Services Provided for Students with Disabilities

• Informing Faculty Members: At the beginning of each semester, an informative e-mail is sent to the academics of the courses they take with the knowledge and permission of the disabled students, stating the student's status and needs. In this context, necessary studies are carried out on the selection or arrangement of course and exam environments according to the disability.
• Assistant Student Support: Assistance support is provided by our students who work part-time to students with disabilities who request support. In this process, necessary arrangements are made by keeping in constant communication with the students who both receive and give support.
• Individual Meetings: Disables Students Unit specialist give psychological support to students who have disability.
• Group Workshops: The students who have and have not disability are supported by art therapy and drama group workshops.

Note: For the first two of the above services, students must have a Health Council Report, ESKR, ÇÖZGER, Status Notification Report with 3 Physicians; For individual meetings, they must have a Single Physician Status Notification Report.

Supports According to Disability Groups Are Also Specified Below:

1. Physical Disability:

• Making arrangements in classes and examinations according to the students’ disabilities and particular needs,
• Submitting proposals to the faculties and faculty members in order to make the necessary arrangements in line with the Higher Education Council’s relevant decision,
• Making class and exam environments physically accessible for students depending on the nature of their disabilities,
• Providing students with support and time flexibility in the writing sections of exams in order to help students write with their special computers
• Allowing the student to take the exam in a separate classroom with a scribe depending on the nature of the student’s disability.

Arrangements that the Operations Department needs to make under the guidance of the Health & Safety and Environment Department in order to increase the physical accessibility of the campus are as follows:

• Arrangement of building and construction sites,
• Offering easy access to on-campus buildings via disabled access ramps and elevators,
• Offering easy access from one point to another on campus,
• Making on-campus restrooms accessible,
• Relocating courses and other activities held in inaccessible buildings,
• Preparing maps for accessible buildings,
• Installing disabled access ramps along pavements to offer continuous access throughout the campus,
• Offering accessible parking spaces,
• Providing priority in room assignments in dormitories,
• Allocating special rooms for students with disabilities on the ground floors of the dormitories that have disabled access ramps at the building entrances,
• Having accessible bathrooms built in these rooms in accordance with the effective rules and regulations,
• Making the library wheelchair-accessible.

2. Visual Impairment

• Making textbooks accessible online for students with visual impairment,
• Making arrangements in classes and examinations according to the students’ disabilities and needs, and depending on the nature of the student’s disability, sharing the student’s needs with the student’s Faculty/School/Graduate School, academic advisors, and course instructors. Where confidentiality is required, the student’s disability information is shared with and proposals are submitted to faculty members only after the student grants his approval or makes a request.
• Description of images,
• Administering examinations one-on-one with an instructor/scribe in a separate room,
• Printing examinations on A3 papers in large fonts for students with low vision,
• Offering extra time,
• Providing computers and headphones when necessary, and offering material support, i.e. voice recorders offered by the School of Languages to be used for classes.
• Providing the IT with the department’s needs for various technological amenities, including hardware (i.e. computer, microphones etc.) and other materials to be supplied by the IT before the budget planning and informing the IT about as to who made a request, when the request was made, for what the request was made, and the volume of the request.
• Offering information technology literacy training to students who demonstrate a need,
• Visiting relevant institutions to develop the student’s independent living skills and introduce the student to ongoing efforts aimed at increasing accessibility for people with visual impairments,
• Describing the logos of the university clubs, some of the artworks and some images of the campus for people with visual impairments as part of the Community Engagement Projects,
• Installing the indoor audio navigation system, which is currently available in the Student Center only, in the Faculty/School/Graduate School and OzU-X buildings as well with the efforts of the Health & Safety and Environment Unit,
• Making certain adjustments in the dormitories,
• Installing tactile pavers on the roads that lead from the main campus to the dormitories,
• Installing audio systems in some of the elevators in the dormitories,
• Offering accessible services in the Library for people with disabilities,
• Offering a broad range of accessible resources that can be borrowed from the library collection, including books on CD and DVDs with subtitles,
• Offering access to audio products of databases and some of the e-resources, aside from their other accessible features,
• Offering study rooms with LCD screens for group studies by appointment.

3. Hearing Impairment

• Making arrangements in classes and examinations according to the students’ disabilities and needs, and depending on the nature of the student’s disability, sharing the student’s needs with the student’s Faculty/School/Graduate School, academic advisors, and course instructors. Where confidentiality is required, the student’s disability information is shared with and proposals are submitted to faculty members only after the student grants his approval or makes a request.
• Offering subtitle support by course instructors for lecture videos,
• Recommending course instructors to face students when teaching,
• Allowing students to listen to the listening material on their own computers using their own hearing aids in a separate classroom in the presence of an invigilator during the listening examinations in the English Preparatory Program,
• Recommending that the listening material is read to the student by an invigilator in a separate classroom for students who can read lips,
• Recommending that students with profound hearing loss is granted exemption from the listening sections of examinations in the English Preparatory Program,
• Making certain adjustments in the dormitories,
• Providing sign language training to 5 persons holding the supervisor and employee title for students with hearing impairments,
• Putting visual fire alarms in place,
• Supporting the Community Engagement Projects Unit for relevant projects,
• Offering “Introduction to Sign Language Training” to administrative staff and students in order to raise awareness of the sign language,
• Conducting the “Language of Fingers” project as part of the SEC 101 - Introduction to University Course in order to raise awareness of the sign language.

4. Speech and Language Disorders

• Making arrangements in classes and examinations according to the students’ disabilities and needs, and depending on the nature of the student’s disability, sharing the student’s needs with the student’s Faculty/School/Graduate School, academic advisors, and course instructors. Where confidentiality is required, the student’s disability information is shared with and proposals are submitted to faculty members only after the student grants his approval or makes a request.
• Recommending that the student is granted exemption from the speaking section of the English Preparatory Program exams and that exam criteria are adjusted.

5. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

• Making arrangements in classes and examinations according to the students’ disabilities and needs, and depending on the nature of the student’s disability, sharing the student’s needs with the student’s Faculty/School/Graduate School, academic advisors, and course instructors. Where confidentiality is required, the student’s disability information is shared with and proposals are submitted to faculty members only after the student grants his approval or makes a request.
• Sharing course notes with the students,
• Allowing the students with ADHD to record audio,
• Offering extra time.

6. Learning Disabilities

• Making arrangements in classes and examinations according to the students’ disabilities and needs, and depending on the nature of the student’s disability, sharing the student’s needs with the student’s Faculty/School/Graduate School, academic advisors, and course instructors. Where confidentiality is required, the student’s disability information is shared with and proposals are submitted to faculty members only after the student grants his approval or makes a request.
• Preparing all course materials and exams in 11-point or 12-point Calibri,
• Sharing course notes with the students,
• Allowing the students to record audio,
• Offering extra time.

7. Chronic Disorders

• Making arrangements in classes and examinations according to the students’ disabilities and needs, and depending on the nature of the student’s disability, sharing the student’s needs with the student’s Faculty/School/Graduate School, academic advisors, and course instructors. Where confidentiality is required, the student’s disability information is shared with and proposals are submitted to faculty members only after the student grants his approval or makes a request.
• Making the necessary arrangements in the dormitories in which students reside based on the students’ health problem.

8. Psychological and Emotional Disorders

• Depression: Depression is an affective (mood) disorder that can happen at any age and is usually characterized by depressive mood, impaired concentration, decrease/increase in appetite, decrease/increase in sleep, decrease in social behavior and activity, feelings of worthlessness and guilt, and suicidal thoughts.
• Anxiety Disorders: Panic Disorder, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCS), Social Anxiety, specific phobias, and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder fall into this category, and present with symptoms such as difficulty in concentrating, panic, chest tightness and pain, heart palpitations, hyperventilation, and intense fear as well as, in some cases, dissociation.
• Bipolar (Manic Depressive) Disorder: Bipolar disorder causes the individual to experience episodes of mania and depression. In mania, the individual demonstrates a decreased need for sleep, overconfidence, and increased risk-taking behavior that may put his academic life at risk, while depressive state is characterized by suicidal thoughts, extremely low self-esteem, and loss of interest in academic, professional or social life.
• Schizophrenia: Schizophrenia is a chronic and severe brain disorder that causes serious difficulties in thinking clearly, managing emotions, establishing interpersonal relationships, and performing daily tasks. Symptoms can include delusions and hallucinations, which may cause extreme fear or social withdrawal.

Recommended Actions for Students with Psychological or Emotional Disorders:

• Refer the student to the Psychological Development Unit,
• Determine the student’s needs based on the nature of his disability in cooperation with a mental health professional,
• Ensure that the student is offered the necessary support by his Faculty and the course instructor/exam invigilator based on the nature of his disability,
• Make sure the respective Faulty or the course instructor/exam invigilator respects the student’s confidentiality and ethical limitations, and does not insist on obtaining more information than already disclosed,.
• Have monthly one-on-one sessions with the student in order to cater for the student’s needs arising from the treatment, such as side effects, and keep a record of each session in the archive.

9. Temporary Disability

• Contacting the respective administrative units or faculties for the necessary materials and arrangements the student may need during the period of temporary disability.

10. Other

• Inquiring the details of the student’s disability/medical condition and obtaining information/suggestions from the Health Center in order to identify the arrangements the student may need on campus,
• Making the necessary arrangements in the dormitories in which students reside based on the students’ health problem,
• Sharing the identified and needed arrangements with the respective units and faculties.