Studying with ADHD – a day at university with Miriam.

Content warning

• ADHD

The short story

Miriam is stressed. The day has already started off horrible because, once again, she’s slept badly and pressed the snooze button on her alarm clock far too many times. Having just arrived at uni, she rushes into the lecture hall where her seminar is about to begin. Introduction to General Literary Studies. As she enters the room, she realises she was supposed to read a long text in preparation. Damn it, she thinks, I forgot it again. I wanted to – it was actually really interesting – but I just can’t manage more than two pages at a time. Then everything gets a bit of a blur and my brain is in complete chaos! Oh well, I’ll just sit down now, listen and hope nobody notices.

But Miriam didn’t actually need to read the whole text. Miriam has ADHD, a disorder affecting activity and attention. Almost nobody at university knows about it, as her condition is invisible. She finds it difficult to concentrate on one thing, is easily distracted and quickly becomes restless when she has to sit still for long periods or wait for a long time. That’s why she’s given more time than others to complete her university assignments. She is also allowed to complete exams in a separate room and take breaks in between to move around. Miriam applied for this so-called ‘compensation for disadvantage’ at the examinations office. Although it wasn’t easy for her to “come out” there, submit a medical report and fill in the forms. She’d also heard at her university’s help centre for students with disabilities that it might be difficult to get such adjustments for ADHD. Many experienced that applications like this were rejected. She was advised to try anyway, as decisions are always made on a case-by-case basis. So she applied for the adjustments – and she actually got them. Only her lecturer never received it. Miriam simply kept forgetting to give it to her. Because there are so many other things swirling round in her head that she can’t always organise properly. Then she remembered it again, but at some point she felt so embarrassed about handing it in in the middle of the semester that she just let it go.

‘Who knows what the point of it is anyway,’ thinks Miriam. ‘When I think back to Professor Meier’s reaction last term…’ She’d sent him her request for compensation for disadvantage well in advance of the upcoming exam. At first he didn’t reply at all, and when she found the courage to speak to him about it after the lecture, he simply snapped, ‘The exam conditions are the same for everyone.’ I really don’t want another unpleasant experience like that, Miriam thinks, as the seminar is already over again. Thankfully, no one noticed this time that she hadn’t read whole text. During the discussion, Miriam simply let the others do the talking.

A break. But once again, hardly time to relax a bit. So many students all talking at once, such a hustle and bustle in the corridors; it’s noisy, with distractions everywhere that you can so easily get caught up in. That’s why Miriam prefers to withdraw; she doesn’t go to the canteen – that noisy hall – but looks for a quiet corner instead. Today is no exception. A bit of peace and quiet to recharge her batteries before carrying on.

The next event is a seminar on poetry. Miriam relaxes a little. This is her favourite seminar to attend. Right at the start of the term, the lecturer, Mr. Schröder, sent an email to everyone in the course: “If you are entitled to compensation for a disadvantage or have any special needs that I can take into account in my seminar, please do get in touch with me.” Miriam hadn’t expected that; no one had ever asked or offered such a thing before. At that moment, she felt so seen and taken seriously that she replied straight away without hesitation. She wasn’t afraid that she wouldn’t be believed or that it would put her at a disadvantage. It took the pressure off, as it was clear from the outset that she would be given more time for the essay she would soon have to write.

The seminar is now in full swing. Some of her fellow students are currently discussing a poem. Miriam realises she’s getting restless and can no longer follow the discussion. At times like this, she often doubts herself. The others are doing all this much better, she thinks whenever she finds herself unable to keep up in the seminar again or hasn’t completed an assignment on time. In reality, Miriam’s grades are above average, but she sometimes finds it hard to see that.

The discussion in the seminar goes right over Miriam’s head. Her nervousness mounts and she starts drumming her fingers on the table. Mr. Schröder smiles briefly and says, “You’re welcome to move around a bit if it helps you stay focused. Or shall we take a short break – three minutes?” Miriam is relieved. That’s just what I needed, she thinks. And the break seems to do the others good too. Afterwards, everyone is much more focused on the task at hand. A short break – a small thing, really, but a great help to Miriam.

Miriam is done. She finds it almost impossible to cope with more than two classes a day. In addition, she sometimes feels a bit strange at university, without being able to say exactly why. Even in the canteen, amidst the loud conversations and hectic movements, she often feels out of place. Despite all this, she enjoys her studies and is passionate about her subject. And every now and then there are moments like today, when Mr. Schröder took her need for a break seriously in the poetry seminar. Little gestures like that give her hope and show her that she’s welcome at uni and that she belongs there. She’s now also found the courage to tell her colleague Ayla about her ADHD. Ayla was surprised at first, but then completely open and understanding. Sometimes they now spend their break together – in a small, quiet café a little way from the canteen.

Miriam is certain that she can get through her degree, even if it isn’t always easy. She just needs a bit more time and lecturers who understand her situation.

This story was originally written in German and translated to English by Helena Hartmann using DeepL. It was written without any help of AI.

The study

Bröder, C., Schwabe, U., Burkhard, J., Gröschl, B., & Hoche, R. (2025). Chancen schaffen, Vielfalt fördern: Studierende mit Beeinträchtigung im Blick. Impulse für eine inklusive Hochschullehre. DZHW. https://doi.org/10.21249/dzhw:inklusivelehre:1.0.0

Used data: Die Studierendenbefragung in Deutschland 2021. Available through the FDZ DZHW: https://doi.org/10.21249/DZHW:sid2021:1.0.1.

Connection between story and study

Many students find themselves in the same situation as Miriam. Almost a quarter have a health condition, which makes studying more difficult for many of them. However, most of these conditions – particularly mental health issues – are invisible and therefore often go unnoticed by lecturers and fellow students.

In the study I conducted together with Ulrike Schwabe, Jannis Burkhard and Benjamin Gröschl, we focused on students with a health impairment at German universities. The findings, which are based on data from a Germany-wide student survey, show that health-related impairments are not at all uncommon among students. Twenty-five per cent of all students have some form of health impairment, whilst 16% state that their impairment makes their studies more difficult. The proportions vary across subject groups, but on average 11–24% of students across all subjects report such a disability. In most cases, the disability is not noticeable to others, or only becomes apparent at a later stage. Mental health conditions are the most common, but mobility, sensory or chronic disabilities, as well as multiple disabilities, are also present.

Although there are no notable differences in academic performance between students with and without disabilities, students with disabilities tend to rate their own abilities as lower. They also feel less well supported by teaching staff and more often feel out of place at university. Almost all report difficulties – with organising their studies, in teaching and during examinations. Most mention problems with the workload. Many find measures to compensate for disadvantages helpful, particularly when it comes to examination problems. However, these measures are rarely asked for, often due to uncertainty as to whether they are even entitled to them, or a lack of awareness that this option exists at all.

Miriam’s fictional story not only illustrates the difficulties that people with health impairments can face whilst studying. It also shows the difference that lecturers can make when, through their attitude and open communication, they demonstrate that inclusive teaching is not just a buzzword for them, but that they actively practise inclusion at university.

The author

Charlotte Bröder is a research assistant in empirical educational research at Free University Berlin. The study was carried out in collaboration with Ulrike Schwabe (DZHW), Jannis Burkhard (DIPF) and Benjamin Gröschl (LMU Munich) and was produced as part of the ‘EQUAL-NET’ project (Inequality across the Life Span – An Interdisciplinary Network of Research-Practice-Partnerships), which was funded by the Federal Ministry for Education, Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (grant number 01JG2305).