Boris Janča has worked in the centre since 2012, with a one-year gap. Originally a project manager, he was ultimately the secretary, playing an active role in the management of the centre. When the former head of Teiresiás Petr Peňáz announced retirement, Janča applied for the position and was selected from a group of candidates. He received the appointment decree in September.
“Working on the very first project for Teiresiás I got to know the operation of the centre and the university as such, as well as other institutions involved in assisting people with disabilities. During the one-year gap when I worked in the VIDA! Science Centre I was actively involved in the matters of accessibility of the buildings as such but also the contents,” Janča explains.
You have been involved in the management of Teiresiás for years. Are you planning any major changes?
Definitely not. I see my new role as the opportunity or responsibility to continue what I had helped start. We still have a lot of work to do. Accessibility is not something you achieve once and than move on from. It is a continuous process.
What are the current challenges with respect to the support of students with special needs?
The key challenge is that the number of students who are our clients is increasing, and the spectrum of the clientele is changing as well. Before 2015, most of our clients were students with what we can call “traditional” – sensory and mobility – disabilities. But today, most of them have invisible disabilities, such as learning disabilities, autistic spectrum disorders, chronic somatic illnesses and mental health conditions. Right now we have over 600 students with these diagnoses, compared with 150 clients with sensory or mobility impairments. The numbers are growing and they will continue to grow. We have to be able to respond to this trend, while retaining the capabilities we have managed to build so far.
Any ideas how to deal with this scenario?
It is really a major group of students, and the increasing numbers bring along increased demands in terms of capacities and potential measures. I would not say the solution lies in hiring of more staff at our centre or other institutions of the university specialising in the mental health of students. There are opportunities to change the environment and the teaching process so that most of these needs are resolved at the faculty level and within the standard teaching environment and examinations.
How?
It is not a single thing and it needs to be carefully organised. I think the university often creates stress when it doesn't need to. This includes working under significant time pressure during exams. I’m not suggesting that time limits should be completely removed, because they play a role in certain exams. However, it does not have to be applied for all exams. Certain fields of study are potential candidates for adjustments; some exams are more important and should have time limits, while others can be taken in a more relaxed setting without the pressure of time. This would allow us to have a standard regime of examination without special measures for students who routinely need the assistance of our centre, for example due to the need to extend the time needed for their exam, adjustments to the environment or the opportunity to use highlighters.
The introduction of extended exam times, smaller groups or the opportunity to use noise-cancelling headphones or to have items on the desk what help the student relax or gain more confidence would make the standard examination regime accessible to students who now need our help in organising special regimes and environments for their exams, mostly due to anxiety, generally slower pace or attention disorders. This requires coordination with faculties and teachers and overall consensus. I would like to collaborate with the CERPEK centre on adjusting the teaching processes in situations where the measures make sense, and where they do not contradict the principles of the university. We also need to “prepare” teachers for the changes.
According to foreign surveys university studies are intentionally designed to be stressful, similar to the work environment. This would help us lower the stress levels for all students and help them get their degrees successfully.
That is a major challenge. How is the university doing with respect to the “traditional” needs, such as physical accessibility of classrooms?
Since the centre was founded many major issues have been resolved. However since there are over two hundred buildings and many of them are very old there is still room for improvement. Not everything can be done, though. It comes down to the purpose, duration and location of the visit and the nature of the impairment. All faculties and “central buildings” have step-free access, but not all parts of the step-free access buildings are actually accessible. There are accessible toilets everywhere, but sometimes there is only one per building and getting there can be complicated. There are other issues with respect to sensory impairments, and we are working on them.
Is there systematic approach to the improvement of these issues?
Timing is very important when it comes to ensuring accessibility for people with disabilities – both in new buildings and renovations. We do not want to repeat previous mistakes. We are involved in the preparation of project (albeit only as advisors, and not all of our comments are acknowledged). Sometimes it makes me sad because I think that, being a modern university, Masaryk University could have an ambition to offer comfortable environment for students and faculty members with disabilities like those Stephen Hawking had.
Teiresiás is a support centre for students with special needs. Employees can have special needs too. Is anyone helping them?
Indeed, the name of our centre is misleading because we are here for MU employees with special needs as well.
I should also say that students with special needs are not our only partner in the teaching process. We provide assistance to the teaching staff as well. Thanks to our support teachers do not have to worry as much about the special needs of their students, such as sign language interpreting, adjustments to the examination process. We make the process simpler for everyone.
We definitely want to help employees with special needs as well. We have some experience with that because of our doctoral students. We help them ensure suitable conditions for research, teaching or conferences, which some employees with physical or mental health conditions may need. It is and it will continue to be a key element of responsibility with regard to equal treatment and mutual benefits, among other things. The university will be able to retain its employee who, due to their age-related needs and worsening hearing or eyesight, might feel like they will no longer be able to do their job. And there is the issue of providing quality services to visiting teachers or lecturers, who may also have specific disabilities. Recently, we have observed that some employees view their disability as a stigma, or they simply may not be aware that they can reach out to us for help.