contradicts with the learning objectives for a certain exam. It could be that a certain objective must be examined through writing or in a group, for example. In these situations, it’s extra important that you have talked to your teacher well in advance so that you know what applies and can prepare yourself.
The teacher should make it extra clear if the teaching is digital
The university has created guidelines particularly for what teachers need to think about when teaching or examination is entirely digital. The idea behind the guidelines is to help students with a disability, who for different reasons have a more difficult time planning and structuring their studies when they’re taking place digitally, but the teachers being clear and informative in their teaching and instructions is naturally something good for everyone.
Teachers are, for example, encouraged to give out extra clear instructions and extra thorough feedback, both orally and in writing, when all information is shared digitally. The guidelines also state that it’s important that there is the possibility to ask questions and that the teacher is easily accessible. Additionally, it’s stated that it might take longer to write an exam from home than on-site, especially for the person with difficulties with concentration, since there are more distractions at home.
The guidelines are available in their entirety on the link below.