Studying with a disability

Students with disabilities have the possibility to use study support during their studies. The support is individual and planned together with you and your coordinator. Please apply as soon as possible, preferably already when you have been accepted.

How to apply for study support

Go to the application on the Nais website. If you need help with the application, contact a coordinator for students with disabilities.
Once you have made your digital application in Nais, you will be offered a meeting time to plan your support with one of the coordinators for students with disabilities within three weeks (15 working days) from the time your application was received.
After the meeting with the coordinator, in which you discuss and plan for the study support, you will receive a certificate regarding the support.

If your application cannot be granted, it will be rejected. You will always know why a rejection is made.

Documents that are not written in English, Swedish or other Scandinavian languages need to be translated into Swedish or English by an authorised translator. Exceptions can be made in some cases.

If you are a student and have a certificate regardin study support, it is your responsibility to make sure that it is valid. The validity period is on your certificate. If you need to extend the validity period, please contact your coordinator. You can make a new application if the certificate has expired.

Who can apply

If you are registered or admitted as a student at Linnaeus University and have a permanent disability, you can apply for study support via the Nais website.

When to apply

If you plan to study at Linnaeus University, you can submit an application via the Nais website when you receive your admission letter or after you are registered as a student at Linnaeus University.

We can plan your support even if you are not yet registered for your course or program, but the decision on study support will only be made once you are registered for the program.

You can apply at any time during your ongoing studies. However, it is advisable to apply well in advance, as processing times may be longer during certain periods.

Documentation/Certificate

You must be able to verify your disability in the application with a certificate/documentation from, for example, a doctor, psychologist, speech therapist, or another professional with expertise in the area.

The documentation/certificate must include:

Your name and personal identification number
Date of the assessment or healthcare contact
Name and title of the person issuing the documentation
Assessment or description of the disability

The disability must be permanent. In some cases, the documentation must specify how long the disability is expected to persist and how long you have had the disability or been in contact with healthcare.

A permanent disability is defined as one that has existed for at least 6 months and is expected to continue for at least another 6 months.

Study support measures

Here you can read more about the most common forms of study support available for students with disabilities. If you need other forms of support, such as a home aids or personal assistance, it is the municipality and/or county that you should contact.

Examples of study support measures

Adapted/alternative examination. A customized/alternative examination may be, for example, to get longer time during the exam, the opportunity to write the answers on a computer or to take an exam individually. The examiner decides on support for examinations, based on the coordinator's recommendations.
Note-taking support. You can get help from a classmate who notes for you at lectures/seminars/other educational elements and then email the notes to you (without them being edited). The person providing the note-taking help is appointed by you and receives a salary from the Office of Student Affairs. Note-taking support does not replace your presence during lectures.
Mentor. Mentor support is given to students with neuropsychiatric and mental impairments. The mentors provide support in planning, structuring and organizing the studies. The mentors are recruited by our mentor coordinator and receive a salary from the Office of Student Affairs.
Interpreter. If you need sign language or writing interpreters during your studies, you can get this. However, this is a long process, so please contact a coordinator as soon as possible, preferably already when you apply at Linnaeus University.

What is disability?

If you have a disability, you can receive support during your studies at the university. These may include reading and writing difficulties/dyslexia, mental illness, neuropsychiatric disabilities, hearing loss, visual impairment, movement impairment or chronic diseases. You should be able to prove your disability with certificates from, for example, a doctor, psychologist or speech therapist.

Disability is according to the Discrimination Act (SFS 2008:567):

'permanent physical, mental or endowmental limitations on a person's ability to function which, as a result of an injury or illness, existed from birth, have arisen thereafter or are likely to arise.'

What support you need depends on what limitations you experience and how you handle the different study situations. The pedagogical support is planned and designed in consultation with you as a student.

If you have a temporary injury or illness, you are not covered by this support because it is not permanent. If you need temporary support, you should instead contact the course coordinator or study counsellor at your department.