Buddy service

Students with disabilities can apply for a "buddy" to accompany them on foot or by public transport (bus, tram) so that they can attend lessons regularly or go to academic and institutional activities.
The service, which takes place within the City of Padua, is active during teaching periods and examination sessions, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday to Friday.

Requests must be submitted to accompagnamenti.studenti@unipd.it no later than Tuesday of the previous week.

• Accompanying request form

If you live or are domiciled in Veneto, reduced-rate passes are also available for your "buddy". For more information on rates and regulations, please contact Trenitalia and Busitalia Veneto (or your home province).

Students with reduced mobility who need equipped vans to reach the university lecture halls may apply for a financial contribution to cover the expenses associated with the public or private service of their choice. Some operators providing this service at subsidised prices are present in Studiare a Padova Card.

In order to apply for the financial contribution, it is necessary to be in possession of disability certification. The contribution is disbursed bimonthly. For more information contact us at inclusione.studenti@unipd.it

  Inclusion Tutors

Inclusion Tutors are specifically trained Master's or PhD students who collaborate with the Inclusion Unit - Student Services Office to foster: 

• a positive attitude towards the disciplines being studied and the use of effective study management strategies and methods;
• full and active participation in university life (class attendance, seminar activities, satisfactory and productive relationships with classmates, lecturers, the Department Contact Person for Inclusion and Disability and others).

"Inclusion Tutors" are especially dedicated to newly enrolled students in order to promote their autonomy, greater levels of self-regulation and to maximize progress and success of the university pathway.

Therefore, if you have difficulties in a specific subject, or in building positive relationships with your classmates and lecturers, you can request the tutor for inclusion support to prepare for one exam and to create positive relations with the new context, when you feel the need for it.

To apply, you have to fill in this form. Please note that following your answers, if the Inclusion Unit finds it necessary, you may be contacted for an online or in-person interview to better define the support.

Requests for tutors for Inclusion are taken up:

for first year students:

• from 10 October to 30 October for the first semester
• from 1 March to 20 March for the second semester

for students enrolled in years beyond the first:

• from 15 September to 15 October for the first semester
• from 15 February to 15 March for the second semester

Requests for support to edit the final thesis may be submitted throughout the whole academic year.

The assignment is made by means of a specific ranking list, based on the availability of tutors and their specific skills.

  Technological aids

The Student Services Office provides a range of technological aids to support studying and teaching activities. They include:

• table and portable enlargers;
• software Jaws;
• reading software for learning disabilities (Italian, English, French, Spanish and German)
• Braille bars;
• portable recorders;
• FM and Bluetooth transmitters for hearing aids;
• an interactive whiteboard (in Italian, “LIM”).

These aids can be used freely either in the classroom or during exams. You can also borrow some of these devices and give them back at the end of the academic year. 

  Library and Alternative Format Books

Students can use the “Alternative format books” service (Libri in formato alternative) at the School of Psychology library. You can:

• look up and take out digital materials (if already available);
• convert printed texts into digital format;
• ask for an interlibrary loan for texts or articles not available in the University libraries.

For opening times and addresses, please go to the page for the “Alternative format books” service (servizio “Libri in formato alternativo”), or send an e-mail to documenti.formatoalternativo@unipd.it.

  SensusAccess: convert documents to accessible format

A self-service support that enables automatic conversion of web pages and files to alternative multimedia formats while improving their accessibility. 
Go to SensusAccess

  Quiet Room

A place dedicated to special needs, self-study or with tutor support for students with disabilities, learning difficulties and other vulnerabilities.

List of quiet room

  Customised test request

For each examination, the request for a customised test must be sent via the following form at least 15 days before the exam date.

The Inclusion Unit staff will then contact the professor to arrange the necessary 'reasonable adjustments'.

Some examples of customisations are:

• additional time 
• technological aids
• a different exam format (written/oral or other)
• support by a tutor reader and/or amanuensis

  Graphical representations of knowledge (conceptual maps, forms, etc.)

Graphical representations of knowledge (conceptual maps, forms, etc.) are compensatory study support tools which can reduce the impact that a specific impaired ability has on the student's performance, without facilitating him/her on the whole from a cognitive point of view (MIUR, Guidelines for the right to study attached to the Ministerial Decree of 12 July 2011).They are included within the list of compensatory measures provided for by Law 170 of 2010, and in some situations they can act as a valid support for written tests or oral expositions. Their use is assessed on a case-by-case basis, in collaboration with the professor, depending on the nature and structure of the examination and the specific needs of each student.

To learn more about maps and forms (what they are used for, how to realise them correctly, when to use them or not, etc.) you can watch these two italian videos:

The graphical representation of knowledge - Zamperlin

Compensatory tools and forms - Casadio