Access support for your stammer at university or college with a template letter.
If you stammer, certain things about university or college can cause a lot of anxiety. For example, having to answer questions in a lecture theatre full of people. Or giving oral presentations as part of an assessment. Going around the room and introducing yourself to a new tutorial group or taking part in icebreaker games can be a nightmare for some people who stammer. Further and higher education just wasn't designed with stammering in mind.
But colleges and universities have a legal obligation to make the learning experience accessible to students who stammer. You can request what are called 'reasonable adjustments'. These are changes to the college/3university's standard procedures to help you feel more comfortable as someone who stammers, so that you can fully engage with your learning.
Asking for adjustments
It can be tricky knowing where to start with such a request, but you don't need to have all the answers. Colleges and universities have a department who can help with this stuff and help you think through what reasonable adjustments would be useful to you.
The department has different names at different establishments. It's often called something like 'Wellbeing Services' or 'Disability Services', but you might also see names like 'Disability and Student Support', 'Wellbeing: Disability and Neurodiversity', or 'Student and Academic Services'.
Below is a template letter which you can download, or copy and paste, to use as an inspiration for wording when requesting a discussion about adjustments. If you have any concerns about the process, don't hesitate to contact us on our helpline or webchat service.
