Support and facilities

Possible complications

• Having trouble with interpreting non-literal language, irony or jokes
• Difficulty with teamwork, especially in varying groups
• Separating primary from secondary priorities
• Study planning
• Excess stimuli and impressions can lead to stress and exhaustion
• Sometimes: limited social and communication skills
• Unexpected change can be troublesome; strong need for regularity and certainties.

Available support

• For students with ASD, it is crucial to be in close contact with the tutor. Together you can ensure you keep a clear overview and solve any questions or troubles during your studies. The facility Extra Tutor Guidance is therefore the standard with ASD.
• HKU has an autism community, where students from all years of study and all courses get together every two months to discuss any subjects they find relevant.
• Many students benefit from personalised guidance from Kunstmaat when they can’t study smoothly. This can be offered in addition to their personal coach (when they have one).The local government usually compensates for the costs.
• Use of the rest area at the academy can help you to get some relief in between activities, or recharge in a low-stimulus environment.
• A commonly selected facilities among students with ASD is to request extra explanation from teachers (about individual assignments) if needed.

Applying

Students with dyslexia can experience problems with reading and/or spelling. They might also have difficulty with writing or discerning the main points from the side notes while reading or doing exams. The exact issues vary per student.

Good to know: many courses at HKU do not have any written exams.

Possible complications

• Difficulty reading
• Needing more time for reading and studying literature
• Non-automated reading and spelling skills
• Needing more time for (writing and reading) assignments and tests
• Lower writing performances (spelling, structuring, coherence)
• Remembering separate facts, such as names and professional terms
• Lower self-confidence and fear of failure

Available facilities

• 25% extra time for written exams
• Exams in adjusted fonts
• Exams on coloured paper

Applying

The number of people with chronic illnesses is very large and diverse. Most of these illnesses are not visible. Common examples are: migraine, diabetes, blood disorders, spinal injuries, respiratory diseases (like asthma), kidney disfunctions, cancer, bowel disease (such as Crohn’s disease), heart conditions, cystic fibrosis, and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). Symptoms can be very diverse. Fatigue, hospital visits and medicine use can all affect study performance. Because studying often progresses more slowly compared to other students, students with an illness often have to adapt to a new and younger group of fellow students.

Possible complications

• Absence in result of health complaints, hospital visits or medicine use
• Recurring worsening of conditions, where periods of health alternate with times of illness
• Low energy and concentration issues due to pain or fatigue
• Lower work capacity
• Lack of sympathy from others because many illnesses are invisible and unknown

Available support

• Students often benefit from being in close contact with the tutor. It can also be helpful to inform teachers about possible absence, and to make agreements about this with the tutor. Extra guidance from the tutor is a common facility among students with a chronic illness.
• Extension of deadlines in cases where illness prevent you from completing tasks on time can be a helpful facility for students.
• Extra exam facilities can be requested, to be able to eat something during exams, or leave the classroom under supervision (this is always combined with 25% of extra time for written exams).
• Making use of the rest area to recharge in between of lie down for a while can also be beneficial.
• We offer the option to retake certain assignments of classes when you are regularly absent in result of your disease.
• With many courses, the study load can be spread across multiple years, to enable you to study in your own tempo.

Applying

Physical impairments include handicaps and illnesses that limit students in their mobility. Such motoric limitations can be causes by, for example, muscular dystrophy, rheumatism, fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis (MS) or spasms.

Possible complications

• Problems with using computers (operating, physical strain)
• Problems with writing when taking notes, exams or writing assignments.
• Limited attendance due to pain and/or limited performance ability
• Being unable to stand for long during writing or painting classes
• Limited energy
• Varying concentration abilities

Available support

• Adjustments to the building (elevators, automatic doors, adjusted sanitary facilities, lower buttons and coat rack.
• Adjusted furniture in the classroom.
• Thinking about specific adjustments to the work spot to facilitate your study activities.
• Students often benefit from being in close contact with the tutor. It can also be helpful to inform teachers about possible absence, and to make agreements about this with the tutor. Extra guidance from the tutor is a common facility among physically impaired students.
• Extension of deadlines in cases where illness prevent you from completing tasks on time can be a helpful facility for students.
• Making use of the rest area to recharge in between of lie down for a while can also be beneficial.
• The option of taking written exams on an HKU laptop can be a solution.
• With many courses, the study load can be spread across multiple years, to enable you to study in your own tempo.

Applying

Students with a visual impairment have reduced or no vision, or other visual limitations such as reduced focus, smaller field of view, or colour perceptions. Seeing can also be energy-intensive or lead to headache or other complaints.

Possible complications

• Having trouble reading texts on a board or screen
• No visual perception of the environment
• Writing difficulties or inability
• Missing non-verbal cues
• Reduced access to internet, intranet and digital learning environment
• Reduced energy (activities demand more energy
• Trouble navigating the buildings

Available support

• Students often benefit from close contact with the tutor to predict and prevent any problems. Informing your teachers about your limitations is also helpful, so that teachers can help you find a solution.
• Written examinations can be taken in an alternative way, or with (lots of) extra time and enlarged texts. Taking exams on an (adjusted) laptop can also be a solution.
• Students with a visual condition often have their own devices to support them. We can investigate together if these devices can work at the HKU premises as well.

Applying

People can have various auditory conditions, such as being deaf and various types of hearing issues. Some examples are tinnitus or an oversensitivity for sounds (hyperacusis). Not being able to hear (properly) is the most common consequence of any auditory issue. Other effects can also occur, such as lower language proficiency or limited social functioning. It is important to understand that solutions such as lip reading, a hearing aid and/or a CI (cochlear implant) do not fully eliminate the communicative challenges.

Possible complications

• Limited language skills
• Limited social skills, possibly with feelings of suspicions
• Student who are deaf often have a barrier to others (with the deaf community as safe environment)
• Listening for longer times is straining
• Inability to take notes and focus on lip-reading / sign-language
• When deaf from an early age: often difficult to speak clearly, making presentations or conversations more difficult
• Difficulties with communication in large groups or noisy environments
• Verbal assignments might be misunderstood
• Video without subtitles is hard or tiresome to follow

Available support

• Students often benefit from close contact with the tutor to predict and prevent any problems. Informing your teachers about your limitations is also helpful, so that teachers can help you find a solution.
• Students with hearing difficulties often have their own devices (such as a microphone with a transmitter) to support them. We can investigate together if these devices can work at the HKU premises as well.

Applying

It’s up to you whether you want to notify HKU about your condition or not. Some students hesitate because they are afraid of prejudice or stigma. Or because they prefer to try it first without any additional support. However, in reality, it is more beneficial to open up about your medical background or functional limitations and request the available facilities. This makes you more familiar with the options available to you, your situation will be better understood, your qualities are appreciated more, and you receive the support that you need to function properly. It also helps if you discuss your specific situations with the student counsellors at an early stage, to prevent any obstacles later on in your study career.

1. First you need to register for one of our courses. Already know what course you want to do? Then enrol right away via Studielink. Still thinking about what you want to study? Explore the available courses at HKU here.
2. When enrolling via Studielink, you get the standard question if you have any medical conditions. If you click ‘Yes’, you give permission to HKU to send you the information about our facilities and what we can do for you.
3. Have you answered ‘Yes’ on the above question in Studielink? By early July, you receive an email with information about studying with a functional impairment and the available facilities. Follow the steps in the email and submit your request for facilities (if you want any). This is best done no later than the first month of your study programme, so that you can start using the facilities in time.
4. Our student counsellors will invite you for an intake meeting, together with the tutor of your programme. In this meeting, we discuss which facilities will be assigned to you.