I went to university in 1996. I’d just turned 18 and went to study a MA degree in dance. I didn’t know about my autism at the time. However I was still autistic at university. Therefore I didn’t receive any additional support and was expected to cope as well as my peers. I didn’t.
In fact I wasn’t given my autism diagnosis until 2015, nearly 20 years later. That’s 20 years of living without knowledge of my autism. Nonetheless there were positives about my university experience. Plus I did leave with a degree.
I made this video to talk about my experiences as an undiagnosed autistic student. I hope you enjoy it.
Ros and I made this video Ros is currently a diagnosed autistic student, about her experiences at university.
Here is some information from The National Autistic Society about starting college or university as an autistic student.