As part of a memorandum of understanding signed on Friday, SMU will receive help from the Society for the Physically Disabled (SPD) to make life easier for its disabled students via the use of assistive technology, such as voice recognition software, and match them with potential jobs after graduation. Other plans include reviewing the way students with disabilities are tested in class, and how they take part in co-curricular activities and overseas programmes. "No deserving student, staff or faculty should be denied access or opportunities at SMU on the basis of their physical, social, economic, cultural attributes or other backgrounds," said SMU President Arnoud De Meyer. Last January, SMU became the first tertiary institution in Singapore to form a committee to study ways to support students with disabilities. SMU has about 70 students – 1 per cent of its total – with disabilities, including dyslexia, hearing and visual impairments, and physical disabilities such as paralysis of their limbs.