{"id":182779,"date":"2025-10-24T08:00:13","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T06:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/erfaren-underviser-saadan-tager-jeg-hensyn-til-studerende-med-saerlige-behov\/"},"modified":"2025-10-27T13:11:48","modified_gmt":"2025-10-27T12:11:48","slug":"supporting-students-with-special-needs-one-lecturers-approach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/supporting-students-with-special-needs-one-lecturers-approach\/","title":{"rendered":"Supporting students with special needs: One lecturer\u2019s approach"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Kim Ebensgaard starts teaching a new class, he knows that at least one student will come up to him afterwards to tell him that they have special needs. This could be due to physical challenges such as impaired vision, or mental health conditions like autism, ADHD or social anxiety.<\/p>\n

Kim Ebensgaard is an associate professor of English at the Department of English, Germanic and Romance Studies, where he teaches grammar and linguistics. He has been employed at the University of Copenhagen (UCPH) since 2016, but has taught at university level for over 20 years. During that period, he has noticed a clear increase in the number of students who require special support in their studies.<\/p>\n

\u00bbI get the sense that there are more students with diagnoses and special needs, and that in itself is a good thing. It means there\u2019s less stigma around it, and that students feel they can speak openly about their needs,\u00ab he says.<\/p>\n

Soaring demand for support<\/h3>\n

Kim Ebensgaard\u2019s experiences reflect a broader societal trend. The number of university students receiving support through the Danish special educational support scheme SPS has risen dramatically. In 2020, 5,103 Danish university students received SPS support. By 2024, that number had grown to 10,109. The largest growth is among students with mental health conditions and dyslexia.<\/p>\n

SPS is a government support scheme available to students with documented special needs to ensure they can follow teaching on an equal footing with others. Support can consist of things like mentors, supporting staff and technical aids \u2014 but it has also been criticised for being difficult to apply for and hard to manage.<\/p>\n

In a major inclusion survey published by UCPH this summer, several staff members pointed out that they neither have the time nor the expertise to support students with special needs.<\/p>\n

One staff member wrote:<\/p>\n

\u00bbI lack the training and an overview of how much time I can\/should spend on students with special needs.\u00ab<\/p>\n

A student stated in the survey:<\/p>\n

\u00bbIt took a year to get approved for SPS support and a subject tutor (!). By the time I got it, I was mentally exhausted and academically burnt out.\u00ab<\/p>\n

The National Audit Office of Denmark recently criticized<\/a> two Danish government ministries for their management of the SPS scheme. According to the report, 51 per cent of students who start university do not receive the support they need in time.<\/p>\n

READ ALSO:<\/strong> The University of Copenhagen\u2019s inclusion survey: This is what surprised us<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Demanding teaching task<\/h3>\n

Kim Ebensgaard says he always tries to accommodate students\u2019 different needs in his teaching. But that requires knowing what these needs are:<\/p>\n

\u00bbI can make ad hoc adjustments in the classroom that aren\u2019t too demanding. But that depends on me knowing that there is a need. And as the number of students with special needs increases, we teachers also need formal training,\u00ab he says.
\n
\nUCPH offers courses in inclusive teaching, which Kim Ebensgaard is well aware of. But he himself has not yet had the chance to attend a course yet.<\/p>\n

\u00bbIf you are teaching staff and want to attend a course, it takes extra hours \u2014 and you don\u2019t always have them.\u00ab<\/p>\n

So far, he has relied on his many years of experience. But it’s easier to adapt your teaching when you have a small class than when you’re standing in front of 150 students in an auditorium, he says:<\/p>\n

\u00bbYou have to constantly pay attention to who needs what. As a teacher, you need to be aware of the academic content and of the pedagogical tools you need to use to reach your students. You can’t just repeat the same teaching format every time \u2014 people learn in different ways. It takes an extra level of awareness.\u00ab<\/p>\n

He has also taught classes with students who have differing and conflicting needs.<\/p>\n

\u00bbSometimes you just have to say: First we go through the material one way \u2014 and then another. That means you spend twice as much time on one type of content and have to cut back elsewhere. It doesn\u2019t wreck the teaching, but it does mean that the old methods you\u2019ve been using for years will probably need to be updated.\u00ab<\/p>\n

Kim Ebensgaard encourages lecturers to reconsider what it really means to participate actively in class. For some students \u2014 especially those with social anxiety \u2014 speaking in front of others can be a huge hurdle. But they can still be active in other ways:<\/p>\n

\u00bbIf a student with social anxiety shows up, has read the material, does the in-class exercises and can ask me questions one-on-one \u2014 shouldn\u2019t that count just as much as raising your hand in front of everyone? There has to be space for students with social anxiety to ask me questions privately.\u00ab<\/p>\n

A welcome challenge<\/h3>\n

In many ways, Kim Ebensgaard welcomes the challenge. It forces him to rethink his teaching, and it also makes the material more interesting for him personally.<\/p>\n

\u00bbBut,\u00ab he adds, \u00bbit\u2019s obvious that if you\u2019re under pressure, it\u2019s easiest to be able to use the same material over and over, in the same way. If a teacher is under pressure and doesn\u2019t have the time to adapt the teaching, it can throw off the entire semester.\u00ab<\/p>\n

There has to be space for students with social anxiety to ask me questions privately.<\/p>\n

Kim Ebensgaard, Associate Professor of English<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u00bbWith experience comes routine and tricks for saving time. As a brand-new teacher, you don\u2019t have that routine or experience, and it takes more time to prepare teaching for a diverse classroom. I can imagine it could be overwhelming early in your career if you\u2019re not an experienced lecturer.\u00ab<\/p>\n

Some semesters, he has had students who only revealed their special needs late in the course. That makes it hard to accommodate them.<\/p>\n

\u00bbSometimes I wonder if I\u2019m letting some students slip through the cracks. Classrooms have always been diverse \u2014 we\u2019ve just become more aware of that diversity. But the increasing need means that lecturers have to be more conscious of it and spend more time on planning. That can be tough.\u00ab<\/p>\n

He finds that many students need more structure than what the university typically offers.<\/p>\n

\u00bbIt\u2019s important to them that the entire syllabus is published up front. That\u2019s manageable with courses that run regularly, but with new courses, it can become a source of stress for the lecturer.\u00ab<\/p>\n

Part of teaching training<\/h3>\n

Bente Stallknecht, who is dean and UCPH spokesperson for diversity, has previously told the University Post that the university is working to make inclusive teaching part of the academic teacher training programme. The goal is to better equip lecturers to meet students\u2019 diverse needs.<\/p>\n

Kim Ebensgaard supports this initiative \u2014 as long as it doesn\u2019t interfere with academic freedom.<\/p>\n

\u00bbOne of the things that allows us to accommodate students\u2019 different needs is the freedom in terms of how we teach. That\u2019s what lets us be flexible and use ad hoc solutions that work.\u00ab<\/p>\n

READ ALSO:<\/strong> Management: The University of Copenhagen still excludes international voices<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

This article was first written in Danish and published on 22 October 2025. It has been translated into English and post-edited by Mike Young.<\/em>
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needs","text":"This is a story about what will follow","use_post_excerpt":true},{"acf_fc_layout":"Byline","is_author":true,"contributors":false},{"acf_fc_layout":"Content","content":"<p>When Kim Ebensgaard starts teaching a new class, he knows that at least one student will come up to him afterwards to tell him that they have special needs. This could be due to physical challenges such as impaired vision, or mental health conditions like autism, ADHD or social anxiety.<\/p>\n<p>Kim Ebensgaard is an associate professor of English at the Department of English, Germanic and Romance Studies, where he teaches grammar and linguistics. He has been employed at the University of Copenhagen (UCPH) since 2016, but has taught at university level for over 20 years. During that period, he has noticed a clear increase in the number of students who require special support in their studies.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbI get the sense that there are more students with diagnoses and special needs, and that in itself is a good thing. It means there\u2019s less stigma around it, and that students feel they can speak openly about their needs,\u00ab he says.<\/p>\n<h3>Soaring demand for support<\/h3>\n<p>Kim Ebensgaard\u2019s experiences reflect a broader societal trend. The number of university students receiving support through the Danish special educational support scheme SPS has risen dramatically. In 2020, 5,103 Danish university students received SPS support. By 2024, that number had grown to 10,109. The largest growth is among students with mental health conditions and dyslexia.<\/p>\n<p>SPS is a government support scheme available to students with documented special needs to ensure they can follow teaching on an equal footing with others. Support can consist of things like mentors, supporting staff and technical aids \u2014 but it has also been criticised for being difficult to apply for and hard to manage.<\/p>\n<p>In a major inclusion survey published by UCPH this summer, several staff members pointed out that they neither have the time nor the expertise to support students with special needs.<\/p>\n<p>One staff member wrote:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbI lack the training and an overview of how much time I can\/should spend on students with special needs.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p>A student stated in the survey:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbIt took a year to get approved for SPS support and a subject tutor (!). By the time I got it, I was mentally exhausted and academically burnt out.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/support-for-students-with-disabilities-arrives-too-late-ministries-criticised\/\">National Audit Office of Denmark recently criticized<\/a> two Danish government ministries for their management of the SPS scheme. According to the report, 51 per cent of students who start university do not receive the support they need in time.<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ ALSO:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/the-university-of-copenhagens-inclusion-survey-this-is-what-surprised-us\/\"><em>The University of Copenhagen\u2019s inclusion survey: This is what surprised us<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Demanding teaching task<\/h3>\n<p>Kim Ebensgaard says he always tries to accommodate students\u2019 different needs in his teaching. But that requires knowing what these needs are:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbI can make ad hoc adjustments in the classroom that aren\u2019t too demanding. But that depends on me knowing that there is a need. And as the number of students with special needs increases, we teachers also need formal training,\u00ab he says.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Image","image":{"ID":182734,"id":182734,"title":"DSC_2955","filename":"dsc_2955.jpg","filesize":310601,"url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/dsc_2955.jpg","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/erfaren-underviser-saadan-tager-jeg-hensyn-til-studerende-med-saerlige-behov\/dsc_2955\/","alt":"","author":"109","description":"Lektor i engelsk Kim Ebengaard ","caption":"","name":"dsc_2955","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":182635,"date":"2025-10-21 11:55:10","modified":"2025-10-21 11:55:52","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1024,"height":1417,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/dsc_2955-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/dsc_2955-480x664.jpg","medium-width":480,"medium-height":664,"medium_large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/dsc_2955-768x1063.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":1063,"large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/dsc_2955.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":1417,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/dsc_2955.jpg","1536x1536-width":1024,"1536x1536-height":1417,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/dsc_2955.jpg","2048x2048-width":1024,"2048x2048-height":1417,"featured-soft":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/dsc_2955-290x401.jpg","featured-soft-width":290,"featured-soft-height":401,"featured-hard":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/dsc_2955-290x180.jpg","featured-hard-width":290,"featured-hard-height":180,"narrow":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/dsc_2955-700x969.jpg","narrow-width":700,"narrow-height":969,"extended":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/dsc_2955-990x1370.jpg","extended-width":990,"extended-height":1370}},"style":"extended","text_placement":"metadata-below","image_link_url":"","image_link_title":"","caption_prefix":"","enable_alternative_caption":false,"alternative_caption":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"Content","content":"<p>UCPH offers courses in inclusive teaching, which Kim Ebensgaard is well aware of. But he himself has not yet had the chance to attend a course yet.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbIf you are teaching staff and want to attend a course, it takes extra hours \u2014 and you don\u2019t always have them.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p>So far, he has relied on his many years of experience. But it’s easier to adapt your teaching when you have a small class than when you’re standing in front of 150 students in an auditorium, he says:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbYou have to constantly pay attention to who needs what. As a teacher, you need to be aware of the academic content and of the pedagogical tools you need to use to reach your students. You can’t just repeat the same teaching format every time \u2014 people learn in different ways. It takes an extra level of awareness.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p>He has also taught classes with students who have differing and conflicting needs.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbSometimes you just have to say: First we go through the material one way \u2014 and then another. That means you spend twice as much time on one type of content and have to cut back elsewhere. It doesn\u2019t wreck the teaching, but it does mean that the old methods you\u2019ve been using for years will probably need to be updated.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p>Kim Ebensgaard encourages lecturers to reconsider what it really means to participate actively in class. For some students \u2014 especially those with social anxiety \u2014 speaking in front of others can be a huge hurdle. But they can still be active in other ways:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbIf a student with social anxiety shows up, has read the material, does the in-class exercises and can ask me questions one-on-one \u2014 shouldn\u2019t that count just as much as raising your hand in front of everyone? There has to be space for students with social anxiety to ask me questions privately.\u00ab<\/p>\n<h3>A welcome challenge<\/h3>\n<p>In many ways, Kim Ebensgaard welcomes the challenge. It forces him to rethink his teaching, and it also makes the material more interesting for him personally.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbBut,\u00ab he adds, \u00bbit\u2019s obvious that if you\u2019re under pressure, it\u2019s easiest to be able to use the same material over and over, in the same way. If a teacher is under pressure and doesn\u2019t have the time to adapt the teaching, it can throw off the entire semester.\u00ab<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>There has to be space for students with social anxiety to ask me questions privately.<\/p>\n<p class=\"quotee\">Kim Ebensgaard, Associate Professor of English<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u00bbWith experience comes routine and tricks for saving time. As a brand-new teacher, you don\u2019t have that routine or experience, and it takes more time to prepare teaching for a diverse classroom. I can imagine it could be overwhelming early in your career if you\u2019re not an experienced lecturer.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p>Some semesters, he has had students who only revealed their special needs late in the course. That makes it hard to accommodate them.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbSometimes I wonder if I\u2019m letting some students slip through the cracks. Classrooms have always been diverse \u2014 we\u2019ve just become more aware of that diversity. But the increasing need means that lecturers have to be more conscious of it and spend more time on planning. That can be tough.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p>He finds that many students need more structure than what the university typically offers.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbIt\u2019s important to them that the entire syllabus is published up front. That\u2019s manageable with courses that run regularly, but with new courses, it can become a source of stress for the lecturer.\u00ab<\/p>\n<h3>Part of teaching training<\/h3>\n<p>Bente Stallknecht, who is dean and UCPH spokesperson for diversity, has previously told the University Post that the university is working to make inclusive teaching part of the academic teacher training programme. The goal is to better equip lecturers to meet students\u2019 diverse needs.<\/p>\n<p>Kim Ebensgaard supports this initiative \u2014 as long as it doesn\u2019t interfere with academic freedom.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbOne of the things that allows us to accommodate students\u2019 different needs is the freedom in terms of how we teach. That\u2019s what lets us be flexible and use ad hoc solutions that work.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ ALSO:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/dean-the-university-of-copenhagen-still-excludes-international-voices\/\"><em>Management: The University of Copenhagen still excludes international voices<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>This article was first written in Danish and published on 22 October 2025. It has been translated into English and post-edited by Mike Young.<\/em><\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"ArticleEnd"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Newsletter","lang_select":"en","identifier":"Newsletter","headline":"Send me an email with upcoming events at the University of Copenhagen and top stories","button_text":"Sign up here","class":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"OtherStories","headline":"","hand_picked_posts":false,"references":false,"category":false,"theme":false,"number_of_posts":"4","style":"default"}]},"taxonomyData":{"category":[{"term_id":42,"name":"Education","slug":"education","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":42,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":661,"filter":"raw"}],"post_tag":[],"post_format":[],"expression":[{"term_id":15,"name":"News Article","slug":"news_article","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15,"taxonomy":"expression","description":"","parent":0,"count":11485,"filter":"raw"}],"translation_priority":[{"term_id":5468,"name":"Optional","slug":"optional-en","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":5468,"taxonomy":"translation_priority","description":"","parent":0,"count":672,"filter":"raw"}]},"featured_media_url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/dsc_2955.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/109"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=182779"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182779\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":182970,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182779\/revisions\/182970"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/182735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=182779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=182779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=182779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}