Looking for guidance

Cannot comment on what parents do in preparation but as a recently retired lecturer also engaged in disability support, it might be useful if I offer some suggestions.

Due to the introduction of fees Universities have had to shift a bit towards being more supportive of students' progress, but it has not moved far yet from the traditional concept of self-directed study. Not that most students take any notice of this, but you are supposed to follow the curriculum set on your own, reading around the designated subject matter, and learning how to accumulate soundly based knowledge for yourself.

Traditionally lectures were provided as a guide/exploration of the subject matter, delivered in an inspiring and thought provoking way, and backed by seminars or practical classes. The demands of students paying fees is modifying that a bit so they receive more direct help, including more one to one tutorials, and email exchanges with a lecturer.

Increasingly therefore staff are under pressure to check progress and flag up defaulters or those making a slow start, so more attention is now paid to attendance at lectures, and to completion of assignments. However there has also been increased pressure to regulate handling of assignments tightly, so work has to be handed in on time, with a receipt as proof of doing so, and increasingly this has to be done as electronic submission rather than hard copy.

Increasingly timetables and study notices such as cancellations are on a computer based diary.

Coursework is also very tightly specified against learning outcomes to cover expectations against which the marks are set, following open university methods. However dumb this may seem, students who do the right things the right way get the marks. This is a real bind to "clever" students who find this hoop jumping limiting and uuninspiring and want to be original.

This is also problemmatic for some students whose computer literacy (while maybe good for games software) isn't good enough to meet deadlines and formats for electronic submission. Or if students aren't good at completing assignments, or start too close to the deadline (like the night before) and don't to a good enough job of it, or aren't good at following instructions.

So the upshot of what I've explained above is that students on the spectrum can quickly find themselves in difficulty. They may, according to whether they manifest such behaviours, be bad at timekeeping ond organising, while others may be disinclined to do things they think unnecessary, or poor at sticking to instructions. And unlike school there is no requirement to explain this to parents: the teaching contract is with the student and deemed confidential, between the university and the student.

The disability support available is mostly of the "level playing field"/social model kind, supposedly removing barriers rather than supporting a particular student's needs - providing note takers, or a support worker, extra time in exams, etc. The student is expected to achieve the same outcomes as their peers, there are seldom concessions given on how work is handed in, except perhaps a waver over spelling, if a student has dyslexia.

These things are quite a jump from school, but reckoned to be within the grasp of most students to take on board, with application and effort. I don't think universities have quite got the hang of whether a student's disability would prevent them meeting these objectives. There may be one to one disability support tutoring on skills catch up, but the curriculum isn't compromised for disability.

Parents may be wise to ask for details about how coursework is assessed, whether it is electronically submitted, and what flexibility if any is given on completion to instructions.

The University might tell your child by start of second term, and subsequently, that they are not pulling their weight, but unless your child tells you this, you won't know until much later when end of year marks are bad.

Cannot comment on what parents do in preparation but as a recently retired lecturer also engaged in disability support, it might be useful if I offer some suggestions.

Due to the introduction of fees Universities have had to shift a bit towards being more supportive of students' progress, but it has not moved far yet from the traditional concept of self-directed study. Not that most students take any notice of this, but you are supposed to follow the curriculum set on your own, reading around the designated subject matter, and learning how to accumulate soundly based knowledge for yourself.

Traditionally lectures were provided as a guide/exploration of the subject matter, delivered in an inspiring and thought provoking way, and backed by seminars or practical classes. The demands of students paying fees is modifying that a bit so they receive more direct help, including more one to one tutorials, and email exchanges with a lecturer.

Increasingly therefore staff are under pressure to check progress and flag up defaulters or those making a slow start, so more attention is now paid to attendance at lectures, and to completion of assignments. However there has also been increased pressure to regulate handling of assignments tightly, so work has to be handed in on time, with a receipt as proof of doing so, and increasingly this has to be done as electronic submission rather than hard copy.

Increasingly timetables and study notices such as cancellations are on a computer based diary.

Coursework is also very tightly specified against learning outcomes to cover expectations against which the marks are set, following open university methods. However dumb this may seem, students who do the right things the right way get the marks. This is a real bind to "clever" students who find this hoop jumping limiting and uuninspiring and want to be original.

This is also problemmatic for some students whose computer literacy (while maybe good for games software) isn't good enough to meet deadlines and formats for electronic submission. Or if students aren't good at completing assignments, or start too close to the deadline (like the night before) and don't to a good enough job of it, or aren't good at following instructions.

So the upshot of what I've explained above is that students on the spectrum can quickly find themselves in difficulty. They may, according to whether they manifest such behaviours, be bad at timekeeping ond organising, while others may be disinclined to do things they think unnecessary, or poor at sticking to instructions. And unlike school there is no requirement to explain this to parents: the teaching contract is with the student and deemed confidential, between the university and the student.

The disability support available is mostly of the "level playing field"/social model kind, supposedly removing barriers rather than supporting a particular student's needs - providing note takers, or a support worker, extra time in exams, etc. The student is expected to achieve the same outcomes as their peers, there are seldom concessions given on how work is handed in, except perhaps a waver over spelling, if a student has dyslexia.

These things are quite a jump from school, but reckoned to be within the grasp of most students to take on board, with application and effort. I don't think universities have quite got the hang of whether a student's disability would prevent them meeting these objectives. There may be one to one disability support tutoring on skills catch up, but the curriculum isn't compromised for disability.

Parents may be wise to ask for details about how coursework is assessed, whether it is electronically submitted, and what flexibility if any is given on completion to instructions.

The University might tell your child by start of second term, and subsequently, that they are not pulling their weight, but unless your child tells you this, you won't know until much later when end of year marks are bad.