Meeting with the Disability Team

Find out how to self-refer into our Student Wellbeing service, access support and talk about any adjustments you may require. You will also be able to visit the University before your course starts, to gain a feel for where you will be based throughout your studies and to talk through the support available to you.

Background

The Disability team here at UH are your main point of contact for any disability related queries throughout your studies. The team is responsible for recommending and coordinating your support or adjustments.

Meet the team here.

Under the Equality Act 2010, Universities have a duty to make reasonable adjustments where disabled students may be placed at a disadvantage in comparison with non-disabled students. Reasonable adjustments enable you to access and participate in learning, assessment, university facilities and services.

Some examples of reasonable adjustments are:

  • Exam or Assessment adjustments (e.g. extra time, use of a PC, etc.)
  • Support with reading and research (e.g. extended book loans, assistance to locate or/and collect research material, access to alternative formats, etc.)
  • Access to specialist equipment and assistive software (e.g. text to speech to assist with research and proofreading, mind mapping to assist with planning and organising your work, a recording device to assist with note taking, etc.)
  • Access to handouts and notes in advance of taught sessions
  • Additional support from your tutors (e.g. assistance to catch up on missed work or to check your understanding, as required)
  • 1:1 Support (e.g. Mentoring, Study Skills tuition etc.)

Students should self-refer into our service by completing Academic Support for Your Disability form on Symplicity. 

You can email us at  studentwellbeing@herts.ac.uk  ; call us on 01707 284453; or pop in to speak to us in Hutton Hub.

How could this affect me?

The Disability team is responsible for recommending and coordinating your support or adjustments. Adjustments are tailored on an individual basis so your involvement in this process is essential.

If you decide not to contact the team prior to starting your course you are still welcome to contact us at any point throughout your studies  – we will be here for you throughout all your studies.

It can take time to arrange and implement any support you may require so we would encourage you to contact us in good time prior to your arrival or at the start of term so that we can ensure you have everything in place at the earliest possible opportunity.

It is important to note that there are deadlines in place to make any adjustments for exams throughout the year.

What to do next?

Contact the Disability Advice team

Practical tips

Our contact details:

Student Wellbeing Instagram: @uhstudentwellbeing

Please pop into the Student Wellbeing reception in the Hutton Hub on College Lane campus, and one of our friendly team will be happy to chat with you about the support on offer, and answer any questions you may have!

Student should self-refer into our service via our Self-referral form.

If you have any questions do contact us via: studentwellbeing@herts.ac.uk or call us on: 01707 284453. 

  • Opening times:
    • Sunday – Closed
    • Monday – 8.30 – 17:00
    • Tuesday – 8.30 – 17:00
    • Wednesday – 8.30 – 17:00
    • Thursday – 8.30 – 17:00
    • Friday – 8.30 – 16:00
    • Saturday – Closed

Questions to think about

It might be useful to think about:

  • how you would like to describe your autism and anything you think would be useful to share with your tutors
  • any support you have received in the past, what has worked well and what hasn’t worked for you
  • how you plan to travel to university
  • your experience of teaching sessions, what helps you to gain an understanding of a new topic or task
  • how you have found note taking and researching for assignments
  • how you have found assessments in the past, e.g. exams, essays, presentations, etc.
  • how you feel about group work, placement and practical tasks

Additional information

If you decide that you are going to attend a different University we would recommend that you contact the Disability Advice team at your chosen university.

Every University will be able to offer students support and advice regarding their disability.