Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi All, my son should be going into his 3rd year at Uni but failed the year and is now having to go through a Special Cases Committee to try to get them to let him re-do his 2nd year. He chose not to disclose his Aspergers and so has received no support from the university which is what both he and I feel is the reason for his not passing his 2nd year exams. At school he had a SEN and then ECHP so received support and did well, but the lack of support at Uni has left him floundering on his own.
We have given the Uni a copy of his original diagnosis as well as his last ECHP from 2019, but they are saying he also needs to provide a professional option from a GP relating to his condition and how it has impacted him over the past year. Not sure how they will do that, he hasn't seen any medical professionals in the last year and his GP is where we live not 200 miles away where his uni is. He is trying to contact them virtually though.
It feels to me that his autism is being used against him over and over by the university who I would have thought really ought to have noticed his needs even if he didn't articulate them. As he is an adult, I'm not even able to easily advocate for him. Has anyone been through anything similar, and do you have any advice?
NAS82652 said:Hi All, my son should be going into his 3rd year at Uni but failed the year and is now having to go through a Special Cases Committee to try to get them to let him re-do his 2nd year. He chose not to disclose his Aspergers and so has received no support from the university which is what both he and I feel is the reason for his not passing his 2nd year exams. At school he had a SEN and then ECHP so received support and did well, but the lack of support at Uni has left him floundering on his own. We have given the Uni a copy of his original diagnosis as well as his last ECHP from 2019, but they are saying he also needs to provide a professional option from a GP relating to his condition and how it has impacted him over the past year. Not sure how they will do that, he hasn't seen any medical professionals in the last year and his GP is where we live not 200 miles away where his uni is. He is trying to contact them virtually though. It feels to me that his autism is being used against him over and over by the university who I would have thought really ought to have noticed his needs even if he didn't articulate them. As he is an adult, I'm not even able to easily advocate for him. Has anyone been through anything similar, and do you have any advice?
It’s so frustrating when universities don’t pick up on these needs, especially when he had support throughout school. While it’s tough that the university is requiring a GP’s statement, reaching out virtually is a good step. Maybe his GP could refer him to a specialist for an updated assessment, which could help explain how his Asperger’s has affected his performance.
The original message is two years old! As a part-time Practice Teacher associated with several universities, I would only say that university students are independent adult learners, not schoolkids. Support is available from the university's Learning Support Service or whaheir right as an adult. In this case it seems disengenous to say " his autism is being held against him " when the tutors and lecturers had not been informed (or at least not oficially) of his additional needs.
I don't know how this particular case turned out, I just want to say to any autistic students starting uni this year that they should think seriously about going to their university's Disability/Learning Support team and asking for support. This can include mentoring, late submission of coursework, extra time for exams etc., and is worth having available, even if you don't actually need to use them.