University Timetable

Yes - though your ability to cope now does not reflect on your ability to cope in future and different jobs have different demands and challenges. You have a lot of time to learn to cope and to grow. I wouldn’t worry about coping with a job now. And getting some adjustments or recording lectures to make it more accessible is a way of coping too. I see what Iain means that building up tolerance might help but I think the most important thing is to not go into burnout for no reason and keep your energy and build up your strength slowly without overdoing it. I pushed myself for years and years, and all I managed was to just get more and more exhausted- i hope I learnt something too. If I were you, I would not hesitate to reach out and ask for support- if in the end you don’t need it and are fine attending all the lectures or don’t need othet support- brilliant but if you do end up needing support it’s better to have it put in place just in case- and you can then slowly build on that. 

I do see what you mean, thank you :) There are definitely things in life that we have to cope with as much as we can rather than change them.

Ann :) said:

I also don't think it's helpful to compare university lectures with a job. You can't really make these comparisons

Yes you can.

You have to focus for long periods of time in both (a job and a full day of lectures) so it is a very relevant comparison.

Admittedly in a job if you lose focus and mess up or fall asleep then you end up losing your job so getting used to it is quite important in my opinion.The job also has this need to be alert 7-8 hour a day, 5 days a week, 47 weeks a year more or less so these skills are best learned now while there is less to lose.

I was trying to help the OP develop coping strategies.

I also don't think it's helpful to compare university lectures with a job. You can't really make these comparisons and I wouldn't worry about that now. I would just focus on the situation at hand which is the lectures and what can be done to make this easier. 

Yes there is the disabled students allowance, but on top of that a lot of universities have alternative sources of funding to support autistic students. the DSA takes a bit longer to be processed but other sources of funding can be faster. 

No actually this is a lot for university. I had 12 hours of lectures a week in my first year and only 9 hours a week in later years. Then there were practicals too. And my course was one of the ones with the highest number of contact hours (natural sciences). For the humanities, some of my friends only had 1-2 hours of lectures a week, the rest being independent study. 

Actually at my university, there is also an option of having a person with you that will take notes for you in case that is helpful. This is another thing you could suggest if you think this could help. They really should be doing something to help you! 

Hi, Have you reached out to your university? My university has a 'disability resource centre' (I don't think of myself as disabled but that's just what it is called)- your university should have something similar- Could you reach out to them? One option is for example that you can record the lectures so that you can listen to them in your own time (there was a student in my year who had permission to make her own recordings of lectures, even before the pandemic). Or maybe someone else could even record them for you and they could agree to relax the attendance requirement? Or if there is any other option you can think of that might help you can suggest this! The university is obliged to make reasonable adjustments to make sure that you can learn effectively. You are entitled to this. 

The way the act is worded the provision automatically ends as soon as you enter higher education. Or you reach 25 which ever happens sooner.

additional help for university would indeed be covered by the disabled students allowance or by the more general duty to make reasonable adjustments

Weirdly enough I quite like the lectures where they ask questions as it actually engages me. I don't think I'm going to have these problems (or at least not as badly) once I have a job because at least I will actively be doing something.

It's the just sitting there for hours on end not even doing anything (many times, not even having anything to write down) that gets to me. It's just so... Stagnant and my brain switches off and gets very sleepy.

I think its a Disabled Students Allowance..

I read that post 16 institutions and further education that was named has provision, but I guess that doesn’t mean higher education institutions that don’t provide those types of education. However I understand that the ECHP is in effect until 25, and still identifies key issues and needs, so perhaps it is useful for authentic informational evidences.

 I was caught a little late to have been through the university provisions, but do believe that there are provisions that can be awarded, per university.

I hate to point this out but the ECHPs do not apply to universities. In fact the rules on ECHPs say that they cease to have effect as soon as the ‘child’ goes to university.

I’d say secure ECHP and rip the assistance straight out of their budget..

even if you can't get the time table changed putting in a complaint is not pointless. It goes on the official record and might be useful in retrospect if you do badly in any of those courses. For example relaxing the attendance rule might be a reasonable adjustment.

DeSpereaux said:

Have you been diagnosed?

boopBrownie said:

Also, as I was diagnosed more than halfway through my second year, when I spoke to them about my difficulties with taking in information during lectures/ being wiped out with multiple back to back I was just told "well you haven't struggled so far" or "you've managed up until now so why should anything change?"

They were diagnosed but the Uni has not been forward in offering assistance.

Do you have an ECHP? Have you been diagnosed? Can possibly secure a learning Assistant?

boopBrownie said:

Also, as I was diagnosed more than halfway through my second year, when I spoke to them about my difficulties with taking in information during lectures/ being wiped out with multiple back to back I was just told "well you haven't struggled so far" or "you've managed up until now so why should anything change?"

That’s a shame that recording lectures is not an option for you.

Your lecturers don’t seem to be particularly understanding, it’s not the point that you have managed up until now. You have always been autistic, you now just have formal confirmation that says so! Your needs can and will quite rightly change just like anyone else.

I can completely understand why you are worried about this, sorry I can’t be of more help.

boopBrownie said:

I have 7 hours of lectures every Monday split into 9am-1pm and 3pm-5p

A uni term is 10 weeks I think, so at most 10 days (less if you deduct bank holidays). Do you think you could find techniques to cope with the stress of this or consider self medicating to a degree to get through it? Red Bull seem a common aid to students.

This will be a walk in the park compared to when you have a job afterwards so it is probably good to learn to adapt if you can so you can work out if employment is going to be an option later on.

When I had this at uni I used to just record some of the lectures I was in when I was particularly hung over and needed the attendance and listen to music on my Walkman (showing my age now) to get through it.

It was the lectures when you got called on to answer questions through it that were the hardest and you can't do a lot about these.

Even worse was the lab based classes that ran for several days so you had to work as a team on a project for 3 solid days which was a real bummer. Not much chance to take a decent break, especially if some of your team mates were slackers.

What issues cause you the most problems? Chances are you will need to tackle these head on so some counselling may be needed to help you adapt.

I've never been to a boarding school myself but, no I don't think that's very common. I went to three schools by the time I sat my A-levels and it was very rare (and very dull) if a teacher just spent the whole lesson just talking at you.

Most of the time you would spend, say, 15 minutes listening to whatever it is they would teach you, and then they'd give you worksheets or questions from a textbook to do or maybe some research depending on what the subject was.

Sometimes the teachers would make you do it in silence but most would be happy to have a bit of talking as long as you were productive. For me, I didn't struggle so much in those situations because I would actively be doing something, where as the lessons (and university lectures) where you are just spoken at were very difficult for me and I would walk away feeling as though I had gotten nothing from them.