Universities in South East and South West

I had only been writing ten minutes - I need to check spelling and go over points to be accurate.

It is a good idea to visit possible universities. GCSE is a good time to start. Either use publicised open days/visit days or arrange to visit personally. In any case most universities will provide an opportunity to meet support staff and lecturers, with your son, in advance of starting and he can get a visit in advance to find his way round and see how it feels.

I would advise parents to think about the following:

Universities are building up banks of experience, but because students vary widely in their characteristics, there may not be enough knowledge about all manifestations. So it is good to ask how they might support such and such a situation. Support provisions are very good now, so things like buddying, organisational and timetable support, teaching room conditions are addressed. But there are things to consider especially on the academic side:

Students usually have to complete the whole course. An aptitude for numbers doesn't mean someone can do pure mathematics. An aptitude for computer games or certain types of programming doesn't mean a student can do all a computing course. Ask to see details of course content and module content to see if there is anything your son wouldn't want to do. Also there isn't a lot of progress yet on varying the curriculum, and some people on the spectrum will not do parts of assignments they think are boring or silly - that can create problems.

While support staff may be able to communicate with you about problems it is very difficult for university teaching staff to do so due to tight confidentiality rules. Ask what is possible here. Confidentiality and disclosure rules are making it difficult for universities to help in conventional ways.

I'll leave it at that for the moment, and maybe try again if any further issues.

I had only been writing ten minutes - I need to check spelling and go over points to be accurate.

It is a good idea to visit possible universities. GCSE is a good time to start. Either use publicised open days/visit days or arrange to visit personally. In any case most universities will provide an opportunity to meet support staff and lecturers, with your son, in advance of starting and he can get a visit in advance to find his way round and see how it feels.

I would advise parents to think about the following:

Universities are building up banks of experience, but because students vary widely in their characteristics, there may not be enough knowledge about all manifestations. So it is good to ask how they might support such and such a situation. Support provisions are very good now, so things like buddying, organisational and timetable support, teaching room conditions are addressed. But there are things to consider especially on the academic side:

Students usually have to complete the whole course. An aptitude for numbers doesn't mean someone can do pure mathematics. An aptitude for computer games or certain types of programming doesn't mean a student can do all a computing course. Ask to see details of course content and module content to see if there is anything your son wouldn't want to do. Also there isn't a lot of progress yet on varying the curriculum, and some people on the spectrum will not do parts of assignments they think are boring or silly - that can create problems.

While support staff may be able to communicate with you about problems it is very difficult for university teaching staff to do so due to tight confidentiality rules. Ask what is possible here. Confidentiality and disclosure rules are making it difficult for universities to help in conventional ways.

I'll leave it at that for the moment, and maybe try again if any further issues.