Centre for disabled students at UEP

Young people with a handicap of hearing, seeing or with limited movement are slowly beginning to use the special possibilities, which are offered by universities.

At UEP this year, even more so than in the past, you can sometimes meet a student in a wheelchair or one wearing dark glasses accompanied by a friendly seeing-eye dog, or during a lecture you can see a student who is sitting with his back towards the teacher and translating into sign language. With the opening of the Centre for Disabled Students at UEP, the number of disabled students has increased from nine to fifteen and even more students are interested in starting their studies here next year.

The complex support system for disabled students was introduced at UEP a little bit later than at other universities, but today UEP can provide them with a similar standard of services. The Centre for Disabled Students at UEP is located in the New Building, room 35b. Every working day from 9 am to 6 pm there is always somebody available for disabled students. There are also computers equipped with special software, which allow people with seeing problems to work with the Internet, with one’s own text or to read daily newspaper, magazines etc. For sightless students there is a possibility to transfer study materials into digital form and afterward to MP3.

For the students with limited movement, there are not only barrier free premises, but also personal assistant services. Students with hearing problems have the possibility for translation of lectures into sign language. The cost for translation is covered by funding provided by the Ministry of Education, Sport and Youth.

The reason for these kinds of services is not to decrease the requirements for disabled students, but to enable them to pass their studies, which otherwise wouldn’t be possible due to their disabilities.

For more information: shs.vse.cz

Prepared:
Martin Ctibor
ctiborm@vse.cz