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Newly Diagnosed Daughter at Uni

Fharland

Hi All, 

I am looking to the community for some help/ guidance please. My Daughter has just been recently diagnosed after a turbulent first year at University. Prior to this and because she was at home we hadn't realised just how troubled she was, although we believed her to be on the spectrum it really came to light in the last year just how much she was struggling. She is very smart but needs additional support when it comes to documentation and organisation of her work, and she constantly beats herself up, her time management isn't great and she can't prioritise her work - she does the bits which interest her the most, she has requested a meeting with the student inclusion team at her uni, but i am wondering if anyone else has experienced anything similar and what support was put in place? 

Thanks in advance 

Fee 

  • I am in the same situation as your daughter. I just started uni and am struggling with more unconventional aspects than my peers.

    social aspect: I found it very useful to communicate my issues openly. I know this can be really uncomfortable but even telling the lecturer in advance that I don’t wear headphones to be rude and struggle with audetory processing has helped. Also with the classmates. Just so they know I am not trying to be rude and sometimes I just look angry when I am not. 

    academically I find studying works best when I body double (aka parallel working with someone else) and the app “focus friend” against distracations. Since I don’t struggle with organisation, I don’t have personal advice but I recommend either an online planner or a calendar book thingy. If they don’t work I would probably make a graph measuring the importance and urgency of an assignment, that way she can figure out what to approach next. 

    Feel free to reach out for further questions or if your daughter needs to relate to someone. 

    p.s. keep up the good work, you seem like a good parent. It’s great that you support her by reaching out and researching her support. 

  • Now she's been diagnosed, has she applied for DSA? A lot of the stuff they provide can help towards precisely these issues. For example:

    An autism specialist mentor to help her prioritise and find time management strategies

    Apps like Brain in Hand which help with scheduling, unexpected changes, and organisation

    Some software to help with notetaking/organisation

    And many, many more

    She should also have some kind of disability support plan with her uni. These vary from place to place so I can't say what it will include but mine has things like additional tutor meetings, the ability to leave lectures and classes when I need to, and some exam accommodations

    DSA is generally relatively simple to get for autism, as it assumed it has an impact on education, so all I needed for evidence was my diagnosis letter. Then you get assessed by an assessment centre, who are generally trying to give you more things rather than less (an anomaly I know!)

    I also massively struggled with my first year at uni, but the DSA support that came in in second year helped a lot.

  • in reply to Iain

    Thank you Iain, appreciate your advice, i will look into the therapist. 

  • Hello Fee, there is a good article from this site covering much of this here:

    https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/topics/transitions/england/starting-college-or-university

    There should be a Special Educational Needs team at the university that she can contact to discuss the options available to her but a lot of it will be down to her identifying where specifically she needs help.

    Support can be limited but there are likely to be some things that can help.

    I would recommend she considers getting a therapist who has experience helping autists in higher education as they can help her with the Executive Function issues such as work prioritisation etc. They will cost about £50/hour but they can be invaluable with the skills they teach.

    We have quite a few people here in higher education or recently left who can hopefully share their experiences with you.