For prospective students
Studying and Participating – Information for You
You’re interested in studying or taking part in projects, and you have a disability. You want to know what opportunities are available and what support you can get. Inclusion doesn’t just mean being present – it means you can learn independently, participate actively, and use your strengths.
What the Situation Looks Like
Many universities, educational institutions, and theater projects are still not fully prepared for students or participants with disabilities. Often, workspaces or rehearsal rooms are not accessible, and there is a lack of assistance, specialized support, or adapted learning opportunities. Still, there are more and more projects and institutions showing that inclusion works when the right structures are in place.
What Can Help You
To learn and participate successfully, the following support can make a big difference:
- Individual support plans: These show what assistance you need, which barriers to avoid, and what your strengths are.
- Assistance and professional guidance: Tutors, assistants, or special educators support you in courses, projects, or rehearsals. Psychologists can help if you need guidance.
- Accessible spaces and equipment: Accessible workspaces, quiet rooms, technical aids, or sensory rooms make it easier for you to focus and participate.
- Flexible arrangements: Longer times for tasks, smaller groups, clear instructions, and visual aids help you understand and complete tasks better.
- Using your strengths: Tasks and roles are assigned so you can show your talents and contribute meaningfully.
- Long-term perspectives: Partnerships with universities or networks can help you progress and plan your future.
Why This Matters
You want to develop your strengths, gain experience, and access new opportunities—whether in studies, projects, or theater. With accessible spaces, individual support, and inclusive structures, you can participate on an equal footing and show your potential.
You can actively contribute, learn, be creative, and take your future into your own hands—and more and more opportunities are becoming available for people like you.
- Published in For students
For Schools
Inclusive Educational Structures for Prospective Students with Disabilities – Key Considerations for Educational Institutions
Inclusive education for prospective students with disabilities requires a well-designed and structurally embedded system that responds to the individual needs of all participants. It is strictly unacceptable to place prospective students with disabilities into existing groups without appropriate organizational, personnel, and didactic adjustments. Inclusion does not mean mere presence; it means equitable, needs-based participation.
A meaningful approach may be to establish two parallel groups—one with enhanced support and one following the standard program—and to gradually bring them together once suitable conditions, trust, and stability have been established. The guiding principle should be: from small steps to broader integration.
1. Taking Individual Needs into Account Holistically
Inclusion begins with the learning environment and goes far beyond structural accessibility. In addition to ramps and elevators, educational institutions serving prospective students with disabilities should provide:
- Quiet and recovery rooms for sensory regulation and rest
- Separate learning, working, and retreat spaces, adjusted to individual capacity and stamina
- Clearly defined areas and responsibilities to support orientation and a sense of security
Equally essential is professional and interdisciplinary support, including:
- Assistants, tutors, and learning facilitators
- Psychologists for neurotypical and neurodivergent prospective students, as well as for their families
- Special education and inclusion specialists to adapt curricula, assessment formats, and teaching methods
All participants should be supported on the basis of individual development and support plans. Learning activities, exercises, and courses must offer alternatives, flexible pathways, and reasonable accommodations.
Digital accessibility—including websites, application procedures, information materials, and learning platforms—is an integral part of an inclusive education system.
2. Differentiation According to Support Needs
Prospective students with physical disabilities may require:
- Barrier-free access and secure transportation
- Clear regulations regarding insurance and liability
- Qualified personal assistance
- Individually adapted schedules for learning, breaks, and recovery
Prospective students with mental, psychological, or neurodivergent conditions benefit from:
- Clearly structured, plain language and translation where needed
- Visual supports such as infographics and step-by-step schedules
- Additional time, increased space, and smaller group sizes
- Sensory rooms and assistive technologies
- Preparation for group work, presentations, and examination settings
- Continuous support from psychologists and special education professionals
A particularly effective instrument is the development of individualized needs-and-strengths profiles (“cases”) for each prospective student, documenting:
- Required supports and accommodations
- Triggers, stressors, or formats to be avoided
- Personal strengths, interests, and resources
These profiles can also be used in the long term for applications to universities, higher education institutions, and funding programs.
Blind and visually impaired prospective students require:
- Clear tactile, acoustic, and digital orientation systems within buildings
- Personal assistance and fully accessible information formats
3. Contributions of Organizations Within Future Funding Frameworks
Within national and international funding schemes, educational organizations and institutions can contribute in particular by offering:
- Training and qualification programs for assistants and learning facilitators
- The development, implementation, and maintenance of needs-based individualized support cases
- Strength-oriented programs that identify, develop, and prepare existing competencies for academic study and higher education pathways
Conclusion
Inclusive education for prospective students with disabilities is a long-term developmental process, not a one-time measure. It requires resources, expertise, and a clear institutional commitment: diversity in abilities and needs is not an obstacle, but a foundation for a fair, resilient, and future-oriented educational landscape.
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For Theaters
Across Europe, the inclusion of actors with disabilities is still insufficiently implemented in many theaters. While many venues are accessible for audiences, stages, rehearsal rooms, backstage areas, and workplaces for actors with disabilities often remain inaccessible. Reliable data on professional accessibility for performing artists is lacking, but research shows that inclusive workplaces are still the exception rather than the rule.
Some theaters and ensembles are already implementing sustainable inclusive structures, such as the RambaZamba Theater in Berlin, which provides professional workspaces for actors with disabilities. These examples demonstrate that theater inclusion is possible when it is systematically planned and supported.
What Theaters Can Do
To promote inclusive theater work, venues should:
- Create individual support profiles for actors, documenting needs, barriers, and strengths.
- Provide assistants, tutors, special educators, and psychologists to support actors during rehearsals and performances.
- Ensure physical accessibility of stages, dressing rooms, rehearsal and retreat spaces (ramps, elevators, wide pathways, quiet rooms, technical aids).
- Design flexible processes and role allocations, taking different needs into account—e.g., longer rehearsal times, smaller groups, visual aids, and clear instructions.
- Offer staff training in inclusive methods, communication, and support systems.
- Build cooperation with inclusive networks, universities, and funding programs to create long-term opportunities for actors with disabilities.
Perspective
Inclusive theater work is an ongoing process that requires time, resources, and commitment. The goal is to remove barriers, foster individual strengths, and enable equal participation. With systematic planning and practical adjustments, every theater can become a space where diversity, creativity, and artistic quality come together.
- Published in For theatre
