Zurich
Asperger’s syndrome contrary to the requirements of an art school
A ZHdK student with Asperger’s Syndrome may have to quit her studies because she can’t attend all classes. Management remains inflexible.
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The management of the Zurich art school is inflexible.
20min/Taddeo Cerletti
A 24-year-old bachelor student at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) risks invalidation of her courses and exclusion. The reason? She did not reach the quota of hours of presence required for certain modules, we learn Thursday in the “Wochenzeitung”. She still has a chance before being ex-registered.
A sentence rendered in January which would not be surprising if the student in question did not suffer from Asperger’s syndrome, diagnosed when she was 19 years old. This mental disorder does not diminish the capacities of the person concerned, but can cause difficulties at the relational and social level. In this case, the student regularly needs to isolate herself in order to work in peace. She had therefore requested, with the support of her therapist, that the number of hours of presence required be a little less than for the other students.
Non-negotiable absences
But the school department concerned ultimately proved intractable. No favors will be granted to this student despite her state of health, while many other schools are showing flexibility (see box). In this art school in Zurich, all students must justify at least 80% of hours of presence on site, Punkt. Schluss.
The management of the ZHdK considers that the presence is not negotiable in its school, but does not comment further on this matter for reasons of personality and data protection. The officials had all the same the elegance to suggest to the student concerned “to go to a smaller university, where one could better meet her needs”.
The size of the school or university has nothing to do with the possibility of adapting certain requirements with students suffering from a disability or a health problem. ‘Compensation for disadvantages’ enables schools to adapt the school curriculum to the needs of these pupils. The ZHdK student mentioned above has already been able to benefit from it. Swiss universities, for example, clearly announce the possibilities to the persons concerned on their website. Impossible to find such information on the page of the Zurich University of Art.
(gux/jba)