University oral speaking exams - adjustments ?

Hi Guys,

Just wondering if anyones had any adjustments for oral speaking exams or professional communication behaviours assessments at university 

I was discussing my anxiety/worries with a disability mentor about some of university assessments she said she would expect there to be some kind of adjustment on account of autism causing different communication styles . I have one where I have to talk on a video for 10mins non stop . It’s clearly says if it’s more than 1 take marks will be deducted - it’s worth  40% of the assessment too ie confident and clear communication. Then I have other elements ie my dissertation were 5% Is on professional communication with supervisor . 

I think I will be disadvantaged as I do communicate differently than my peers . Just wondering if there is anything that can be done before I start spending loads of time try to get the university to understand this ? 

Many thanks 

  • It will depend. So there is a legal exception for anything in marking that is necessary for maintaining academic standards. If autism makes you bad at the thing the test is trying to measure then generally you can't get a reasonable adjustment. If you are saying the test measures something not effected by autism but the way the test measures it puts autistic people at a disadvantage on the test then yes you can get an adjustment. For example a university can't fail somebody in a wheelchair in their chemistry exam when they didn't provide a lab bench and equipment at a hight they could reach in their chair.

    If the purpose of the test is to measure your ability to speak confidently and on the spot on camera then you probably can't get a reasonable adjustment that would remove the 2nd take penalty. Are you don't journalism or theatre? Its about the only course I think of where you'd be graded on clear and confident communication in a 10 minuet video essay.

    Can you tell us more about this video essay and what it's testing for?

  • I think that it is standard policy for autistic students to be given extra time in written examinations, this should give a clear precedent for some sort of accommodation to be made available in an oral exam. After all, you would be disadvantaged by having an oral component compared to an autistic person whose degree was entirely assessed by written work.

    From personal experience I would avoid reading from a detailed script. My reading comprehension is much faster than my ability to translate words into speech, so I would make lots of mistakes. I use headings and short notes written on cards - attached to a loop of string so that if they are dropped they remain in the correct order - to remind me what to say.

  • If you are being penalised for multiple takes remember it is okay to actually pause and breathe. I so rarely "um", "er", or stutter anymore, if I need to pause now I just pause, take a deep breath through the nose then continue.
    I'll link a few relevant articles just in case they are helpful.:


    https://blog.londonspeechworkshop.com/pauses-speech-crucial

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7l1Tom9q8Ic

    I have started to do some longer public speaking via zoom meetings, and I also find it good to keep the camera off and mic on mute, do a breathing exercise to calm my nerves first and then when I'm ready open everything up and start, then I would just trim the preparation out from the start of the video if I were recording it.

  • Hi. Suggestion would be to try and talk to your universities disability support team or to your course tutor. Hopefully they might be able to advise if any accommodations could be put in place for this upcoming assessment (and any others). You will not be the only student in this position and hopefully they might be able to reassure you.