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Mandapanda

Getting medical reason for change of Uni course?

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HI

 

Does anyone have experience of changing course at Uni? My son has just 'finished' his 2nd year - he still have 5 pieces of work to do. He won't tell them he has Asperger's.

 

He is changing course because he is not coping with the huge volume of written work required for English but they still expect him to Pass this year, so he needs to get this work done. He is really stressed out and we think he is depressed (he said he thinks he has been for a while " if I am").

 

He wants me to help him get him going on the work, which I'm frankly having panic attacks about! I've had to buy some books for him as the local library just doesn't have the sort of books Uni do.

 

He was up last night very upset and stressed and even had some tears when I said "you feel hopeless, don't you?".I think he has now agreed to get a doctor's appointment but still wants to try doing the work as he doesn't see how the doctor can "just make it all go away".

 

Any advice gratefully received!

 

 

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I know how frustrating this must be for you.

 

I can only say that universities really do have some great support for students with Asperger's. The route cause of his anxiety and low mood is his environment. Adjustments can be made. Does your son regard letting the university know his diagnosis as cheating himself? Why does he not want to tell them? He can be very selective and discreet with whom he shares this information. He needs to see he has other choices. Is he dwelling on his non achievements rather than what he has actually achieved?

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I too am interested in the reasons why your son chooses not to disclose his condition to the university. My husband has issues with telling people about his condition (didn't even tell me until we were engaged) because he feels ashamed of himself, and he's always trying to push the limits to be "normal." This almost broke us up because he was working full time with shifts which were slowly draining all the life from him and causing him to (verbally) lash out at me at home. However, with the help of a local organisation, he confronted his job about his condition. Nowadays, only his two or three bosses (the people who NEED to know) actually know about his condition, and they treat him the same as everybody else - he just doesn't have to work as many days or hours, and his shifts are permanent rather than erratic.

I can understand where your son is coming from if he's trying to avoid having special arrangements made for just him or he might feel embarrassed about telling someone; however, the very short period of awkwardness when telling the university will be far outweighed by the benefits of having real help and support to alleviate his work load. There is VERY strict confidentiality rules in schools and I imagine universities as well, so if he's worried that "everybody" will eventually find out, he shouldn't be. Information like this is on a need to know basis only, or it should be.

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When there was a delay getting my dsa sorted 1 year I had problems getting the appropriate support. Dsa can help you buy books, get help in exams or access to a mentor or dyslexia or specialist tutor. Some universities have counsellers or a wellbeing service to help students experiencing mental health problems. There can sometimes be asperger societies within universities.

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I can only say that universities really do have some great support for students with Asperger's.

Dubin City University for one:

Creating an autism-friendly university

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