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What do particular groups of students with special needs need when studying at university

Publication at Faculty of Education |
2023

Abstract

Students with special needs officially receive support during their university studies. For the purposes of this study, we analysed Diagnostics assessment reports, i.e., one of the three conditions for the status of a student with special needs at Charles University. The Diagnostics assessment report is processed at the Academic Counselling Centre of the Faculty of Education through individual meetings with students, aiming to provide recommendations for suitable study modifications. This service is offered to students of any faculty of Charles University.

The monothematic issue of the journal gave the team the opportunity to analyse and publish data from the Diagnostics assessments reports processed in the years 2015-2022 in individual categories of students with special needs. The total number of analysed reports was 417. We paid attention to the support measures implemented during the study, taking into account the categories of special needs, but also the service and organizational measures that the given groups need most (e.g. interpreting and transcription services, assistant services, etc.). The generally recommended approaches on the "human" level were also not neglected. In the analysis, we also focused on identifying difficulties and obstacles typical for individual groups of students.

The introductory part provides an analysis of the number of students with special needs at Charles University between 2012 and 2022. It documents an increase in the number of students with special needs; however, this rise does not correspond with the prevalence in the general population. The paper also reflects on and discusses the possible reasons for this discrepancy.