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Im an asd college student just need advice

Frank

Hi sorry if its a boring question but...  I got diagnosed towards the end of a university access course. I never got any extensions or support even though i asked for both.

If a teaching assistant was helping the other asd student was available she offer to help me duri g lunch time whuch often meant i went without eating lunch. 

I had probably the most stressful year of my life trying to understand the learning outcomes and obviously deal with the diagnosis. 

I since learned that the other asd student was given extensions on all assignments and was made aware of all support on offer. I did manage to finish the course but the pressure affected my grades. 

Should i have been entitled to any support??

  • Hi Dave,

    Just in case you want to check the support you have received and get advice about future support, you may find the links to our Education Rights Service helpful:

    You may want to contact our Education Rights Service who provide information, support and advice on educational provision and entitlements. Please see the following link for further information: http://www.autism.org.uk/services/helplines/education-rights.aspx

    The following article contains a lot of helpful information about education for a student with autism - http://www.autism.org.uk/about/in-education.aspx - This includes information regarding getting extra support for a child in their education setting. This is aimed at parents but I hope the information will be useful.

    It can help to pass on information specifically for education professionals about autism spectrum disorders. The following link contains information written for education professionals - http://www.autism.org.uk/professionals/teachers.aspx

    Hope this is useful,

    Nicky-Mod

  • I can understand why you feel frustrated but the discrepancy in the support you received compared to the other student was probably caused because you were diagnosed at the end of your course. Due to how late in the year your diagnosis was your college may have not been able to obtain any funding to pay for a teaching assistant for you. It sounds the teaching assistant tried her best by seeing you at lunch. This probably meant that the teaching assistant had to give up their lunch break too and we’re helping you for free as most employers don’t pay for their employees lunch breaks.

    I too have fallen foul of lack of support due to a late diagnosis and this did significantly affect my undergraduate degree grade. I took the attitude that the past is the past and focused my efforts on future instead. When I went on to study a PGCE and then a master degree I made sure that all of my support was in place from day one and my grades dramatically increased. However, if you do feel you have been let down by the college have you thought about writing a letter of complaint? Could you go in for a meeting or ask for your college to explain in a letter why you received the support you did and your requests for extra help were denied?

    Have you decided to go onto university? Just in case you didn’t know you can apply for DSA support to pay for additional support, such as an autism mentor. It’s also useful to contact the university asap to discuss exam support and the process of applying for extensions. A lot of uni’s have cut off date for exam support and if you apply after that you won’t be eligible for adjustments such as extra time.

     

    If you feel your grade will stop you from getting onto your chosen course you could speak to the university and explain your circumstances to see if this makes any difference.

  • My phone spellchecker is working against me here, sorry for the broken english in the post