‘IF PEOPLE DON’T WANT TO COME TO CLASSES, THEY DON’T DO SO NOW

Luca Caroli (24, public international law) suffers from an anxiety disorder and is a member of the Access & Support Platform (ASP), a network of experienced employees and students who work towards an accessible university.

‘The pandemic has made my anxiety worse, but of course, it hasn’t been good for anyone. For me, online education was a real improvement: being able to take classes in less crowded places, safely from my own home. Last year I followed a study programme in Ireland, but I could do so from my home in Italy, where my family could look after me. I basically only had to get up and eat. It was boring but it required no effort on my part. Now that everything is back to normal, I find that I don’t really have time to relax, which is not good for my anxiety.’

‘There are a lot of disadvantages to online education as well. There is a greater chance that you misunderstand things or don’t understand them at all because the equipment that is used by the lecturer or by you is defective or because the connection is poor. This only makes education less accessible for people with visual or hearing impairments, because the software usually doesn’t include good subtitles. For people with ADHD, it’s also more difficult to keep concentration during online classes. Actually, this applies to everyone. It’s easier to get distracted at home; online classes are difficult to structure in such a way that you remain completely focussed all the time.

‘Of course, the advantage is that the classes are accessible to people with physical disabilities. However, it is also a painful thing to realise that despite years of struggle, nothing was ever possible, but now that the entire population is affected, it’s suddenly possible to move everything online. It took a pandemic, but we got there.’

‘Of course, the advantage is that the classes are accessible to people with physical disabilities. However, it is also a painful thing to realise that despite years of struggle, nothing was ever possible, but now that the entire population is affected, it’s suddenly possible to move everything online. It took a pandemic, but we got there.

‘That is why the notion of completely banning online education is so very discouraging, also for students who suffer from chronic pain, for example. It can be so bad that it’s impossible for them to get up. The equipment is available anyway, and although online education can’t be compared to traditional education, it’s better than nothing, I’d say. Concerns that people would stop coming to classes are unfounded. If people don’t want to come to classes, they don’t do so now.

‘Fortunately, my anxiety has decreased considerably compared to a few years ago. Back then, I would have anxiety attacks that could last for days. Your heart starts beating really fast and you feel like something really bad is going to happen. It gets stuck in your head so you can’t focus anymore. I have since learned how to deal with it. I wouldn’t say that an anxiety disorder is a disability, per se. It’s not like I have to rearrange my life around it, but it does affect everything you do. Online education can help you to find your way back to normal life, through small steps and at your own pace.’

‘I HAVE TO GO THE EXTRA MILE JUST TO FUNCTION NORMALLY FOR TWO HOURS’

Meryem Antek (24, law) suffers from ADHD and chronic pain.
 
‘Online classes are very convenient for me. I have a chronic leg condition which makes it difficult for me to function normally all the time. For example, I can’t attend classes, go grocery shopping and cook as well, I have to pick two out of the three. If I were to do all three things, my legs would hurt so much that I wouldn’t be able to sleep until three or four in the morning.

‘There are these cobbles and uneven stones in front of the entrance to the law faculty which cause me a lot of pain, so in the early days of Covid-19, I was thrilled that I could do everything online and didn’t have to go there anymore. I did start to miss it at some point, but now I wish we could go back.'

‘I have to go the extra mile just to function normally for two hours during lectures. It requires a lot of energy from me, and not just because of my legs. People with ADHD have to work four times as hard as people without ADHD to accomplish the same things. A lecture is quite long, it’s crowded and you notice every little thing, all the conversations of the people around you. I prefer to attend lectures from the peace and quiet of my own home. That way, I can take a break when I want to or watch four lectures back-to-back. Now, I have to put my mind to it over and over again.

‘The university doesn’t offer much support regarding ADHD or disabilities. I have a cold at the moment and to a certain extent, I feel lucky, because that means I don’t have to go to lectures now. There are all kinds of exceptions for students who belong to a risk group, who have to go into quarantine or who are ill, but for people with a disability, nothing has changed. And yet, I don’t think it would be difficult at all for the university to arrange online lectures.’

‘It’s really just about simple things, it doesn’t have to be a lot of work. For example, when more people enrol in the law programme than expected, extra tutorials are arranged regularly. There are also online tutorials for people who can’t be present because they have Covid-19. I get the impression that things can be arranged as long as they are in the university’s interest, but not if they require extra effort. I do appreciate the fact that, due to the pandemic, it has been possible to watch lectures immediately instead of just two weeks before an exam, as used to be the case.

‘I have accepted the fact that I have to go again. It is what it is. I keep telling myself it’s not that bad, but then afterwards, I’m racked with pain again. What helps for me, is that I know that if I stay home, I won’t be in pain. There are also chronic conditions that are much less predictable, however, such as endometriosis. You have absolutely no control over that, and if you were met with a lack of understanding in that case… I would completely lose it.’

RECORDING LECTURES IS A GOOD FIRST STEP

Claire van den Helder (25, cultural anthropology) is autistic and suffers from an autoimmune disorder and endometriosis.
 
‘Before the pandemic, I didn’t really think about it, but once everything was moved online, I thought: wow, this is really nice. I didn’t have to travel any more, if I had a really bad day, I could watch lectures from my bed or simply roll out of bed five minutes beforehand and get seated at my desk. It saved me so much energy.

‘I have an autoimmune disorder and endometriosis. Oh, and autism as well. I still have to get used to that because I only recently found out. Before everything was moved online, I simply pushed myself: I kept forcing myself to get out there and be part of everything, and because my disorder is so unpredictable, I could only hope that I would be able to cook afterwards, for example. This is much less of a problem with online education because it’s almost always possible to join in. This made me aware of all the things I normally had to give up in order to be on campus.’

‘People don’t realise it, but there’s a lot you have to do when you go to university. You have to get dressed, have breakfast, get on the bus or tram, and socialise. After that, I don’t have any energy left to do anything else. For example, there have been plenty of days when I didn’t shower because I was just too tired.

‘It’s a different kind of exhaustion than what you feel after exercising, when you can just take a rest and you’ll feel better. It’s like you have a massive hangover after partying and staying awake for three days and you were run over by three buses. It gets a little better when you go to sleep, but not much. You become aware of things that you normally wouldn’t even notice take energy, like lifting your arm or putting on your socks.

‘I don’t have any lectures at the moment but I work at the university for two days a week and I am the party secretary of the student party LVS, where I am very transparent about my disorder. I want to prevent people from overestimating me before I take on more than I can handle. I try to be very firm in that respect.’

‘At LVS, my main focus lies on online education, but we must also ensure that lecturers and employees can continue to work in a human work environment. That means hiring more staff and providing more training. If teachers knew how to use certain equipment, that would already be a big improvement. Recording lectures is a good first step. For many students, this can be very useful, for example if they are a family caregiver, a top athlete or if they have children. And it’s not difficult either: all the lecturer has to do is set up a camera. Many lecturers don’t feel comfortable with hybrid lectures because they don’t think they can deliver the same quality of education online, but they don’t have to. The mere availability of online lectures would be a big step towards accessibility and thus, in my opinion, towards equal rights as well, because this would ensure that everyone would be able to attend.

‘The fear that no one will come to classes anymore is unfounded. This last year has proven that many people feel the need to attend classes in person. Of course, people with disabilities also feel that need, but sometimes it’s just not possible.’