Supporting Autistic University Students: Policy and Practice
*(Questions with identifiable institutions have been avoided)
Who to contact for the training links please?
The training links can be found on the SMHAS project website: https://smhas.blogs.bristol.ac.uk/ If you scroll down the homepage, there is a link to the University of Bristol site where it is hosted. The training has to be ‘ordered’, but it is free – this is just for us to know who is using our materials.
I want to ask, how integration in community can support autistic university students?
Feeling part of a community is a huge part of wellbeing and good mental health for everyone, regardless of their neurodiverse status. Autistic students who are connected to their peers, who make friends, who feel able to talk to their lecturers and tutors, are much more likely to have a good time at university and to achieve their potential.
How UK government and authorities trying to fight with stigma against autistic university students?
There are a range of campaigns that are run by different organisations to try to combat stigma by increasing knowledge about autism – but there isn’t really a central government process around this. The NHS recently launched a new Autism Strategy which has a lot of updated information and had input from autistic people, which is a great move. There are also anti-discrimination laws which apply to autistic people, because autism comes under the umbrella of disability as a protected category.
Does a university need an autism society to be inclusive or is it more inclusive to not put all autistic students in one specific student group?
Universities don’t have to have an autism society to be inclusive at all. A society is usually run by and for students, and is voluntary to join – it isn’t the university ‘putting all the autistic students in one place’. It’s a social space for students to find others who share their experiences, to provide peer support, and to have fun together. Bristol has the Bristol University Neurodiverse Student society, for example, which runs things like boardgame evenings, going to the quiet hour of Fresher’s Fair together, or even talking to the Vice Chancellor about the needs of their members and how the university can improve.
My son has told me that tutors are not allowed to know whether a student has a RAF due to Data Protection – is this true? Are tutors aware that someone has a diagnosis?
Different universities handle the GDPR aspect of disclosure differently. I know initially many have been concerned that sharing this information would contradict GDPR, and so some have ended up being very cautious. Often it is fine to share with those who need to know, such as tutors, but if this isn’t the policy at his university, the responsibility for telling people falls to him. Tutors are not automatically aware of a diagnosis, or necessarily what sorts of adjustments that might mean are useful. At Bristol we now have a system where students opt-in for their information being shared, and what many have chosen is for their adjustment requirements to be shared without the specifics of their diagnoses, as that isn’t actually what is most useful for them or their tutors to focus on.
If a HEI is wanting to improve their support offer for neurodiverse students, where would you suggest they start? Do you have good practice examples of other HEI’s who improved their offer, so we can see how they got there?
The first step, in my view, is probably to make sure that the people who will be interacting with neurodiverse students know that they are doing so and that they have good, non-stigmatising knowledge about neurodiversity. Having things like a neurodiversity society for students is also really good, as it gives people a safe space to go and talk to other students who they know will understand their experiences and potentially have useful suggestions. Programmes like the summer school at the University of Bath are examples of exceptional good practice, and different universities are now starting to set up Neurodiversity Champions as a key point of contact for students to go to for help which can work well too.
Did you disclose the names of the Universities which were the most inclusive for autistic students?
We did not, because having the most or the broadest policies is not automatically a guarantee of being the most inclusive, though we can hope it is at least indicative. The raw data is available on request if anyone is interested though.
Thank you, very insightful. As a parent, my daughter hope to go to university next year, what can we ask for specifically, in terms of her wellbeing?
I think knowing in advance things like what kind of societies she might want to join can be helpful (and the Student Union should have a list online of all the options); knowing how to contact the Wellbeing and Disability Services; and contacting Disability Services before you arrive can be really helpful. That way support can be in place from day one, and if anything new comes up, she will know how to find help rather than having that extra step on the way to getting support. If at all possible, visiting the city or campus and getting at least a little bit familiar with the area can also really reduce anxiety in my experience, and just takes one more worry off the list for people starting university.