Autism and applications to Uni

Why does he want special treatment?

Everyone's got some sort of problem. Maybe some people have a feet fetish and are distracted by people's feet in the exams. Some people have insomnia and won't get enough sleep. Some people have family problems. Some people have only one eye.
So, your brain's wired slightly differently to the average person. Big deal. It means you might have an unfair advantage in some subjects like math and find other things harder.

Guess what some people are better at art and find math hard. Should they also get special treatment because their brain is "too creative?"

That's what these tests are for. To find out your abilities. What's the point in doing the tests if you don't do them in the same environment as everyone else? Then they don't test anything.

I've just been reading a book about Autism and it just means your brain might be wired differently than average. It's not necessarily a disability. Just a variation in a lot of different ways the brain can be wired.

Stop being a victim and learn to love your brain,

Also, if you go do a subject like math, physics or computer science you will see that practically all of them will have bad social skills and could be labelled as "autistic" given half the chance.

Everyone wants to be autistic these days. It's the newest craze.

If you honestly believe what you've written, you disgust me.

Please explain why. Thanks.

I won't, your post speaks for itself. You clearly have no idea of the lives of people with autism.

Noobynoo I don't know how to quote your entry on here. I had never been on here before and don't know how it works. All I wanted was an opinion on whether I should declare my condition or not, or even how to do that. I did not ask for your opinion on autism in general. Are you a qualified doctor or psychiatrist? Do you have autism? If not, you will have no idea how offensive your comment "Everyone wants to be autistic these days. It's the newest craze" is. If you think I want autism you could not be more wrong. I was dealt this hand, I am doing my best to get through education and achieve the best results I can. I cringe to think that you feel I am enjoying my situation. If I could be "Neurotypical", I would be in a heartbeat. How cruel and insensitive. I'm sure you will come back with some clever, wordy comment in return but frankly, I won't be reading it. I won't be back. You are everything I am trying to avoid on a daily basis. I hoped this website would be helpful and supportive. However, a big thank you to those who provided helpful comments.

No, you are misguided. As was the medical profession for years. Finally last year it had to remove the term "Aspergers" from the psychiatrics handbook as it had to admit that there was no such thing and that autism is simply a collection of different behaviours. Some people have more of these behaviours, some have less.

What does "high functioning autism" mean? It means you have very few of the behaviours associated with autism. Guess what. Most physics professors could go under that description too.

In fact large number of us have at least one of the behavours asociated with autism.

Unless you believe in God in which case you can say there is a perfect human and all brains that deviate from the brain of the perfect human are somehow wrong or "autistic". Or if you don't believe in God you can say that all our brains are slightly different due to chance and that some are more different than others.

Or you might believe in evolution in which case you might think that it is useful for some people in the tribe to have these behaviours of being able to focus on very specific topics while lacking social skills because in certain situations that could be advantageous for the tribe.

Either way, I think if you are clever enough to write posts in TSR you don't need special treatment. That's my view. Sorry if it doesn't fit in with the psychiatric view of trying to label every possible behaviour and emotion as a disorder that needs to be fixed.

Hi
I have high functioning autism and ADD and I am hoping to achieve high enough A level grades to be offered a place at Uni. I am working hard and am predicted to get 2 A's and a B (although this is best case scenario, fingers crossed)
Will these conditions affect my application either negatively or positively?
I have been told to contact the Uni's directly and ask them but I am a bit embarrassed so I thought I would test the water here first. I don't know who to ask for when I call.
Any help or advice would be gladly received! Thanks

You clearly don't know what its like to be classed as autistic. Yes everybody is on the spectrum but it doesn't mean they are autistic. To be given a diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder you have to be higher up this spectrum and it to be having a detrimental impact on your life. As someone who has a diagnosis of Asperger's I can honestly tell you that it is a disability, and can effect people greatly. If it wasn't for the help I get at uni because of my disability I would not still be here studying the course which is what I enjoy and want to do with the rest of my life. Don't tell me it has no effect and that I don't deserve extra help because of it, when it is the very thing that, for example, had to leave a practical class in tears just because there was timers going off, when for most people in the room it just made it harder to concentrate and they could stay in the room and actually complete the practical.
I don't suppose anything will change your view, but luckily autism is a diagnosis that unis except as a disability and therefore will give the OP the help they need and deserve, or at least any decent uni would.

OK, I see your point.

If it is the type of autism that you get overwhelmed by sounds and sights and can't concentrate then fair enough. I guess you would need special treatment.

On the other hand if you have been diagnosed autistic because you are bad at socialising and are very intense on particular things. Then you shouldn't have special treatment. In fact that could be an advantage. Some people say Einstein or Bill Gates was autistic. They definitely didn't need special treatment to become the greatest scientist, or richest man alive.

That's why I was saying that it's important not just to use the name "autistic" but to describe exactly what your problems are. Because the label autistic covers a range of "abnormal" brain activities.

I don't think that's particularly controversial is it?

Also see this article about if ADD really exists or is it too a catch-all word for lots of different problems.

Of course the help should be tailored to what you need, and that is what the disability department is there for, they are not there to give you an advantage over everyone else. Of course if all you want to do with your time is the subject you are doing then that'll be a good thing in that respect, but what about if someone as an intense interest in something other than their subject? That'll be detrimental to them. It may be that they want to do their course but are too easily sidetracked to their other interest, and I think you too quickly rule out how much of a disadvantage being bad at socialising can be. A lot of courses require people to be able to work with other people, which I will admit a lot of people struggle with anyway, but it will likely be worse for someone considered to have autism.
Everyone gets slightly different support due to the fact that their autism will effect them in different ways. I know someone who's autistic, thinking of going uni in September and doesn't feel like he'll need anymore help than exam arrangements, and that's fine. On the other hand someone may feel they need to see someone every week or two to help them with organisation or time management, and that's also fine. The OP never said how their autism effects them, so it's hard to say what help they'll need.
I although also feel that if someone struggles with something badly they should get help regardless of if they have a disability or not. Being someone who got a diagnosis late it was always hard when things would effect me in certain ways and they were never taken seriously, I was just told to get over them, which is not helpful but someone with a diagnosis of something is always more likely to have certain issues because they wouldn't have got a diagnosis otherwise.

I find it strange that someone can be diagnosed with autism yet have absolutely no interest in the current research on autism. That's all.

PS. I have friends who are diagnosed as autistic and yet they get on fine in life without special treatment. So not all diagnosed autistic people need special treatment as goes to show.

Also, I have friends who not autistic but are thick as a plank of wood. Maybe they should get more special treatment? Since they will do worse in life probably.

OK, Well maybe I won't be so quick to judge in the future.

Probably comes from people trying to tell me (including one of my friends who was diagnosed as autistic) that I'm autistic just because I'm apparently bad at socialising. Makes you wonder how scientific it all is.