Wondering if any #ActuallyAutistic or #ADHD people have ideas that I'm missing.
My day job is supporting disabled university students. We have increasing numbers of autistic/ADHD students who are too anxious to attend classes. So they miss class 1, and then can't understand content of classes 2 onwards so get more anxious - and it spirals.
It's HUGE uni, often 100+ in class. Most buildings are HUGE, with vile acoustics and visual stress - can't change those. We do have quiet/sensory spaces.
We are not a remote course provider, that's legally and regulatorily a completely different service.
I have no authority to condone absence. Low-attenders get nagging emails which I can't stop.
Often tutors are AMAZING, they will really try and help with some extra 1:1 support, but there's hard limits on that due to workload/student-numbers. Tutors are frustrated cos student wants 1:1 of what was IN class (which isn't fair on them)
Studes often already use noise cancelling headphones etc.
I worry some students are coming to uni cos they feel they have to, and really aren't ready for it. academic and other colleagues and I often wish younger students could have a few years working first, and time to decide what they want to do, not what mum/dad/school push for.
Further Education have government metrics pushing university. Universities are on the hard sell to recruit.
I'm often astonished by students who haven't visited campus before signing up, even when they live locally...
@NatalyaD You mentioned 1:1 tutoring sessions, but I wonder if it's possible to do small groups, say 1:3, to help ease some of the strain on the resources you're able to provide.
Would recording lectures fall under the same regulations as remote? Perhaps replayed to a small group of students or for individual students, not online but on campus. The recording is available for a set number of days.
I was lucky to land in art school long before discovery, so most of my classes were in studios with small groups where most of the time was spent creating, with just one art history auditorium class per semester. I was that student who sat near the front and responded when the prof threw out questions.
(No, I was not popular 🙃)
@StaceyCornelius The tutoring is usually government funded so currently not restricted except that the student has to apply and go through a process (we can help but not DO it for them legally).
I am aware of some ADHD-specific workshops run by our MH team which I managed to refind the link for (our intranet search is useless) and will be sharing with ADHDrs (but some only officially have autism). I would like to see more of this resourced and will try and find out more.
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@StaceyCornelius The other issue is practical courses and non-attendance, art classes and workshops aren't very suitable to recording.
If students have skills workshops or "training to use equipment before they can use it for assessments" then they HAVE to attend in person and at the scheduled times because that's when the materials, equipment and staff are available to do that thing.
I've also had studes with temp permission to remote-attend experience MH deterioration which wasn't spotted.
@NatalyaD Hmm, yes. This disjointed care situation sounds painfully familiar although not from my university experience.
I agree with you about timing. And knowing exactly why they're in uni is important. "Mum and Dad want me to" isn't necessarily helpful in the long run.
A large university must make this so difficult. You can't build a community of care (for anyone facing challenges) in that context.
So many people have been seduced by the promise of "just watch a video" but of course that's not enough. One missed lecture, maybe. But not a whole semester.
I was lucky that my art school was small, and I was there before it began turning into a bureaucracy. I attended a much larger, more conventional uni for academics and electives, but did it through their theatre department, which was housed in its own building. A much better learning experience all round.
I salute you for all your hard work and advocating for your people.
@StaceyCornelius *nods* To be fair our arts courses are quite small but our buildings are still largely a sensory nightmare.
I think sometimes my colleagues and I do blame ourselves when stuff doesn't work out cos we're inherently people who want to care for others and fix stuff.
It;s always hard trying to explain to people who haven't worked in universities how uniquely batshit they can be in ways only universities can be batshit.
@NatalyaD Ah of course, I wasn't immediately thinking of attendance as I was focused on accessibility.
I worked at a uni for a couple of years. Totally understand the quicksand of politics. It's frustrating.
@StaceyCornelius Physical impairment and attendance is an issue too, but is more tangible in that we can offer government grants for taxi travel. And where they REALLY can't attend we do have to talk to students about whether they should move to a uni that does more remote delivery.
I am on the academics' side, hybrid is worst of all worlds and in-person is not the same as a remote-delivered course in all structural ways. I think young naive students just assume a recording is all they need.
@StaceyCornelius I've been trying to talk to students about how the reason they pay £££ fees a year (and rack up scary loans) is that our uni offers them should be better than what they could do with YouTube and free online tutorials.
And if students don't feel that what we offer is right for them and what they want, then consider their options and don't just stay cos changing your mind is hard... It might be another course or uni is better, or it might be they need not to be in uni atm.
NatalyaD
Stacey Cornelius 🇨🇦