What are SLDs
SLDs are neurobiological disorders, among which we can identify:
- Dyslexia – difficulty reading quickly and accurately
- Dysorthography – difficulty writing with good spelling accuracy
- Dysgraphia – handwriting that is not very fluent, slow, and effortful
- Dyscalculia – difficulty with numbers and calculation
The various difficulties can occur together or, more rarely, separately and with different degrees of severity.
They are defined as specific disorders because they occur in the absence of sensory or neurological deficits and specifically concern individual skill domains: accuracy and speed in reading for dyslexia, the graphic execution for dysgraphia, linguistic transcoding processes in the case of dysorthography, and calculation automatisms and number processing in the case of dyscalculia (Art. 1 of Law 170).
By definition, they are diagnosed only in individuals with an average intellectual profile who have had adequate educational and social opportunities. In addition, they often show a strong, genetically determined familial pattern.
Many of the difficulties reported by students with SLDs are due to reduced working-memory efficiency, a situation that requires appropriate compensatory methods. Without adequate educational support, SLDs can negatively affect the academic path, despite the good cognitive abilities of the individuals concerned.
Cosa dice la normativa
Below is a list of regulations you can refer to, which establish the right to and protection of study for individuals with SLDs:
- Law No. 170 of 2010, “New rules regarding specific learning disorders in schools,” protects the right to education for students with SLDs and provides that university students are also granted dispensation measures and compensatory tools, starting from the admission test.
- The Ministerial Decree of 2011
- CNUDD Guidelines of 2014 (National University Conference of Delegates for Disability)
- Ministerial Decree of 3 July 2015 No. 463
A podcast-format guide that allows students with SLDs to find all the useful answers to face university life.
Documentation
Admission test
Submitting the diagnostic certification at the time of registration allows access to the admission test with support measures to ensure equal opportunities among students. Therefore, students who wish to register as DSA must attach to the application a copy of the certification, issued no more than three years earlier (this does not apply if carried out after turning 18), which must:
- comply with the criteria of the Consensus Conference (2011)
- include nosographic codes and the explicit wording of the SLD
- contain the information needed to understand each student’s individual characteristics, indicating respective strengths and weaknesses
Please note that only diagnoses issued by National Health Service (SSN) facilities or by bodies or professionals accredited by the Regions are valid.
If the diagnosis does not meet these criteria, the University may not accept it.
Enrollment
All services for the duration of the degree course can be requested only after the interview with the Service’s physicians (and after submitting the clinical certification of disability and/or SLD if not submitted before the admission test).
For the SLD diagnosis to be considered valid, it must be drawn up according to current regulations, comply with the criteria of the Consensus Conference (2011), include nosographic codes and the explicit wording of the specific SLD, and contain the information necessary to understand each student’s individual characteristics, indicating areas of strength and weakness. Only diagnoses issued by SSN facilities or by bodies or professionals accredited by the Regions are valid. As provided for by Law No. 170 of 2010 (Art. 3) and the subsequent State-Regions Agreement of 24/7/2012, the diagnosis must be updated after 3 years if performed when the student is a minor; it does not have to be updated if performed after turning 18.
Diagnoses that do not meet these requirements, even if accepted for taking the admission test, will not be accepted for registration with the DD Service.
The DD service
The Service for Disability and SLDs can be a valuable support for interacting with specialist reference figures (neuropsychologists), learning the procedure for renewing certifications, and identifying SSN facilities or professionals accredited by the Regions to contact for diagnostic pathways.
Humanitas University students have an agreement with the Nexia Neuropsychology Center located at Humanitas Medical Care, authorized by ATS of Lombardy.
The DD Service is the first point of contact for students and manages university services: it acts as an intermediary between the university and the student, serves as an organizational and management link for university services (guidance, mediation with lecturers, technological and didactic accommodations), accompanies the student along the way, and supports the Delegate and the Contact Persons.
The Rector’s Delegate is Prof. Stefania Vetrano.
Service registration
- After submitting the relevant diagnostic documentation, you must enroll in the DD service, according to the communicated procedures, to request compensatory tools and dispensation measures for taking exams.
- A first appointment will be scheduled with the psychologists of the psycho-didactic counseling service to draw up a personal sheet containing the student’s characteristics, indications of their specific needs, and a request for specific compensatory tools and dispensation measures. The first appointment is mandatory in order to obtain the personal sheet and thus request the necessary accommodations. Subsequently, the psycho-didactic counseling service remains available on certain dates for students enrolled in the service.
- The personal sheet will be sent by email, exclusively for the part relating to the requested compensatory tools and dispensation measures, with a copy to the student and the relevant lecturers.
The DSA and BES counseling desk
The DSA and BES counseling service is a space for listening and supportive relationships aimed at providing assistance in dealing with issues related to learning processes. The objectives of this service are to offer support in refining study methods, defining one’s study path, interpreting functional profiles defined by the clinical diagnosis, identifying specific needs, and identifying compensatory tools and dispensation measures.
Compensatory tools and dispensation measures
The accommodations that can be requested for exams concern the way and form in which the test is taken, never the degree of difficulty. In fact, students with SLDs must demonstrate adequate knowledge of the subject, and any request to use aids must be agreed with the lecturer.
Below are some general rules useful for requesting the necessary accommodations to take written and oral exams:
- At the start of each exam session, students enrolled in the service will receive by email a didactic form asking them to indicate which exams they intend to take, when, and which accommodations they request. After completing it, the form must be returned by email to the competent office.
The DD service will act as a mediator between the student and the lecturer, promoting the student’s requests already present in the personal sheet and helping the lecturer to provide the aids necessary to take the exam.
Please note that accommodations vary according to specific characteristics and needs; therefore, it is necessary to agree from time to time which needs are most appropriate for that specific exam format. - The student will be contacted by the DD office to learn the outcome of their request.
The additional accommodations suggested by the CNNUD Guidelines include:
- Possibility to split the exam subject into several partial tests when the exam is particularly complex, so that the sum of the various tests reconstructs the complexity of a single exam
- Ensure that the chosen written test format (multiple choice, open-ended questions, true/false, completion) is not an obstacle, and if it is, replace it with other forms of assessment suited to the needs of the student with SLD
- Use of other compensatory tools during the exam, whether technological or not
Some compensatory tools and dispensation measures can be granted to the student both during teaching activities and during exams and admission tests to degree programs.
Given the variability of SLD profiles and the diverse characteristics of students, it is necessary to assess on a personalized basis which compensatory tools are most effective for the individual path.
It goes without saying that all measures remain at the lecturer’s discretion based on the organization, logistics, and structure of an exam and may therefore be agreed upon or not depending on individual cases.
The importance of the lecturer–student dialogue is emphasized: the university student with SLD is able to communicate to the lecturer which learning and assessment strategies are most functional and most suited to their characteristics. It is necessary for this dialogue to remain constant in order to agree in advance on the necessary accommodations.
Study tips
Studying is an activity that intentionally activates effective learning methods to understand, memorize, and recall information useful for creating new knowledge.
Different skills are involved in studying; the main difficulties often encountered by students with SLD concern some of these skills:
- Reading difficulties: it is slow and tiring; re-reading several times is necessary to understand texts; it is hard to manage the amount of reading
- Difficulty managing and perceiving the time dedicated to study
- Difficulty retrieving and recalling important information
- Difficulty in planning and independently organizing work
- Difficulty understanding questions during exams
- Difficulty concentrating
Indicazioni generali per sostenere meglio gli esami
- A helpful strategy is to consult past exams and texts: this helps you become familiar with the types of questions and the assessment format, providing guidance on how to approach studying and on the types of compensatory tools and dispensation measures needed to take the exam
- Ask yourself questions while reading texts and, if necessary, jot them down
- Create outlines/maps using keywords as a visual support for thinking
- Use mnemonic strategies (e.g., mental images, acronyms) to facilitate storing information and recalling it later
- Organize and manage study materials by: arranging files into folders and easily accessible documents, and using digital or paper reminders
- Organize and manage study time: monthly/weekly/daily planning that respects deadlines and your needs (e.g., scheduling breaks, times for non-academic activities)
- Choose your study environment: prefer quiet places, not noisy and free of distractions
- Plan study sessions in small groups to read, rehearse, and share notes or other materials
Other suggestions
During the lecture: you gather the basic information and can ask the lecturer for clarification directly. It may be useful to record the lecture to listen to it again during study time (it helps to rework your notes one or two days after the lecture). The most effective notes tend to be concise and schematic, useful for fixing the key points.
Before the exam
- Find out well in advance about the exam syllabus, textbooks, and supplementary material
- Check any office hours of the lecturer
- Request in good time (about 15 days) through the DD service the compensatory tools and dispensation measures needed to take the exam
- Do mock exams using the allotted time
- If possible, talk to students who have already taken the exam
After the exam: whatever the outcome, it is useful to reflect on your study method to understand what can be improved, refined, or changed. If needed, discuss with the lecturer for clarification.
Tools and aids
As provided by current legislation (Art. 5 of Law 170/2010), students registered as DSA have the possibility to use tools and dispensation measures within individualized and personalized teaching that takes into account the characteristics and strengths of each individual.
Sometimes taking notes during lectures can be tiring, so it becomes useful to use some support tools in order to pay proper attention to the lecture:
- Notability
- Intowords
- Evernote
- My Script Nebo
- Penultimate
- SuperNotes
- Pages
- Office Lens
Other applications are indicated in the reserved area of the LMS platform