Support for students with disabilities

Academic accommodations for students with disabilities or chronic health conditions

Students with disabilities are eligible for academic accommodations so that they can fulfill their innate academic potential without their disabilities impairing their academic achievements.

 Medical authorizations required, per type of disability  

 Visual impairment:  1. A copy of certificate of blindness or certification from the National Insurance Institute (Bituach Leumi).

                                             2. Students with low vision must include a medical opinion specifying their problem and its severity, including a near and distant visual acuity evaluation, both with corrective glasses or contact lenses and without them.                             

 

Hearing impairment:  1. Audiogram indicating hearing level.

                                     2. Medical opinion by an otolaryngologist or speech pathologist.

Disability:  1. Medical findings indicating disability or, alternatively, documents submitted for determining degree of disability (physical/mental).

                   2. Authorization by the National Insurance Institute (Bituach Leumi) or Ministry of Defense including degree of disability.

Chronic health conditions: Medical report from a specialist, including the following information:

1. medical history of the medical limitation
2. credible opinion, valid and current, based on test findings
3. consequences of the limitation on academic function

Approval of accommodations will be considered in accordance with the following principles:

1. Accommodations are intended to mitigate the limitation’s negative impact on student function in academic exams without changing the essence of what is being measured by the exam; for this reason, accommodations are considered per medical diagnosis and in accordance with university academic requirements.
2. Accommodations accepted for matriculation exams are not binding at the university level in determining accommodations in academia.

        

Requests for accommodations on exams may be submitted one month prior to exams through the In-Bar portal as follows:  

Academic assistance for students with disabilities or with chronic health conditions

Academic mentorship

• Students with a disability are eligible for two hours a week of academic mentoring for a fee of 50 ILS per hour.
• Students with a chronic health condition that affects their academic function considerably or prevents them from regular attendance may submit a request to the Office of Student Support and Accessibility for tutoring. Each request shall be considered separately; based on the severity of the issue, several hours a week of tutoring may be granted to the student. Tutoring sessions incur a fee of 50 ILS per hour.

The unit does not grant tutoring for temporary medical conditions such as fractures, surgery, etc.

Requests for academic mentorship may be submitted up to one month prior to exams through the In-Bar portal, as follows: 

Requests and authorizations > Submit a request > Academic mentorship > Request for mentoring for a student with a disability or a chronic health problem

Academic mentorship for students with mental disabilities

The objective of the program is to assist students coping with mental disabilities to achieve academic success and to assist in their integration at the university, as part of their full integration into society. The program offers emotional, social and academic guidance and support. The program is aimed at students with mental disabilities recognized by the National Insurance Institute (Bituach Leumi) and/or the rehabilitation services of the Ministry of Health at a level of 40% medical disability associated with mental disorder.

Students in the program receive discreet mentorship, learning strategies and skills, support with challenges that arise in the academic track, and information on community rehabilitation services. The program is run by NATHAN Nursing and Rehabilitation.

For further details, contact Lior Lieberman-Leitner of NATHAN, Coordinator for academic mentorship of students with mental disabilities. Telephone .... Email....

Technical assistance and accessibility needs

In addition to academic assistance, students with disabilities may obtain technical assistance, such as helping them find their way around the library, transcription of class lectures, read-aloud, recordings, photocopy cards. These services are given primarily as part of the mentorship program.

Additionally, the unit lends FM devices to students who are hard of hearing. 

The Office of Student Support and Accessibility operates in collaboration with the course scheduling unit to arrange accessible classrooms, with the security department for parking arrangements for students with disabilities, and in coordination with Bar-Ilan’s institution-wide accessibility coordinator.

For specific accessibility issues, contact the student advisor for accessibility in the unit.

Academic guidance

Students with disabilities who encounter academic or administrative issues in the course of study, may obtain assistance, advice and guidance through the Department of Student Support and Accessibility’s student advisor.

Learning center

The Office of Student Support and Accessibility operates a learning center accessible to students with disabilities. The Learning Center has spacious study rooms and a computer lab. The unit is also equipped with state-of-the-art technological infrastructure such as CCTVs, braille terminals, magnification software and screen and software readers.

Useful links:

Assessments

MATAL Evaluation, National Institute for Testing and Evaluation:

  https://www.nite.org.il/other-tests/matal/evaluation-institutes/

Professional therapy units at Bar-Ilan

Student Counseling Center: https://www.biu.ac.il/Community/counselling/staff.html

Accessibility

Bar-Ilan University accessibility map: https://www2.biu.ac.il/Dean/meoravut/files/accessibility_map.pdf

Accessible lecture halls at Bar-Ilan: https://www2.biu.ac.il/Dean/meoravut/files/2020/acceb.pdf

On-campus shuttle service: https://tiful.biu.ac.il/node/1198

Nonprofits and organizations

ALEH – nonprofit for the advancement of blind and visually impaired students: http://www.alehblind.org.il

NATHAN – mental health and rehabilitation

The Israel National Insurance Institute (Bituach Leumi) rehabilitation program

Siftach