Is it hard being autistic at university?

username6619774

I am in my first year of university, and was just diagnosed with autism (ASD) around April/June this year. I would say the disability support at university has been alright so far, but I often feel like as a girl with autism, it is often treated as a mental illness that can be 'therapised' away or something. Is this the same for many autistic people at university, especially other autistic girls?

Reply 1

cdo256

Original post by mia.sparrow23

I'm also a girl with ASD. I think I got lucky. I made friends with some introverted guys. Then every evening we met at hall to eat and chat. I was never really normal enough to make friends with other girls, though.

It depends on how bad your social skills are. It really makes a diffierence whether you are able to make friends in the first few weeks or not. If you weren't then you 'just' need to practice a line "Hi I'm <> I'm a first year <> student. What do you guys like doing?". Then find groups of people who you think you might be able to get one with and go in say the line. Then if they seem like they'd be willing to talk to you, then they might be a good group to join and and you can ask "Do you mind if I join you?".

How are your social skills?

Reply 2

0le

Pretty much everyone on the spectrum - whatever their gender - faces similar issues that you have described.

People without autism tend to think that you can just "develop your personality" and all the issues magically go away. They do not really understand that many of the thoughts and difficulties just exist and cannot easily be changed. They fail to see the masking as well as the intense energy spent trying to understand and get by in society.