Published on 12, July, 2020
Our daughter has just been provisionally diagnosed with High Functioning Autism. She is struggling at school and to take the pressure of she is now studying 2 A levels (and supposedly an EPQ for extra UCAS points)
We are very near UCAS applications but she is struggling (as are we) to get her head around what to do. She had always set her heart on a caring profession (and has flitted between a midwife and paediatric nurse). She has now decided against this and is thinking of Sociology (mainly driven by the fact is a vocational degree and doesn't want to make the wrong choice too early)
As parents we are concerned about the whole process - and worry that her degree choice is being made on a whim - her strengths are not in self-study, organisation and interpreting facts and forming opinions. She is very good at fact-based stuff - and seems to prefer learning by doing - so a more practical subject ought to be better. We even worry that University is the right thing for her to do at the moment - the diagnosis is very recent and she has had mental health issues over past year severely affecting her education
Would be interested in anyone who has (or is) going through the same thing
See self study was one of my strengths so I’m maybe not one to talk. However I am a proponent of doing something you pashonatly enjoy even if it’s hard. Often you will find it’s easier to remain dedicated and proactive with a subject you truly love than with one you find easy but don’t really enjoy.
If she’s determined to go into care but bad with soft ‘facts’ but good with hard facts why not a more technical medical profession? Medical physics? Some ones got to run the MRI machine and zap cancer patients with radioactive isotopes. Not all clinical roles require the full stress of a medical degree.
Hello We’re going through similar with our daughter. Was supposed to be doing 3 a levels but the support is awful so she’s just stopped to btec level 2 production. She got at 9 in art but can’t cope - shame she can’t do the a level. She wants to do something like sociology but can’t cope with it - similar learning and studying issues. I feel for you, I really do. I’ll watch the post with interest :) xx
Also it’s worth mentioning that there are aprentiships offered by the NHS for school leavers wanting to do medical physics / clinical science type stuff.