How to Register

NUI Galway Disability Support Service

Who Can Register For Disability Support?

Registration with the Disability Support Service (DSS) is a separate process to registering as a student with NUI Galway.

Students with evidence of a disability, ongoing physical or mental health condition, or a specific learning difficulty can register with the DSS. You only need to register with the DSS once and this remains in place for the duration of your course. You can register for disability support at any point during your studies; however, it is recommended that you register as soon as possible after starting your course or receiving a diagnosis.

If you are returning from a leave of absence or a break in your studies please contact the Disability Support Service to check that your supports are in place.

Why register for Disability Support?

Registration with the DSS allows you to avail of reasonable accommodations during your studies. The most common reasonable accommodations that students avail of are exam accommodations, advice, support, and advocacy, learning support and more.

How to register for Disability Support?

Please follow the three steps below to register with the Disability Support Service:

1. What you need to register

To register with the DSS you must provide verification of your disability, which can either be an Evidence of Disability Form ‌or a Professional Report confirming a diagnosis from the appropriate consultant. Please see the table below for information on the type of report required.

Disability	Report
Autistic Spectrum Disorder	Consultant Psychiatrist OR Psychologist OR Neurologist OR Paediatrician
ADD/ADHD	Consultant Psychiatrist OR Psychologist OR Neurologist OR Paediatrician
Blind/Vision impaired	Ophthalmologist/Ophthalmic Surgeon OR Letter from NCBI OR attended school for the Blind
Deaf/Hard of hearing	Audiogram OR attended school for the Deaf
Neurological Condition	Neurologist OR relevant Consultant
Speech and Language Communication Disorder	Speech and Language Therapist
Physical/Mobility	Orthopaedic Consultant OR relevant Specialist
Developmental Co-ordination Disorder (DCD) Dyspraxia/Dysgraphia	Psychologist OR Occupational Therapist OR Chartered Physiotherapist OR Neurologist
Mental health condition	Consultant Psychiatrist OR Specialist Registrar
Significant Ongoing Illness	Relevant Consultant e.g. Diabetes Type 1: Endocrinologist or Paediatrician
Specific Learning Difficulties (Dyslexia or Dyscalculia)	Educational Psychologist's report

If you do not have the documents listed above, please contact the Disability Support Service for advice at disabilityservice@nuigalway.ie

2. Online Registration Form

All students who wish to register with the Disability Support Service must read this NUIG DSS Data-Protection Notice to understand the roles of confidentiality and consent when processing your personal information.

When you have read the Data-Protection Notice, please complete this online registration form to register with the Disability Support Service.

3. Needs Assessment

After you have completed and submitted the online form, a member of the DSS team will conduct a needs assessment and offer appropriate supports and accommodations.

Needs Assessments will take place by MS Teams Video call, phone or email this year (2020/21), in line with public health advice.

Your supports and accommodations will be set out in a Learning and Educational Needs Summary (LENS) report which will be sent to you and to your College, School or Discipline. Supports and accommodations are approved on the basis of:

the nature and impact of your disability, health condition, or learning difficulty
the requirements of your academic course
national guidelines, for example: the Disability Advisors Working Network (DAWN) guidelines to reasonable accommodations in exams

Mature Students Guide 22 PDF (4MB)

QQI PDF (16 MB)

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