Studying with a disability

Disability is defined as: permanent, physical, mental or intellectual limitations of functional capacity that, as a result of an injury or illness existed at birth, have arisen thereafter or can be expected to arise (Discrimination Act, 2008:567)

Examples of disabilities can be ADHD, autism spectrum, dyslexia, mental illness, visual impairment, hearing loss.

A prerequisite for receiving support is that you can prove that you have a permanent disability through a certificate, investigation or diagnosis. The certificate must be issued by a licensed healthcare professional such as a doctor, psychologist, audiologist or dyslexia investigator.

In the event of a temporary injury or illness, you are not entitled to disability support. In such cases, you should contact your department for the opportunity to receive support based on your needs

Read more about the criteria you need to meet and what a certificate should look like

Adaptation for exams/assignments

During exams/submissions, you may get certain adaptations such as longer time, the opportunity to sit in a smaller room, etc.

For adaptations at written examinations, it is you as a student who is responsible for reporting the support you have received and wish to receive before each written examination.

For take-home exams/submissions, you as a student are responsible for contacting the responsible teacher/examiner on the course well in advance of the start of the course to inquire about the possibility of recommended adaptation. It is always the responsible course coordinator/examiner who decides on a possible adaptation to the exam in question.

More information about adaptation at exams.

Note-taking support

If you find it difficult to listen to lectures and write notes at the same time, a classmate can be helpful and take notes for you. The classmate receives compensation for the extra work of writing cleanly, copying and sharing the notes, for example via email.

Mentor

If you have difficulty structuring and planning your studies due to your disability, you can get support from a mentor. The mentor can be a student who has studied a few semesters of their education, but there is no requirement that the mentor studies the same program as you.

Interested in becoming a mentor or note-taking supporter?

Lecture material

As a student, you can ask the teacher if you can take part in PowerPoint presentations or any lecture notes to use as reading material.

Adapted course literature

Do you have a disability that makes it challenging to read the course literature? On the library’s website Listen to Literature, you can find more information.

Speech synthesis (TorTalk)

TorTalk is a software for speech synthesis that you can use to have all the text on the screen read aloud. The speech synthesis is installed on all the university's computers and as a student you can install it on your own computer. NOTE! In order not to incur any cost for the program upon download, you must go through the link above.

Writing support programs (Stava Rex, Spellright, Saida)

You can use these software when you write. Spella Rex (en) and SpellRight (eng) are spell checkers and Saida (sv) gives you suggestions for words.

The software is installed on all the university's computers and as a student you can install it on your own computer. NOTE! In order not to incur any cost for the programs upon download, you must go through the link above.

Resource room

At the university, there is a resource room (D239) adjacent to the library. To get access to the room, contact a coordinator and then book the room yourself via schema.hv.se. You must activate your West Card every time you enter the room.

Booking rules

• For individual work only.
• Booked no more than two weeks in advance.
• A maximum of four sessions (four hours) per day and a maximum of twelve hours over a two-week period.
• 15 minutes into the booked time, it is open for others to use the room if you are not there.

The software available on the resource room computers is Stava Rex, SpellRight, EasyReader, TorTalk and Screen Ruler. If the software does not work, report it to riktatstod@hv.se.