Students with Disabilities

Based on our experience, we can say that good practice is primarily founded on the supportive relationship between instructors and students. This appears to be the strongest factor in our context, as we have found that everything is resolved successfully when we discuss students’ needs with them and see that they are cooperating and, of course, making up for any part they have legitimately missed, for example, or if they have failed to submit an assignment on time. Students are very responsible. Academic standards are the same for students with disabilities as for those without. Students most often exercise their right to accommodation by having extended time for written exams or colloquia, or sometimes by replacing the written part of the exam with an oral one. Accommodations include adapting exam literature into electronic form and allowing students to answer written exams orally or to have extended writing time. At this faculty, all my needs as a student are met, and what I always emphasise when asked what it is like to study Social Work is the humane approach towards students, especially those with disabilities. The only shortcoming I have noticed is that adapting exam literature takes quite a long time, so often the first colloquia and deadlines pass before I receive all the necessary materials. However, even in these cases, professors are accommodating, and we manage the situation. Professors have always met me halfway, although there have been situations where I had to convince them that I had received exam accommodation and was approved extended exam writing time. For example, if the exam is scheduled for 30 minutes, I have the right to write for one hour. Personally, I have not had any major problems. I believe it is still necessary to provide students with disabilities with more intensive access to support and to empower them to use their rights to accommodation. Students should be encouraged to claim their right to accommodation and to use the opportunities available to them as students with disabilities, as well as those with chronic illnesses. I think it is extremely important to highlight the possibilities available to students with chronic illnesses and to emphasise that they should not be ashamed or afraid to use them. I specifically have the accommodation of taking exams orally instead of in writing, which greatly simplifies things for me because it is easier for me to express myself orally. Furthermore, if an oral exam is not possible, I have the option of taking longer to complete the exam than other students. However, there are always some architectural barriers. For example, an elevator should be installed, or the library should be made more accessible to students. The course Peer Support is an additional course worth 5 ECTS credits, in which students help their colleagues with disabilities by finding literature, helping them reach certain lecture halls or rooms, and supporting them throughout their studies. It is a very humane course, and I encourage all students to participate in it. Generally, I think that for colleagues who have difficulty moving, the space should be adapted so they can more easily reach the second floor. I do not know the exact relationship with professors now, but it is important that everyone, both students and professors, treat students with disabilities the same as all other students, and that everything at the faculty is adapted for them. The main entrance here is extremely inaccessible, which actually sends a message. Our students with disabilities who have difficulty moving must use the back entrance, and we all know that the front entrance is the main meeting point. That is where students usually gather. It would be very important to provide students with disabilities with greater access to Erasmus and other student exchange programmes, enabling them to participate in study visits, project work, fieldwork, volunteering, and activism – in short, in everything that social work students usually take part in. Our faculty has a ground floor and a first floor. Unfortunately, students with physical difficulties cannot access the first floor. What did we do? This year, we moved the entire fourth-year timetable to the ground floor because the fourth-year lecture hall is on the first floor. We have the right to scholarships and direct admission to the student dormitory. However, the question remains whether a person, upon coming to the faculty and beginning their studies, has the opportunity to pass all exams and always encounters an accommodating professor who will enable this. I believe our faculty is a safe place that provides such support. After all, we study social work, and we should be working for a better tomorrow. I am more concerned about the fear of discriminating against someone or failing to provide accommodation because a student does not wish to declare and exercise their right to accommodation due to majority pressure. Therefore, I cannot say that I have personally faced this challenge. What I would like to emphasise to all students with disabilities is that they should recognise it is their right to request accommodation; it is not a matter of goodwill or charity. Remember, accommodation or attending a course is your right, just as it is your right to choose where you live, to vote, and so on.