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Where can I go now?

Amy

Hello

I am diagnosed with Autism. I was diagnosed in december 2011 when I was 15. With diagnosis a list of things that would help me was sent to my school. However 1 months after I was diagnosed I was 16 and suddenly this list was irrelevent. Things such as Speach and Language therapy and everything else on the list never happend because in my area when you are 16 all childs services stop and I suddenly do not need the help I needed a month ago. (or so I was told-everything is very confusing to me!) 

I moved up to collage in September 2012 and having not been diagnosed long school casually ignored my diagnoses and did not help me in any way all the way through my GCSE exams. It proved that having a diagnosis did not change anything as for years they said with no diagnosis they can not asses me for having any learning support needs. My diagnosis came from a unrelated place and they managed to ignore it for 6 months and send me off to collage which of course is the natural route for any 'normal' (yes I do hate that word but I am required to use it here) people.

4 months later and I am really struggling. I never wanted to leave school but my school having no 6th form and my age ment I have no choice-even now I would happily start year 7 again tommorow if I could. Ever since I arrived at collage it has been hard. All these promised things to help me ajust and settled in did not happen and indeed I was given a completly different tutor on the first day (when I had met my tutor once so at least I knew him-it was supposed to have been more) who of course knew nothing about me and made the day really hard! The rest of the days have not been much better.

Almost as soon as I started I started looking for alternative places to go disliking where I am so much. They apparently now give me all the support they can which is deffinatly not enough. I get 1 hour 1-2-1 a week with a learning support assistant who specialsises in English. (when I am studdying Maths, Sciences and Geography-he knows nothing and makes me teach him which I find really pointless and unhelpful. He also gives me really  mixed messages because he thinks he knows what he's talkin about when he doesnt) A local school specialising in Autism say I should get at least 14 hours 1-2-1 a week and would have done if diagnosed earlier and I went to that school. Although clearly my collage will not provide this, so I need to go somewhere with more support. 

Recently I went to visit a really specialist collage for people with all kinds of disabilities. I found their website months ago and found they run 4 courses. 1 of these is even called the 'ASC Course' and specificly for people with Autism Spectrum Condition. So 'perfect' I thought-that is what I need, I really want to go there. But the person showing me and my mum round did not agree. He said after getting the GCSE's I have and starting at a mainstreem collage I would not get into the special collage. Also he decided I have no communication issues or learning dificulty/disabilty. I thought this was really unfair having spent less than an hour with me. During this time I did not speak although did point and make some noises when we walked round. It was all very new and I was scared. When he said that I was too scared to speak and disagree with him, so as I will always do I will go very quiet and people just never understand-even this person at a specialist collage. I felt really disapointed and let down.  

Before I went I was also informed by my social worker (who is specialist in children with disabilities) that the collage would not have a course sutible for me (clearly a lie-even I know they do from the website) and a connexions advisor said that I would not get funding and be unable to go. Although we went to visit anyway and just got more bad news. I feel so stuck and alone. It just feels like I have no future because I can not get the support I need to succeed-but I succeded too much at GCSE with no support. 

I am now only doing 2 subjects from my origional 4 after I refuced to go to all but Geography lessons before Christmas and have now started Physics again. I am not optimistic I will succeed highly in any of these-but apparently I will because I really love Geography. According to the collage that makes me succed when I get SO confused in lessons and do not understand tasks so do not do them and the teacher goes to fast so I  miss things or get mixed up all the time. I have similar problems in Physics but I just keep going in because I have to. I feel constantly unhapy but what can I do when noone listens to me?

If anyone knows of anywhere else I could try because I can not stay where I am now and I can not go to the special collage. Please let me know because I just feel trapped.

Amy 

Parents

  • It really sounds like your needs are not being met.  And as a result it is causing you anxiety and distress.

    Yes, I agree with you that there are teachers who know about the condition and get it ever so wrong.  And I do know how destructive it can be to a person to have such a teacher, so I can understand your refusing to go to class.  I you feel like a teacher is picking on you daily, of course you would not want to go there.

    Can I strongly suggest that if you do find a different college to go to that you do look for things such as a lack of buzzing lighting and other such things.

    OU - http://www.open.ac.uk/.  Again it is not free (or cheap) and is a proper university, but is all online.  Once you are 18, you would be able to get student loans/grants/.....

    Open Learn - http://www.open.edu/openlearn/ Free educational resources from the OU but no qualification

    Udacity - https://www.udacity.com/ Mostly math and computing courses.  All courses have certificates, some also, for an additional fee and with a final test at a testing centre (which they have worldwide), give university credit. Some of the courses are given by people associated with Stanford University

    Coursera -https://www.coursera.org/  Lots of leading universities use this (including some US Ivy league ones) for a wide variety of subjects.  Many of the courses give certificates, but not all.  Some of them with an additional fee and sitting a final at a testing centre (again they have them worldwide) will give you university credit.

    Edx - https://www.edx.org/ Used by school such as MIT and Harvard.  It has a much more limited set of courses and the  courses are much longer than the other free ones.

    All of the online educational courses have forums where people can discuss the course material and support each other so that they are not alone.  Although there are deadlines for when assignments are do, there is not set course time, so you can do the work when you feel it most suits you.

    I am not in any way suggesting that you should give up on trying to get proper A levels.  However, if you are unable to find a college that you can learn in, these are all alternative ways forward. 

Reply

  • It really sounds like your needs are not being met.  And as a result it is causing you anxiety and distress.

    Yes, I agree with you that there are teachers who know about the condition and get it ever so wrong.  And I do know how destructive it can be to a person to have such a teacher, so I can understand your refusing to go to class.  I you feel like a teacher is picking on you daily, of course you would not want to go there.

    Can I strongly suggest that if you do find a different college to go to that you do look for things such as a lack of buzzing lighting and other such things.

    OU - http://www.open.ac.uk/.  Again it is not free (or cheap) and is a proper university, but is all online.  Once you are 18, you would be able to get student loans/grants/.....

    Open Learn - http://www.open.edu/openlearn/ Free educational resources from the OU but no qualification

    Udacity - https://www.udacity.com/ Mostly math and computing courses.  All courses have certificates, some also, for an additional fee and with a final test at a testing centre (which they have worldwide), give university credit. Some of the courses are given by people associated with Stanford University

    Coursera -https://www.coursera.org/  Lots of leading universities use this (including some US Ivy league ones) for a wide variety of subjects.  Many of the courses give certificates, but not all.  Some of them with an additional fee and sitting a final at a testing centre (again they have them worldwide) will give you university credit.

    Edx - https://www.edx.org/ Used by school such as MIT and Harvard.  It has a much more limited set of courses and the  courses are much longer than the other free ones.

    All of the online educational courses have forums where people can discuss the course material and support each other so that they are not alone.  Although there are deadlines for when assignments are do, there is not set course time, so you can do the work when you feel it most suits you.

    I am not in any way suggesting that you should give up on trying to get proper A levels.  However, if you are unable to find a college that you can learn in, these are all alternative ways forward. 

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