College and University

Which jobs?

Here are a couple of interactive pages: 

Good for adults with Asperger’s?

Examples

Computers are often popular with children on the autistic spectrum.    At school the subject is called ITC.
See also: Apprenticeships

See also: Apprenticeships or our item: The geek syndrome.

Did you know that there are police officers with autism?      The National police autism association states, Having AS doesn’t automatically preclude anyone from joining the police, however you would have to pass the assessment and training, the same as for any NT applicant.      See their:  FAQ

Narrow focus

If you are wondering why life with autism is so difficult this scientific study says that autistic brains have more dense local synaptic connections and fewer long range connections than the typical brain.     This results in overstimulation in local areas of the brain, so autistic brains have more ineffective activity and excessive sensory sensitivity.     It seems more likely to be the case if you are hyperactive with ADHD as well.

On the other hand, finding rules to follow helpful is said to make autistic people efficient, so it may be good to take some time to get a well rounded picture.     Attention to detail can be a positive.

Finding your way

• Transitions      The NAS have guides for starting and leaving college and university.
• How students with Asperger’s cope at university      An article from The Guardian website, with links and comments.      The author is a student at Cardiff University where she is studying journalism, media and cultural studies
• University students with Autism & Asperger’s  is a dedicated resource based on personal experience.     This page contains a site map.
• Navigating college experience      This page offers general guidelines for navigating the college experience.
• Nottingham Trent university has a page dedicated to Autism support.

Grantham College

• Computing courses at the college may be of interest to many.
• Grantham College offers a Day Break service with leisure activities to help students to build confidence and improve social skills, learn and develop independent living skills, make new friends and much more, as they put it.        Lisa would be happy to talk about the possibilities:  01476 404394,  lsmith@grantham.ac.uk.       The college is proud of its purpose built Learning Development Centre.       Lisa may still be the SEN Co-ordinator for the college so she could be the one to contact for any questions relating to SEN.
• For general information about the college see:  Our college      Support

See also our Wider area colleges page or our Linkage college item for some more options.

Experiences

• My tutors saw potential       Luke found support at a local university.     I live in Luton with my parents and the University of Bedfordshire is quite close, so I applied for a foundation degree there.
• Here is a BBC interview with two students, Tom and Kirsty, who are on the spectrum called:  The autistic me.     I wanted to show people that I was happier after the first show made me look unhappy and depressed.      I wanted to show other people with autism are the same as normal people and can get on okay. 

  Networking with other students

Ambitious about autism runs a project called myVoice.

It is for young people aged 16-25 with autism.      The idea is for you to feel at home as you learn more about yourself and your place in the wider world.      There are stories, films and helpful information and advice.      Click page icon to find out more.

See also

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