Understanding how particular impairments affect individuals will help you to support them. It is important that you discuss the matter with the student, who is likely to have considerable experience of studying with their impairment. This may sound obvious, but this step is often missed.
It is essential to be discreet and sensitive; not all students will want their condition or impairment widely known in their college or faculty. Generally, you won't need medical information, and details of how the student is affected will suffice. There may be occasions when you find it useful to familiarise yourself with the effects of a particular condition, and with the effects of drug and other therapies used to manage it.
The Student Support Documents, which are developed by the Accessibility and Disability Resource Centre's team of specialist Disablity Advisers, contain a short section that indicates how the student's impairment affects their ability to study.
Further information about various conditions and details of appropriate support while at university can also be found by following the navigation links on the left. We also provide some key support actions below.
Key support actions
- Talk to the student about their requirements
- Ensure relevant sections of the Student Support Document are circulated as appropriate
- Gather feedback from the student about whether the support is working
