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I am not sure if my question is relative to this meta but I still want to put forth my thoughts and concerns and questions because I think its not just me but others too who have similar issues.

My concerns mostly revolve around students with mental and learning disabilities in academia and specifically from undergraduate level and upwards.

What kind of learning paths they should adopt?
How should teachers modify courses for them?
What would be criteria for their scholarships?

For it to be more clear and explicit I am going to use myself as an example.

I got admitted into this graduate programme for theoretical computer science two years ago. In both of my semesters from the first year, I would find myself completely lost in whatever I was doing even in the topics and subjects which I was confident about. I showed my concerns to my professors after a couple of discussions with them I decided to take relevant Bachelors courses which would improve my basics. So I did that but I had to go through same difficulties in them so again after introspection and discussions with fellow academics, I enrolled myself officially into Bachelors but same problems exist even now.

Recently I(27) have been diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD I don't know how I am going to efficiently continue my academic career. My university is going to be helpful in terms of time required to finish my degree, but having to do Bachelors again from 1st world country after moving from 3rd world country is not economical at all and getting scholarships is not something you can be surely definite about. Most of the scholarships I have found they don't support my requirements (having to finish degree in longer time). So I want to know how to tackle such situations in European education systems because scholarships comes with responsibility of maintaining sufficient credits? So should there be a leniency in scholarships for such students?

In my courses I have always felt that I need more time to finish assignments in order to have a good grasp of concepts but considering the disability I have and reports from my doctors I have only gotten to have extra time in the assignments not what I actually have proposed. So I want to ask that does my need justify my demand? Because I have found this in repetition that more time on exams seems not that of useful if I have not grasped concepts properly, since I would be spending time just to get bare minimum marks so that I have enough average before the exam for each course.

Now I am at the point where I have passed two analysis(real) courses, one combinatorics course and I this loop of thinking is not stopping that as the courses get more advanced I don't know what to do because its just that I did not get to have a grasp of proofs properly. I have already revisited concepts and proofs from my combinatorics course twice with solving problems but whenever I look at same things after sometime I can't even recall definitions that I have to reread whole topic or sometimes chapter. I know I am still an amateur in this regard but blanking on definitions is a concern IMO after you have passed a course and repeated it. So such students should be given leniency according to their need? I ask this because a lot teachers put emphasis on time for homework when classes begin.

I told and asked this because I do math for passion and I want to do it right(not perfect), perfect is what you strive for.

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    $\begingroup$ Is this about mathematics only is is it more general? Have you looked into academia.stackexchange.com? $\endgroup$
    – J W
    Jan 18, 2022 at 6:03
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    $\begingroup$ Also, you might find that you need to ask questions in separate posts to get more focused answers. I see learning path recommendations, course modification and scholarship criteria. Each could be a post in its own right. $\endgroup$
    – J W
    Jan 18, 2022 at 6:15
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    $\begingroup$ Additionally, mental health and learning disabilities is a very broad area to ask about. Answers could be different depending on the specific issue, unless you are thinking of general answers such as allowing more time to complete educational requirements. $\endgroup$
    – J W
    Jan 18, 2022 at 6:22

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At my university, students with learning challenges receive extra time during exams. Based on this, I can tell you that there are quite a number of them in the math courses that I have taught. Some of these students have specifically dyslexia and ADHD that you mentioned. My conclusion would be that these conditions are not insurmountable obstacles to obtaining a degree in mathematics. On the other hand, you also mention forgetting definitions. This is not necessarily a medical problem; if a student has not grasped the meaning of a definition, it can certainly be easily forgotten. My impression is that if your medical authority rules out memory problems of a more serious kind, by all means you should be encouraged to work on obtaining a degree... Hope I answered at least one of your questions.

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  • $\begingroup$ Thanks, @T_is... $\endgroup$ Jun 14, 2023 at 10:26

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