Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi, I wondered if anybody had any advice for the transition to university? I will be moving to the middle of a busy city into university accommodation.
My main worries include: living in a new place, not having my family to help me in meltdowns, dealing with the change, getting ill away from home, and making friends.
I am feeling like it’s impossible at the moment so any encouragement or tips would be really helpful
Bless you. I went through it 35 years ago with no clue I was autistic.
If I think about the stuff I found hard, I think I'd say one thing to you: nail the structure and organisation. Routine! Routine! Routine! And for the first time you'll have to establish that for yourself. Left for the first time to your own devices you can end up spending too much time on minor matters and not enough on the big assignments.
There will be lots of social opportunity, but take it on your terms. Watch out for burn out, though.
On the plus side University is probably one of the most tolerant environments you can be in and does give autistic people opportunities to shine. Tony Attwood jokes that they are Aspie day care centres, lol. Probably with good reason.