{"id":142377,"date":"2022-07-18T10:21:53","date_gmt":"2022-07-18T08:21:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=142377"},"modified":"2026-02-10T16:42:28","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T15:42:28","slug":"rector-magnificus-university-has-to-become-more-accessible-for-students-with-functional-impairment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2022\/07\/18\/rector-magnificus-university-has-to-become-more-accessible-for-students-with-functional-impairment\/","title":{"rendered":"Rector magnificus: ‘University has to become more accessible for students with functional impairment’"},"content":{"rendered":"

The university has to become more accessible to students who have a functional impairment. This is the opinion of the rector magnificus Annelien Bredenoord. An action plan is in place, but it is not yet clear when students will start to notice any changes. \u201cUnfortunately, I don’t have a magic wand to make everything better at a single stroke.”<\/p>\n

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Rector magnificus Annelien Bredenoord in her office in the Erasmus building.<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGeisje van der Linden<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Over the past academic year, Erasmus Magazine followed five students with a disability. Audrey has autism, Letthe is hard of hearing, Hazem has ADHD, Linda is partially sighted and Kyra uses a wheelchair as a result of a hereditary condition. These students told us what it is like to be a student with a disability. They all came to the conclusion that the university could be far more accessible. The five experts with personal experience shared their ideas about this in previously published articles.<\/p>\n\n\t

\u201cPeople always think in terms of \u2018the norm\u2019 and we find it very difficult to think in a broader and more inclusive way\u201d, says rector magnificus Annelien Bredenoord. \u201cYou are aware of this when you yourself fall outside the norm in some way. Letthe stated in one of these articles that \u2018Universities need to learn how to deal with people who fall outside the norm\u2019. That really hit the nail on the head.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bredenoord herself knows what it is like not to fall under the norm, she says. \u201cEvery hotel I go to, I have to explain: \u2018no, we don\u2019t need two separate rooms. This is my wife. We are a family.\u2019 And I could give a hundred more examples like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

A few weeks after her first workday, Bredenoord received an email from student Kyra about the inaccessibility of the campus. \u201cThat really shocked me. I thought: how is it possible that things like access to buildings are not in order? That was the starting shot for the Executive Board to get to work on this.\u201d<\/p>\n

The five students with a disability have all sorts of ideas for improving access to education. For starters, at present, they have to arrange a lot of things themselves. Student advisors should therefore be given more say and be more assertive, Letthe notes. They could then arrange for students to receive the support they need for each subject.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI thought that was a very good suggestion, because I understand that you need someone on your side who is willing to put their foot down for you from time to time. But I don\u2019t want to make any empty promises, given that the university is such a large organisation and a lot of things cannot be arranged from one day to the next.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, there is always something these students will need to take in their stride, even in their future work environment. Just as I have to explain in every hotel and to every custom officer that my wife, son and I are one family. I understand that this causes a certain amount of annoyance, because you have to explain and arrange things over and over again. As a university, we cannot eliminate that entirely. I would like to look at it from a more positive angle: it instils a particular kind of fighting spirit and resilience. I could read that in everyone\u2019s story. It tends to enrich these students and make them more interesting people. Hazem, for example, mentioned that he sees his creativity as a positive side to his ADHD.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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