Hearing impairment
Studying with a hearing impairment can be challenging. Here you can find further information and support services for your study programme at ETH Zurich.
What is a hearing impairment?
Hearing impairment is used as the umbrella term for all forms of impairment in connection with hearing: deafness, hardness of hearing, deaf-blindness, hearing loss (classified under ICD-10: H91). There are various degrees of hearing impairment.
Many of those concerned are equipped with hearing aids or hearing implants (cochlear implant) today. Hearing is an essential part of our lives; our communication is based on it. It is all that much more important to ensure corresponding support. Hearing impairment is an invisible impairment. Accordingly, the barriers of people with hearing impairment have to be clarified with care. Thus, people who were born deaf, for example, face different challenges from people who were born with a sense of hearing but went deaf after language acquisition.
What support services are available for those with a hearing impairment?
Counselling & Coaching
Students have the opportunity to make use of the Counselling & Coaching Centre's counselling servicesif required. The aim is often to clarify what technical possibilities exist in the teaching rooms and which contact persons can help.
Technical equipment
Students with a hearing impairment can always bring their technical aids to ETH Zurich and ask the lecturers on site to use their sound field system or pen to ensure that they can participate in class without any problems.
Almost all lecture rooms at ETH Zurich are equipped with induction loops or an infrared system. Please check the room information of the respective lecture room in advance to see what it is equipped with. For infrared systems, our Multimedia Department (MMS) provides additional receivers that you can borrow. Contact the MMS directly so that you can get access the equipment you need.
Factsheet for lecturers
The Download hearing impairment information sheet (PDF, 126 KB) can be used when communicating with lecturers. It summarises the most important effects of a hearing impairment on studying.
Special arrangements
Students with a hearing impairment have the opportunity to apply for special arrangements for performance assessments.