About the CDD

General information 

The CDD of the University of Groningen is the place that students can go to in case of reading and spelling difficulties. Students will be referred to us via the Student Service Center. They will be tested at the CDDr on the spelling and reading difficulties they encounter. This contact with the SSC and registration at the SSC is necessary in case of an unaccepted dyslexia report or in case you notice that reading and studying take much more time when compared to fellow students without reading and spelling difficulties. 

A previous dyslexia report can for example be denied in case it is incomplete or in case a BIG registration is missing. In such cases you qualify for a re-evaluation of your reading and spelling difficulties. In the event you do not have a former diagnosis, you can send the SSC an email explaining the problems you experience. The SSC will send their referral to us. 

How do we work?

In the event we receive your referral from the student dean of the SSC, you as a student can contact us. We try to answer your email as soon as possible, sending you an invitation for the first appointment. This first appointment is an intake interview lasting for approximately 45 minutes. This interview usually takes place online. During this intake interview we will ask you everything we need to know about your past and current reading and spelling problems, such as: since when do you experience these problems, and do you experience only reading or spelling problems or both etc. After this intake interview, we will summarize all the information and write it down. We will also invite you for a follow up appointment. 

During this follow up appointment that lasts approximately 1,5 hours, you will be tested on relevant skills that are necessary in order to determine the dyslexia diagnosis. We will always test reading and spelling, but also some other skills, like phonological awareness and rapid naming. This appointment takes place in our office in the harmony building that is located in the city center of Groningen. 

After this second appointment, we will finish your report with all the information that we gathered from you. After finishing the report, you will be contacted by us to schedule an evaluation interview. During this evaluation we will discuss your results and you will be provided with some advice and some tips & tricks. You can send this report to the student counselor from the SSC afterwards. 

Adjustments/aids for students with dyslexia statement

If the diagnosis shows that you have dyslexia, you will receive a dyslexia statement. With a dyslexia declaration you can get extra time for taking exams, and you will not be deducted points for spelling errors in written assignments. Since students with dyslexia need more time to read, extra time during exams would help students with dyslexia to not fall behind other students and finish their study on time. 

What are the costs? 

The goal of the CDD is to help students with a presumption of dyslexia at low costs, because we know that students usually have a lower budget. That is why we agreed with the University of Groningen that most costs will be covered by the university itself. We ask for a small contribution from the student, 100 euros in case of a full examination and 50 euros in case of a re-evaluation. A full examination will be done in case there is no former dyslexia report. In case the student is in possession of a former dyslexia diagnosis and report we will do the re-evaluation.