“You Need to Be Proactive – That’s How You Get Support”

In fact, the issue affects far more students than you might assume. According to the nationwide best3 survey conducted in 2021, 16 percent of students reported health-related impairments, including 65 percent with mental health conditions.

An Anchor Point on Campus 

Hence, roughly one in six students is affected. One of them is Pascal Tödter. Having lost his sight as a teenager, he moved from Hamburg to study physics at KIT and completed his master’s degree this April. Looking back, he describes his studies as a success story with obstacles along the way: “Studying as a blind person is not easy. Finding your way around campus and university buildings can be just as challenging as dealing with handwritten lecture notes or lectures that are difficult to follow.”

At Access∂KIT, formerly the Study Center for the Visually Impaired, Pascal found an achor point. There, his study materials were adapted into accessible formats, he found a quiet place to learn and connect with others and even contributed to research projects as a student assistant. His advice for new students: “Take part in the preparatory courses as well as in orientation week – the contacts you make there may stay with you throughout your entire degree program.” And his golden rule, not just when dealing with support services: “You need to be proactive – that’s how you get support.”

Trust as a Foundation

Angelika Scherwitz-Gallegos is KIT’s Representative for Students with Disabilities and Chronic Diseases. Since 2010, she has helped students find individualized support solutions for everyday academic life and, when necessary, connects them with additional services. Trust, says the person-centered counselor, is the key to her work: “We provide a protected space where students can say everything they need to say. I neither judge nor decide.”

One frequent topic in counseling is the so-called compensation for disadvantages (Nachteilsausgleich), a main instrument for ensuring equal opportunities in higher education. According to Scherwitz-Gallegos, many students struggle with the complexity of the application process. She therefore advocates for a greater awareness of students’ needs as well as stronger networking and visibility among support services: “The biggest barriers still lie in people's minds, not in physical structures.”

Find help – and ask for it

At the AStA student union, the focus is on approachable guidance and personal support. In her consultation hours at the Equal Opportunities Department, Alisa Eisele often begins by simply listening to affected students before connecting them with further sources of assistance.

Alisa is also critical of how compensation for disadvantages is currently handled: “There is no KIT-wide standard and only little transparency.” According to her, this leads to mental health issues sometimes not taken seriously. Together with Angelika Scherwitz-Gallegos and the Anti-Discrimination Office, the department is working on more binding regulations. Alisa’s advice: “Stay on top of it, stand up for your rights – and speak up if necessary.”

Taking matters into one’s own hands 

KIT university group Flux shows that support can also emerge from students themselves. Their approach: to create a safe space and a place of connection for those who feel overwhelmed or isolated in everyday university life due to their neurodivergent ways of perceiving and reacting. “At the same time,” says Hannah Günther, who co-founded Flux two years ago, “we want to encourage people to reflect on the possibility that it might not just be that some minds work differently from others', but also that social structures and labels are part of the issue.”

Around 50 members – some regular, some casual – give shape to this blend of haven and advocacy – from game and discussion evenings to outings and workshops, all the way to events like the recently held Flux Flausch Day at downtown Karlsruhe.

Justus Hartlieb, May 28, 2026

Resources for KIT Students with Disabilities and Chronic Diseases