Overcoming barriers together

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Finding a new lecture hall can be tricky for many students. But for students who have an impairment, it can turn into a major undertaking: Is there an elevator? How long will the detour via the ramp take me? What’s the lighting like in the seminar room? And will I still be able to concentrate on the lecture after all this stress? In situations like these, it can be helpful to have someone by your side – like the inclusion tutors at LMU.

“These students support their peers who have an impairment in their day-to-day life at university,” explains Romy Hoche, academic advisor at the Central Student Advisory Office and the point of contact at LMU for students who have a disability or chronic illness. “As volunteers, they help students to navigate buildings, map out routes – and even where barriers aren’t visible.” After all, it’s not always grand old staircases that get in the way: uncertainty about submission deadlines, registration for exams, or finding the right contact person can also present an obstacle.

New Volunteers from the Business Administration and Chinese Studies Programs

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About 17 percent of LMU students have a health impairment that makes it more difficult for them to study for their degree. “‘Impairment’ can mean many different things,” says Romy Hoche. “It ranges from physical and motor limitations, visual and hearing impairments to chronic or mental health conditions.” It also includes neurodivergent forms of learning and thinking, such as ADHD, autism, or dyslexia.

To support these students, more than 100 inclusion tutors have been trained at LMU since 2018. Coordinated by the Office for Disability Services within the Central Student Advisory Office, there are currently around 60 volunteers from various academic programs, ranging from General and Comparative Literature to Computer Science, Medicine, and Political Science, as well as Law and – spanning departments – the study program for senior citizens. With the 26 participants who have just completed the latest training course, the fields of business administration and dentistry are now also represented.

“The new inclusion tutors show that students at our university want to actively help shape equal opportunities and inclusion by volunteering to support their fellow students with disabilities. At the same time, we at LMU are continuously expanding the structures we have in place to promote equal participation – eliminating disadvantages that exist is a guiding principle for me. I would like to thank the new inclusion tutors very much for their commitment to creating an inclusive university culture and society,” says Dr. Margit Weber,Vice President for Equity, Talent Management and Diversity at LMU Munich.

Teaching student Yanis Bell learned about this opportunity through a newsletter – and became an inclusion tutor because “access to barrier-free education is an absolutely fundamental right and indispensable”. He supports students with impairments primarily within his own fields of study. “In addition, I participate in smaller team projects and implement my own initiatives, for example in the area of improving visibility and raising awareness of inclusion issues,” says Bell.

Peer-to-peer contact

He thinks one common problem is the fact that students with an impairment do not take advantage of the university’s support services. Some of them are not even aware of what services are available. Others feel that they’re not “sufficiently impaired” or hesitate to talk about their needs because they worry that people won’t understand.

“This is where the inclusion tutors act as accessible points of contact,” explains Romy Hoche. Students often find it easier to talk to someone on a peer-to-peer level at first. And when students are under pressure from theses, deadlines, or the maximum length of study, it can be helpful to take the next steps with another person: this might involve looking up information, finding the right contact person, or drafting an email, according to Hoche. In addition, the tutors can highlight options such as special provisions and refer students to the appropriate offices.

For many students, organizing their daily life at university can be a really difficult task. “Registering for courses, finding the right seminar rooms, or compiling reading lists: this all takes a lot of time and energy when you also have to arrange doctor’s appointments, therapy sessions, or assistive devices while managing your energy levels,” explains Romy Hoche. “And sometimes it’s necessary to pick up the phone and ask an official agency for help.” But this can be a major hurdle, especially for students who have a mental health condition or autism.

Insights into the daily lives of students with impairments

Hidden impairments in particular are often underestimated in everyday student life. “People who suffer from chronic conditions – such as migraines, epilepsy, fatigue, mental health issues, or ADHD – are sometimes misunderstood,” says Hoche. “Yet students with these conditions may really struggle to organize their course material, meet deadlines, or sustain long periods of concentration.”

In the training course, prospective tutors are made aware of these needs. The course starts by covering basic terms like impairment, disability, inclusion, and barriers, and what these terms actually mean in the context of university studies. On a Moodle course, the participants also explore various forms of impairment and their potential impacts on daily student life.

Students with impairments share daily experiences from their own lives and answer questions. In addition, participants try their hand at Braille, plan a route from Marienplatz to a lecture hall in a wheelchair, and hear what it sounds like to listen to a lecture with a cochlear implant. “We don’t want to present stereotypes,” says Hoche. Rather, the key is to focus on the actual needs of each individual: “What exactly does a person need to be able to study effectively?”

Providing support and raising awareness

For English student Kim Ly Pham, who trained to become an inclusion tutor in the most recent cohort, this practical focus was particularly important. “I really liked the fact that the course didn’t just cover theoretical knowledge, but also included practical tasks,” he says. But the most important aspect was “hearing the personal experiences of students who have an impairment”. The course made it clear many times “that everyone perceives and deals with their impairment differently”. That’s why there isn’t “one right solution that can help everyone”.

At the end of the training, the role of the inclusion tutors is also clarified. Where can they provide support themselves? Where should they refer students to the Advisory Office or other resources? “We’re trying to deliver a combination of practical support and structural awareness-raising,” says Hoche. The goal is for the tutors not only to help individual students in their daily lives, but also to help identify barriers in the courses at an earlier stage.

Advisory Services, Central Student Advisory Office