Student

Funka – Support for students with disabilities

If you are a student at Södertörn University and have a permanent disability, you can apply for educational support to help you with your studies.

It is important that you apply for support as soon as you have been accepted to the university. When you have submitted your application, we will contact you per e-mail to book an appointment. During our meeting, we discuss your needs in relation to the support provided by the university, and you will receive a certificate that you can use to communicate your needs to teaching staff. You can prepare for the meeting by reading about possible support below. If you need talking books, please contact the library’s talking book service directly. Read more about the talking book service.

Apply for support

Apply for disability support

You need a medical certificate to apply for extra support if you have a disability. The application is easy to do online.

How do we define a permanent disability?

In this context, the definition of a disability is based upon the Swedish Discrimination Act (2008:567):

“Permanent physical, mental or intellectual limitation of a person’s functional capacity that as a consequence of injury or illness existed at birth, has arisen since then or can be expected to arise”. Link to the Discrimination Act – opens in a new window External link, opens in new window.

Barriers to inclusion often arise in environments that function in specific ways, frequently without taking account of people’s differing abilities. Adaptations can therefore help you study and reduce the barriers to participation.

How accessible are the university premises?

Read about accessibility and the university premises here


What support is available to students with disabilities?

If your disability creates barriers to you completing a particular type of examination, you may be eligible for alternative examination. At the university, the examiner always decides on alternative forms of examination. Discuss the options with your examiner, based on the relevant syllabus and its intended learning outcomes.

If you require aids during written examinations, you must contact the coordinator for approval. After this, it is your responsibility to apply for the support you wish to receive prior to each examination. Apply for adaptations for written examinations during the first week of registration for the exam. This should be done when you register for the written exam in KronoX. All aids are provided subject to availability.

Examples of support provided for written examinations:

  • Doing the exam in a group room
  • Having extra time for writing the exam
  • Being able to use a computer

Read more about written exams

Read more about written exams

Note-taking support is available as a supplement to your attendance at lectures/seminars. This means that a fellow student receives compensation from the university in return for sharing their notes with you. You are responsible for organising note-taking support in you class by asking a classmate. When you find someone, refer them to the coordinator at funka@sh.se for more information about compensation and what they need to do.

In some cases, a person’s disability may require a slower than normal rate of study. Where necessary, the head of subject and academic secretary or careers and study guidance counsellor may, in partnership with the student, design an individual study plan for the studies’ completion. An individual study plan should be subject to continual revision. Opportunities for designing an individual study plan depend upon the course content, course/program design, etc., and are not immediately obvious in every field. Various options and possibilities may be discussed on the basis of each student’s needs and the course design.

As a student, you should investigate the opportunity to obtain an individual study plan for the programme or course that interests you well in advance. Talk to the head of subject or a careers and study guidance counsellor.

The university is able to provide support with planning, structure, motivation, etc., from a mentor for up to three hours a week. A mentor may be granted to students with neuropsychiatric or mental health conditions, e.g. ADHD, Asperger’s Syndrome, chronic depression, etc. Contact the coordinator for students with disabilities for more information.

As a complement/alternative to note-taking support, you may ask the lecturer whether you can access Powerpoint presentations or lecture notes before the lectures.

The resource room has a desktop magnifier and two computers with various software aids. These tools will help you write a good text or have it read aloud via speech synthesis software. The resource room is in the library, UB 523. You can book the room once you have a decision from the coordinator.

The library’s talking book service is for all students who need recorded course literature. Read more about this on the page for the talking book service. You can book appointments with them via talbok@sh.se NB! You do not need to have certification of a disability to access talking books.

If you have impaired hearing and need a sign language interpreter, the university can provide you with one via Stockholm University’s Unit for Education Interpreters. If you need an interpreter, please report this to the coordinator when you submit your application. It is recommended that you also include the information about other higher education institutions you have applied to, as well as the ranking order and any other information that can be relevant. For more information, please see the website of the abovementioned unit (available only in Swedish): https://www.su.se/utbildning/studera-vid-universitetet/studera-med-funktionsnedsättning/utbildningstolkning-1.440138 External link, opens in new window. 

Via the coordinator, the university can loan out portable loopsets. The university library has laptops with special software, including programmes for students with reading and writing disorders.

You can obtain extra funding for your printing account so that you can copy/print notes from note-taking support or if you need to work on paper.

Extended supervision means supervision in addition to the normal time allowed for writing a dissertation/thesis. Discuss your need for extra supervision with the teaching staff at an early stage, no later than the start of the semester in which you will write the dissertation/thesis.

Studying abroad if you have a disability

Studying abroad if you have a disability

Do you have a permanent disability and want to study abroad? You may be able to receive extra support during your exchange. If your exchange is part of the Erasmus programme, you can apply for extra financial support.

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Page updated

03-11-2022