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Prospective student with autism

I am considering university, but I am autistic. Can anyone tell me what sorts of issues an autistic student may face and what kind of support I might reasonably be able to expect?

I am a mature student (aged 30 by the time I start) and I will be living off-campus and studying part time.

Reply 1

morecambebay

The thing about autism is that it effects everybody differently. You should apply for disabled students allowance and as part of that process you will meet with an advisor who will assess exactly what help you need. To be honest though, you should allready know..I mean, surely you understand what you find difficult. This is the advice the NAS gives http://www.autism.org.uk/living-with-autism/education/further-and-higher-education.aspx

Reply 2

Hala.

I'm an autistic person and I've applied for the disabled students allowance. I've had a needs assessment and I will be getting a mentor for the first term (to help me adjust to the changes and with any problems I may have), possibly a 'student buddy' (although I'm not that keen on this idea...) and may get practical instructions written out on paper, because I can have auditory processing difficulties. I might get a recorder too, but I haven't asked for this yet.
As for what issues you might face, this completely depends on what sort of person you are (and what sort of autism you have). For me, I will have difficulties with social integration and will have a tendency to withdraw from any social interaction, which is why my mum wants me to get a student buddy. But seeing as you will be living off campus this may not be a problem for you. You may have issues with organisation and planning, but you should know if you have these problems already.

Reply 3

EvieMo

Sorry, I know I am being really vague and that makes it difficult for anyone to answer my question. That's because I really don't know anything about what university will involve. I know what sorts of difficulties I have at the moment, but it's hard to guess which parts of university may be difficult for me. This is why I am just looking for general suggestions at the moment.

I do have a lot of social difficulties and am very likely to withdraw from social interaction and seem very quiet and shy. I am not so worried about having lots of friends to go out with outside of classes, but I would have a lot of difficulty with group work. In the 6th form I had a lot of difficulty finding a partner to work with and arranging to meet with them outside of class. But I know that in university you are supposed to be adult and independent and I don't know whether it would really be reasonable to expect help with this kind of thing.

I don't think my difficulties could be overcome with the objects that DSA can pay for. I think I would need a person who can meet with me sometimes and help me organise and prioritise my tasks, and maybe help me liase with other people. I don't know if maybe the level of support I would need is just not reasonable for a university to provide, and maybe university is not for me.

If anyone could help me with what an autistic person might typically struggle with, and what a university can realistically do to help, then I can ignore anything that does not apply.

Reply 4

Mental Foramen

Hey there. I can't really answer your questions because I will start university this fall so I don't have the relevant experience yet and frankly I'm grappling with the same questions, but I think you should make a post on the TSR Asperger's thread (I don't know, maybe there are similar HFA and classical autism threads as well...) because there are quite a few people there who are on the spectrum and are already in university so they could probably help you out.

Reply 5

Hala.

EvieMo

I don't think my difficulties could be overcome with the objects that DSA can pay for. I think I would need a person who can meet with me sometimes and help me organise and prioritise my tasks, and maybe help me liase with other people. I don't know if maybe the level of support I would need is just not reasonable for a university to provide, and maybe university is not for me.

This is exactly what a student mentor would provide for you, which could be funded by the DSA. They can help you with any aspect of university life, whether it's helping you cope with the major life change, making sure you know exactly what you have to do, or simply helping you organise your studies. At least, that's what my needs assessor told me.

Reply 6

EvieMo

Thank you for that link. It's a very long thread, I haven't read it all yet but I'm sure there will be a lot of useful stuff there!

That is interesting about a mentor to help with that kind of thing. I didn't know DSA could cover that kind of thing. Sometimes just talking to someone about all the things I have to do can help me organise it in my head, without actually needing them to suggest anything. I guess it's kind of like paying someone to be your friend, which would feel a bit weird, but definitely could be helpful.