Studying with a functional impairment

If you are a student with a functional impairment you will probably have noticed that your studies take a lot of energy and effort.

A functional impairment is a collective term for medical conditions, mental health difficulties or specific learning difficulties that affect your ability to study. These can include: a visual or hearing impairment, specific learning difficulties (e.g. dyslexia), Autism Spectrum Disorders (e.g. Asperger’s syndrome), concentration disorders (e.g. ADD/ADHD), medical conditions (e.g. epilepsy, Crohn’s disease etc.), mental health difficulties (e.g. depression) or any other diagnosed conditions which might have a significant effect on your studies.

TU/e wants to help you to be successful in your studies by granting you provisions and organizing courses to support you in your studies.

 

What do you need to do?

You need to contact the ESA student counsellor as soon as possible. The student counsellor can give you information on which provisions apply in your case. The student counsellor also will advise the ID Examination Committee of the provisions you need. The Examination Committee will decide on the provisions granted. Make sure to contact the student counsellor as soon as possible as arranging provisions can take some time.

Examples of provisions

Every request from a student with a functional impairment will be assessed individually so a tailor-made provision will be arranged. Below you find a few examples of possible provisions: 

  • In case of dyslexia a student can e.g. receive extra time for exams (10 minutes per hour).
  • In case of dyslexia a student may be allowed to use a laptop to write the exam answers.
  • For students with Autism Spectrum Disorder agreements can be made on extra support on their studies and on their personal development.

Ongoing guidance

If you would like to discuss how the functional impairment affects your study progress or if you are looking for any other support, please consult the ID academic advisor.

You can find the contact information of the academic advisors and the ID Examination Committee on the Contact page.