Mastodawn

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.

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NatalyaD Mar 13

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.

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Pomegranate Pirate 🏳️‍🌈🏴‍☠️Mar 13

@NatalyaD yeah that expectation needs worked on - tutoring will teach them the whole thing. I'm not big on forcing people to do stuff but there is a time and place for pushing through and Learning to show up (while doing whatever you need to accommodateand reward yourself).

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NatalyaD

@Pomegranatepirate I think in many cases they're on this conveyor belt from school/further-education to university. Many believe if they start uni even a year late they will NEVER get a job.

My colleagues and I often say we wish some students would go and work for a few years, and only come to university when they have worked out what they want from it, pick a suitable and realistic course, engage properly (turn up to classes, read the stuff you're given, invest time in learning) etc.