Study and disclosure tips for students with
Asperger Syndrome
The following study tips are extracts are taken from:
Howlin, P. (2004). Autism and Asperger Syndrome: preparing for adulthood.
2nd ed. London: Routledge 2004.
Study tips
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You will be expected to structure your own time and plan your work to
meet long-term deadlines. It can be very hard to judge on your own if
you are doing too little work, or too much, especially if you tend
towards disorganisation or perfectionism, and so it is important to make
sure that you get adequate feedback from tutors.
If functioning in group situations is a problem, then seminars and
discussion groups can be difficult. If you are still deciding which
universities to apply to, find out what the main teaching methods are:
one-to-one tutorials, seminars, lectures, lab work or computers. For
some people one-to-one teaching might be better adapted to their
needs, while others might find it too intense. If you think that you might
be unable to cope with a campus environment, investigate those
offering distance learning or online tutoring.
Find out about any resources your University has for blind, deaf or
learning disabled students, such as books on tape or transcripts of
lectures. Software designed to adapt computers for people with
disabilities can be useful for autistic students with visual or coordination
problems.
Videotape Lectures and/or ask for copies of overheads and diagrams –
many people with Asperger Syndrome cannot read what is on the
board, take notes and listen all at the same time
Get an advanced copy of the syllabus (or rough draft) before term
begins in order to prepare for some of the change in routine, and to
arrange for adoptions to materials.
Arrange for a distraction free environment for study and for taking
exams – crowded lecture halls can be stressful for students who have
problems with physical proximity – turn up early enough to get an isle
seat, request to be allowed to sit apart (or even in a separate room) for
exams.
Request twice the allotted test-taking time – particularly for multiple
choice exams
Determine where your exam will take place and familiarise yourself
with it. Be sure to arrive well in time so you will not panic if anything
delays your journey.
Seek whatever accommodations you feel appropriate (separate room,
computer, amanuensis or whatever) Do not be afraid of what other
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students might think or how professors will react; these are your right
and might make the difference between success and failure.
Prioritise anything else that is going on in your life so that it will not
compete with your time for preparing and revising for your exams and
otherwise stress you out.
Disclosure Tips
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Most Universities make adequate provisions for students with physical
disabilities, but few have even heard of HFA/AS, let alone considered
the possibility that it might affect any of their students. Many people
still assume that if you can talk, let alone go to university, you can not
really be autistic.
If you have any special needs, or just want university staff to be aware
of areas in which you may function differently, you may have to
educate them yourself.
Some people choose not to tell (especially if they are concerned about
privacy or think that staff may be unsympathetic or hostile) but it does
make things harder if any autism related problems do arise.
If you do choose to tell it is best not to leave it until a crisis; this makes
it more likely that ignorant people will assume that it is just an excuse.
It is easier to get unexpected special needs met if people have been
informed of your disability well in advance.
Remember you do not have to choose between ‘telling everyone’ and
‘telling no one’. You can choose to tell a few people that you trust and
ask them to keep it strictly confidential.
The most useful thing that you can do is to give an official medical
letter stating your diagnosis and giving a brief explanation of the ways
in which it is likely to affect you (keep a copy with you at all times). If
you can anticipate any special requirements, ask your clinician to
specify them in a letter.
The second most useful thing you can have is a short paper explaining
HFA/AS with particular reference to people of university age.