Studying with a functional impairment

Hazem Omran radiates relief when he talks about his ADHD diagnosis. It’s only been official since last April. “Before that, I was constantly wondering: what’s wrong with me?”

Music matters to Hazem. During the pandemic, the second-year student learned to play guitar and piano. Without a teacher, but with the help of YouTube, sore fingers and above all a lot of focus.

“You should try walking in the shoes of someone who has ADHD, autism or some other mental health condition”, Hazem reasons. If the university wants to become a better place for students with functional impairments, empathy is a first step, the communications student sums up.

The tests she took at age fifteen were not conclusive. However, her parents’ and teachers’ stories ‘showed very clearly that I’m autistic’, says Audrey Ng-a-Tham. There was a time when she did not believe she had a future ahead of her, let alone that she’d be able to get through a degree programme.

On the ice rink, Audrey can be completely herself. It’s a safe place where she can also do what she enjoys: figure skating. “I thought: if I’m going to continue living, I might as well do something fun too.”

Audrey would like a ‘recovery week’ after exams, for people both with and without autism. Because we’re not so different. Everyone needs to learn how to manage stimuli and stress. And if anyone knows how to do that, people with autism do. “Welcome to my world.”

It’s not always easy for Letthe to sit by herself at the front during a lecture. But as she’s hard of hearing, that’s a must, otherwise she won’t understand the lecturer. “I’d like to fully accept my impairment, but it’s certainly no fun dealing with all the barriers I face.”

Why do they make it so hard for someone who reads books about economics for fun to do a degree in economics? Letthe Riemen does not understand. When we visit the Donner book shop with her, it is obvious to us that she really does love reading.

Letthe does not need to think twice. How can the university become a better place for students with a functional impairment? “Student advisors should be given a greater say and should become more assertive”, she says without any hesitation. “They should be your lobbyist. They should be advocating for your rights. Right now, they‘re just channels.”

Linda loves leopard print, her boyfriend Joost, her family, going to the gym and buying shoes, but what she loves most, possibly, is Feyenoord, to the point where she is certain her heart is coloured red and white – the colours of the Rotterdam-based football club she supports.

Having to say again and again that you are sick is not something Linda wants to do. She ‘just’ wants to be a student, even though she is a student who does need extra help. She often gets that help, but does not always feel heard.

Kyra usually gets around in a wheelchair. But campus Woudestein is so inaccessible that she sent a cry for help to the rector. “Excuse my language, but it really is shit.”

At Kyra’s home you’ll see all the colours of the rainbow. She is the creative type and loves to paint. She gets to go all out on the largest creative project she has ever undertaken: her own accessible home. All too often, accessibility is not a given for Kyra.

Kyra’s experience has taught her that makeshift solutions aren’t all that helpful. A new pavement is hastily constructed, but it turns out the access ramp is dangerous because it’s too steep for wheelchair users. It is always up to her to raise such issues. That has to change, the student believes. “Maybe then the university could become a better place for students with an impairment.”

Embarrassment, recognition, anger, pride – a whole range of emotions were felt by rector magnificus Annelien Bredenoord after reading the experiences of Hazem, Linda, Audrey, Letthe and Kyra.