Studying with Disabilities
Table of contents
The TU Dresden strives for a low-barrier design of the studies as well as the study environment (see Inclusion). If your health is impaired (disability or chronic illness), there are often special questions and topics concerning your studies. Numerous support and counseling services are available to help you participate in your studies on an equal footing with your chances.
You will find answers to frequently asked questions about hardship regulations, compensating for disadvantages, non-accreditation and leave of absence in the FAQ.
Current and prospective students can also find suitable counseling and service offers for their concerns in the Counseling Compass.
Video: Studying is for me!
Audio version
Speaker image description: You will hear the audio version for the explainer video with the title "Studying is for me!". The audio describes illustrations showing people, buildings, and signs. Only the hand moving in and out of the screen is an actual human hand that has been filmed. [brief pause] A hand moves a postcard showing the logo of TU Dresden into the picture. The postcard reads: "Studying is for me!" A man wearing a baseball cap pops onto the screen. His hand is making a thumbs up gesture.
Speaker voiceover: Studying is for me!
Speaker image description: The hand swipes a building to the top of the picture. A diverse group of students line up one by one in front of the building. The students differ in gender or are gender-neutral and are of various origin and age. The group includes a man in a wheelchair, a woman with crutches, and a woman using a blind person's cane. Students without impairment are also in the group. A shy, withdrawn person is standing at the edge of the group.
Speaker voiceover: TU Dresden is home to a multitude of different students. Each with their very own personality, background, and life story. That makes studying here such a colorful and exciting experience.
Speaker image description: Thought bubbles pop up above the heads of some of the students in the line-up. The bubbles show different things. The bubble above one woman contains Asian characters; another bubble above a man shows a baby; yet another bubble above a different man shows a sick elderly woman lying in bed; the thought bubble above the man in the wheelchair reveals a staircase; the bubble above the woman with crutches shows a foot in plaster; the bubble above another woman shows a head with cogwheels inside, and hovering over the man wearing a baseball cap is a bubble filled with storm clouds, lightening bolts, and question marks.
Speaker voiceover: They speak different languages. Some of them have children, or care for their relatives. Others live with a disability or a mental health condition. Or they master a challenge of a different kind.
Speaker image description: The thought bubbles disappear. Graduation caps are seen falling onto the heads of some of the students in the line-up.
Speaker voiceover: Here, they can succeed with their studies while drawing on the support they need to graduate.
Speaker image description: The hand swipes all illustrations out of the picture and a young woman seated at a table into the scene. A laptop is in front of her. She is holding her head with her hands. She looks overwhelmed. Another woman joins the scene. She points to something on the laptop screen. The face of the young woman lights up.
Speaker voiceover: TU Dresden offers a range of options that support its students in achieving that goal. No matter whether this is a small, or a big challenge.
Speaker image description: The hand swipes the people out of the screen. The hand moves a staircase in two swipes into the scene. A ramp is shown to the left side of the stairs. At the top of the landing is a lift. The lift bears a sign. A door is seen next to the lift. The door opener also bears a sign. The hand swipes the staircase out of the picture. A woman on crutches and a man in a wheelchair enter the scene.
Speaker voiceover: For all students to move about freely on campus, it provides barrier-free access almost everywhere.
Speaker image description: The hand swipes the two out of the scene. Five people enter the picture. The group includes men, women, and gender-neutral persons. Not one of them has visible impairments. All persons disappear except for the man wearing the baseball cap. A thought bubble pops up above his head filled with storm clouds, lighting bolts, and question marks. He looks unhappy and desperate and is holding a mobile phone in his hand.
Speaker voiceover: TU Dresden supports not only students who are physically impaired. Even when suffering from a chronic or mental health condition, you are invited to make use of one of the many offers available. Or if currently dealing with a very different challenge in your life.
Speaker image description: The hand swipes the man out of the picture. The hand moves a document into the scene that reads "Application". A question mark appears next to this. The hand then moves a mock lesson plan into the scene. The application form, the question mark, and the lesson plan zoom into a thought bubble above a student's head. The student is sitting at a table and writing. Two cups filled with a hot beverage are placed in front of her and next to her. To the left of the picture, the hand adds a woman to the scene; to the right, the hand adds a man to the scene. Next, the woman is sitting to the left and the man is sitting to the right of the student at the table. The application form and the lesson plan inside the student's thought bubble flip into question marks. Three question marks now fill the thought bubble.
Speaker voiceover: The Liasion Officers for Students with Disabilities and Chronic Illnesses are here to help you with questions relating to your application process or on how to organise your course of studies. They offer individual and confidential advice,
and will answer all your questions about your course of studies.
Speaker image description: The hand swipes the people out of the scene. The hand then swipes a young male student into the picture. He is sitting at a table with a computer. Loudspeakers are placed left and right of the computer. A guide dog wearing a harness for the blind is lying underneath the table. A funnel grows from the computer and swallows books falling from the top. Letters are then seen floating from the speakers to the student's ears.
Speaker voiceover: The Working Group Services Disability and Studies assists with the preparation of barrier-free studying documents. For example, for students who are visually impaired or blind.
Speaker image description: The hand swipes the man out of the picture. The hand swipes the floorplan for a building into the picture. A QR code is visible in the top right corner. An illustrated hand holding a smartphone scans the QR code. The smartphone then displays the logo of the campus navigator of the TU Dresden. Letters are seen floating from the smartphone speaker.
Speaker voiceover: To ensure on-campus orientation for these students too, guiding strips and building plans help them find their way.
Speaker image description: The hand holding the smartphone and the floorplan for the building leave the picture. The hand swipes a woman sitting at a table into the picture. She is seated in front of a computer and is on the telephone. A thought bubble pops up above her head. Inside the bubble is the man with the baseball cap, holding his mobile phone in his hand.
Speaker voiceover: The Central Student Information and Counselling Services is there to help you with your personal study plan.
Speaker image description: The hand swipes the woman sitting at the table out of the picture. Three question marks appear. The question mark in the middle swirls into an exclamation mark. The three punctuation marks disappear. The hand swipes a gender-neutral person sitting on a bed into the picture. They have a laptop on her lap. The hand adds a young woman in a wheelchair from the right to the scene. A window joins the scene right behind her. The two are smiling.
Speaker voiceover: Not sure if help is available for your specific concern? Just ask. The selection of offers is large. For example, Studentenwerk Dresden provides assistance with many things, including help with finding a place to live or the financing of your studies.
Speaker image description: The hand swipes the scene out of the picture. The hand moves the postcard from the beginning of the video into the scene. It shows the TU Dresden logo and reads "Studying is for me!", plus the link tud.de/studieren-mit-beeintraechtigung
Speaker voiceover: We have merged many of the contacts on our webpage. Check it out now and request a consultation. Because you too are an important part of the diversity at TU Dresden.
Sign language version
Liaison Office for Students with Disabilities
Liaison Office for Students with Disabilities, Prof. Dr.-Ing.Gesine Marquardt and Prof. Dr. Gerhard Weber, represent the interests of disabled and chronically ill students at the TU Dresden. They offer advice on all special questions of studying with disabilities, such as special aids for physically disabled students and compensating for disadvantages.
Commissioners for Students with Disabilities & Chronic Illnesses
NameProf. Dr.-Ing. Gesine Marquardt und Prof. Dr. Gerhard Weber
Send encrypted email via the SecureMail portal (for TUD external users only).
You can arrange appointments for your individual counseling with our representatives by telephone or e-mail via Mandy Weickert. You also have the opportunity to visit the open consultation hours.
Coordinator
NameMs Mandy Weickert
Send encrypted email via the SecureMail portal (for TUD external users only).
Visiting address:
Nöthnitzer Straße 46, APB 1102
01187 Dresden
Central Student Information and Counseling Service
The Central Student Information and Counseling Service supports you in your choice of studies and in the event of ambiguities, doubts and problems in all phases of your studies. In a confidential conversation, a student advisor can discuss your very individual situation with you, provide you with helpful information, support you in shaping your own course of study, and strengthen your sense of personal responsibility.
Central Student Information and Counseling Service
Send encrypted email via the SecureMail portal (for TUD external users only).
Visiting address:
Fritz-Foerster-Bau, floor 0 Mommsenstraße 6
01069 Dresden
Postal address:
TUD Dresden University of Technology Zentrale Studienberatung
01062 Dresden
Office hours:
- Monday:
- 10:00 - 12:00
- Tuesday:
- 09:00 - 12:00
- 13:00 - 16:00
- Thursday:
- 13:00 - 16:00
- Friday:
- 09:00 - 12:00
During open consultation hours, a student counselor is available for you without prior appointment. Please first pick up a calling number at the service point of the ServiceCenterStudies.
Interest Group “Study and Disability”
The Interest Group “Study and Disability” networks various actors to support students with disabilities.
Working Group Services Disability and Studies
The Working Group Services Disability and Studies supports students with visual impairments and reading disabilities as well as chronic and mental illnesses.
Further offers
You can also make use of the social counseling service of the Studentenwerk Dresden as well as the counseling service of the Student Council of the TU Dresden.
For prospective students with impairments and chronic illnesses, there is also the possibility of organizing an individual visit day at the TU Dresden.