Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi all.
I went to traditional brick Uni in the autumn of 2018 after passing a pre-access course and after being diagnosed with ASD at the start of 2019, I dropped out of my degree. Since then, I’ve been battling with severe depression and have always received the common comment ‘Oh, uni isn’t for everyone.’ The issue is that uni was for me, however, I hated the environment and received no support regarding my health and ASD diagnosis.
I know that I’ve already been to uni, so wouldn’t be entitled to any student finance loans yet I’ve been feeling more drawn to OU just because a family member has done multiple degree courses with them and had a positive experience. The subjects I’m thinking of are either along the lines of business management or doing an open degree since I have lots of interests and have done so from a young age. I hate exams and being unemployed with a chronic health condition means no money is coming in.
I would like to hear from anyone with autism/chronic conditions that have studied with OU. Good or bad experiences, I’m interested in hearing all perspectives! Any advice about how to potentially find someone to sponsor my studies would be great as well
I remember wondering about this in my 20's. Is it free still? I think i'm fairly intelligent but i still think everything else would be too much and i'd never finish. My close ASD male friend tried two degrees and ended up having to drop out of both and he is a very literate and intelligent man. They were at Edinburgh and Glasgow School of Art though. Rather than OU. Some ASD people might get on better with an art degree. That must have been his thinking. I think Art school is a little bit less high pressured environment.