Published on 12, July, 2020
Anyone have any experience or knowledge about what universities can offer to somone who is struggling to be on campus and attend any group work sessions? I know they'll probably ask the question about what the persont hemselves would find helpful. However, i'm afraid the answer is likely to be, "Switching to doing the course online!" I'm guessing this is likely to be a non starter. :(
It is extremely difficult sometimes for people who have autism to go to the classes on campus at university. Things are improved by doing course online. Some people struggled at school but as they were forced to go felt they didn’t have a choice and people felt like they wanted to get out of school because of various difficulties (such as bullying, feeling really tired a lot but nowhere to lie down, frequent class changes and rooms, changing the place where sitting in class, difficulty being in class and trying to learn in the difficult environment), but couldn’t. At university, being more independent, everything is new and difficult and this means people need a lot of support with getting to the campus and attending. People also need help with shopping and various other things including budgeting and socialising.
Yes, it can prove extremely tough going. An online course would be easier, but in this case the person has already struggled through most of the course and the extreme anxiety and difficult feelings have intensified for the last year, returning after a long break due to issues relating to undiagnosed autism (now diagnosed). Shopping and budgetting is OK, but anything relating to socialising, or other interactions such as group work or being in crowds on campus is extremely difficult. Warning emails over non attendance are now landing. All of the issues have become very intense following negative experiences and strong memories from the first years of the course. I'm not sure what the disability officer might suggest but I have the feeling it's likely to be shot down as useless due to the high anxiety and anger over the predicament.
I'm not sure what you find offensive here plus how on earth can you know of any bias i might or might not have had over the years? I was saying that my son will very probably shoot down anything that is offered, due to his extreme anxiety and anger at his predicament. Sorry if this wasn't clear.
i am also aware of the legal restrictions regarding someone over the age of 18 so wouldn't contact the DO without my son's permission. Given that he has no expectations of them and is extremely reluctant to engage, that hasn't been forthcoming. So your statement that, "If you had called/emailed the disability dept yourself, they would have explained this weeks ago and your son could have completed the new assignment by now" seems unnecessarily blaming to me. Overall I am simply trying to get an idea of what might be offered in order to encourage him to seek the DO's help.
Jenny Butterfly said:am really hoping that the Disability Officer will automatically pick up on much of this
It's always best to write everything down you want to get across. We all view the world differently, therefore, this will remove the chance of any miscommunication.
Jenny Butterfly said:I'm not sure what the disability officer might suggest but I have the feeling it's likely to be shot down as useless due to the high anxiety and anger over the predicament.
Jenny Butterfly As well as finding specific support for you son, I suggest you think about your own bias and how over the years this may have contributed to your sons willingness to work with others - especially seen as his mum tends to write those off who are there to help him before she's given them a chance.
As an autistic, who has worked as a Disability Officer and has been in the same shoes as your son, I certainly wouldn't have shot him down. Nor did the DO I am working with for the reasonable adjustments for my PhD. I did find your comment to be offensive and upsetting.
The usual accommodations, in this case, would be that the student is given an individual project to work on instead. Plus, letters about attendance etc could be stopped if the student is going to work from home instead of attending campus. At most uni's his lectures should be recorded and put on Blackboard but if not the disability dept could look into this.
As your son is over 18, the uni can't legally talk to you about his specific circumstances, yet he can fill in a piece of paper work that will allow them to speak to you instead, or as well as, when needed. If you had called/emailed the disability dept yourself, they would have explained this weeks ago and your son could have completed the new assignment by now.
A lot of work is being done around the disability employment gap and if a uni's progression rates for their disabled students are low this will affect how much they are able to charge for fees. Therefore, its also in their best interests to support your son.
Don't worry, remember that as long as we have love, we need not concern ourselves with the oft times disproportionate measure of competitiveness and selfishness we now see in abundance among humans on our planet. Sometimes what at first appears to be disadvantage can be advantage. Things are not always as they first appear to be. In the countless eternity, love is the best.
Yes, thank you. Much appreciated. I would like to offer support and be in a stronger position to talk things through, plus am really hoping that the Disability Officer will automatically pick up on much of this. Perhaps they'll be able to help with putting together a plan to help for getting through this last academic year. We'll see. It's all coming very late in the day and ideally this would have been in place for the other years of the course. I think this might have meant no additional years out or retakes and probably have resulted in higher grades.
Overall this is making me reflect on what a disadvantage we're at. :(
If that's the case then of course the student needs the support to help them get to the classes to finish the course, or provide an alternative way of completing the course. If someone is struggling to attend campus and to attend group work sessions then it would probably help firstly to talk to the person and try to get them to explain why they are finding it difficult and what they would find helpful. It is possible, in some cases, to complete the course (that isn't online) if the correct support is in place. Support that would be helpful includes-having a mentor, having someone to accompany to the classes, having someone in the class who understands, understanding that working in a group is sometimes extremely difficult (due to difficulty knowing how to contribute, slow to follow what's happening in the group due to not following the conversation activities fast enough etc.), allowing the person to leave if needed, making sure not too noisy/bright (if applicable) etc.
The worst case scenario would be that even though tutors could see that someone is struggling to attend they would just let them try again the next year and then to failure again because the support was not in place. Even there is the possibility of a person not eating because they can't get to the shop. So it is important, when a student is seen to be struggling with attending the campus that they are supported or given an alternative option to get a qualification. It is, of course, different and extremely difficult when autism is undiagnosed because that means that it can often be difficult for a lot of people to realise the extent of the person's difficulties but sometimes, a random person will notice and then leads to realisation that one's whole life that was the issue that was occurring and the reason why so many things were difficult. Being in crowds can be torturous-too much information all at once.
Often, people just need someone who understands to accompany them and sometimes people feel that they need someone to accompany them wherever they go because people who have autism sometimes have not grown up in the same way some other people have (it is a neurodevelopmental condition after all) and require/feel that they require someone to accompany them places such as university campus, shopping, anywhere else that they feel they can't manage alone etc. Of course, if it is difficult to make friends (sometimes, don't know the extent, but sometimes due to bullying, ostracism, ignoring, etc.) and this makes it even more difficult and different for the experiences at university. Even if a university is aware of an issue, they don't always offer support and if they do, it is vital that communication issues are understood in setting up and understanding the said support. Many people who have autism find it extremely difficult to place themselves in the meaning of the social world and how it all works together. This means that they may not understand why people are thinking or behaving the way they are.
People should understand that life is difficult enough without warning emails and the like. Of course, negative experiences and memories of them (people who have autism sometimes remember things more vividly) often impact on the next endeavour as is often the case with humanity in general. Person-centred support should be the thing that is happening and sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't. So what will happen next with the issue of being on campus and attending? Has any of what I have suggested helped?