Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi everyone!
I'm about to start my last year of uni (for the third time) and thanks to the wellbeing department, I'm being referred for ASC diagnosis. Even being taken seriously enough that I'm being referred is great and it now makes a lot more sense as to why I've struggled so much with my final year in the past.
What I wanted to ask of anyone who is doing/has completed a degree or similar, particularly for an essay-style subject, is what sorts of things help(ed) you with the reading and research for your assignments? I really struggle to understand what academics are getting at, and filtering out the extra information that, while interesting, is not really relevant to what I'm doing, just adjacent. When taking notes, I so often end up noting pretty much everything, which defeats the point of taking notes. This has made my dissertation a huge struggle and I so want to finish it!
Any tips and tricks? (And as an aside, what other things do/have you found difficult about studying and getting assignments in? How have you overcome those?)
Thanks, everyone!
If your ASC diagnosis comes back and it turns out you have it, they will probably encourage you to apply for Disabled Students Allowance (DSA) where you will be able to get a personal autism mentor that you can go see to help you with studying, and a voice recorder so that you can record lectures.
If you're only going through the assessment process for autism now it's highly unlikely you'll get DSA support until after Christmas as its peak time for applying. That is unless you have suffered MH issues due to being undiagnosed. In that case, I'd apply now for 'depression' or any other MH labels you've been given then ring up your funding body to update the diagnosis as your working your way through the system.
If you apply for DSA the stages are:
1. Fill in application
2. Attend a needs assessment to discuss what support you need
3. Government looks over the needs assessment report and decides what they'll fund
4. You contact the suppliers of any support that has been agreed to arrange delivery of your equipment and the start of any one-to-one help, such as an autism mentor or study skills coach
I'm autistic, dyslexic and am awaiting an assessment for ADHD. I'm studying for a PhD. I break assignments into 250 word sections and only focus on one section at a time - inc looking up the quotes when I need them. That helps me to stay on track and avoids me wasting time looking up info that is irrelevant.
Wow your an inspiration! What subject are you studying?