Best uni for young woman with ASD, anxiety and depression

[LifeIsAGameofMonopoly]

DD has dropped out of Bristol uni due in part to extremely poor pastoral care.
If anyone has got any recommendations for unis which have got really good support for neurodiverse students, I would be extremely grateful to hear this. (And if any unis to avoid also!)
She likes the sea, and doesn't want to be too far from the family home (we are Berkshire) she has been thinking about Brighton or possibly Bournemouth.
She is 21, so maybe also any unis that have a good proportion of mature students. I understand that Birkbeck is for mature students but I don't know how mature... She would like to be with people who are in their 20s.
Thank you very much 😊

I was honestly speechless by the lack of duty of care. It has really upset me because it really was so awful 😭

all id say is swerve a drama degree unless she’s heavily heavily interested in/invested in it. It’s full on and can be socially hard to navigate and full of big personalities

having said that my friends son who has ASD is thriving on a drama theatre tech/production course (sound, lights, bit of set design and writing, quite varied)

A friend has had alot of support at Lancaster.

just wanted to send support and say that my daughter, also with ASD, had non existent support at Bristol. It was woeful.
She came home and
commuted to a London Uni, but if she could
do it again, she'd definitely go for a campus uni.
Bristol was just bloody awful.

Open university

A great message from @YouTellEmBigD but I'd like to add that a lot of the support mentioned is available at any university through DSA. (Although the choice of uni for pastoral care is really important too and I would definitely look into the uni @YouTellEmBigD recommended). Does your daughter already get DSA?

My daughter gets three hours a week 1:1 study support, two hours a week 1:1 mentoring (both face to face) lots of software to record and translate every lesson into a word document. She didn't need it but they also offered her a laptop, printer and adapted furniture. The DSA can give up to £26k of support a year for disabled students, plus help with travel costs if living at home if public transport if difficult for them. This is all funded and arranged through DSA and the university has no input.

DD with ASD is in her third year at Reading and has found them very supportive. She’s been able to stay in halls for all three years, second years and above are usually put in flats with other non first years so she hasn’t felt as if she is older than her flat mates.

She’s studying English literature and has really enjoyed all her modules, it’s also offered as a joint honours with a number of other subjects. She is also planning for a librarianship masters in the future, probably done as a distance course.

My daughter who is autistic and has ADD lasted three months at Uni. She went into a shutdown and was suicidal. She told me she went to the station to throw herself in front of a train. I got her out and managed to get her out of her tenancy.

She spent three months in bed, then managed to get an apprenticeship. She has absolutely flown since then, has got her confidence back.

Uni isn’t for everyone, if she can’t cope then please dont hesitate to take her out. Good luck.

Home and Open University at her own pace.

Like Brunel, Middlesex Univ is in London suburbs.
They seem to have a good reputation for student support and being approachable especially for students with extra needs.

The vibe feels relaxed and informal.
Everything seems to be student focused.
Worth a look I'd say.
Bristol is notorious for not caring.
All the best.

Wow 😯 that's helpful - NOT! Op has explained her DD is Autistic. She is therefore entitled to certain reasonable adjustments and support. 🙄

Manchester - not near the sea but the (self outing) ND students showing us round were full of praise for the support service

What level of help/support is she expecting? I think you need to define that as uni is not school and support levels will be very different even if they have ‘good’ pastoral facilities.

has your daughter considered a University Centre within a college? Many now offer degrees (linked to a university so the certificate will have the unis name on it, not the college) but higher levels of support are available and classes much smaller

I'm not up to date but Birkbeck was aimed at much older students who are already working.
Unless it's changed. I used to work near there and had to visit for work.
Their courses were mostly part time and evening lectures.
Also aimed at people with life or work experience and perhaps not academic qualifications.
Also it's right bang in the middle of Bloomsbury. Noisy busy could be a confusing environment for some.
That's why I suggested Middlesex.
Calmer quieter more space and greenery outer suburbs.

@TotallyTwisted
Also most schools are pretty crap as well. Especially with anxiety and autism. This country is just obsessed with attendance 🙄. Nothing else seems to matter!

Bangor was great for me - with ADHD and dyspraxic. I did history and the support was second to none particularly considering my father died while I was there. They couldn’t have been more helpful but it might be a bit far for your criteria

The only note of caution I'd add is that with the financial state majority of the HE sector find themselves in, their ability to support students is likely to decrease substantially. There's a lot of comms about how universities will protect the student experience - but with staff recruitment freezes and reduced investment in services it's inevitable that there will be less support available. Expectations even in previously supportive institutions will need to be dialled down

Sussex used to be very good (my experience is a bit dated unfortunately). Pastoral was always better there than at Brighton, and it is a truly campus based uni, which might be positive for her. Lots of non-STEM courses in offer.

Bath Spa Uni? As opposed to University of Bath.

I'd suggest thinking very hard about her degree subject and the nature of job she wants after it.

Librarianship comes up all the time on Mumsnet as a field where jobs are disappearing.

Drama seems like a big risk for someone autistic (I know everyone's skills and triggers are different) and very unstable for careers afterwards. Similarly anything in film/TV currently - plus the added burden of being freelance may be difficult for her.

So I'd suggest she spends the gap year thinking hard about what career she wants, is it feasible given her current support needs, and what does she need to do to get there. Choosing a university comes after all of that.

I know Exeter was mentioned a couple of times, but if she didn't like the posh student vibe in Bristol then she certainly won't like Exeter. It seems to be one of the unis which attracts a lot of people who also applied to Oxbridge and has a very public school image. It's not for nothing that it's known as "Surrey-on-Sea".

I think very highly of Bath and its autism services, but yes, it is largely though not wholly STEM focussed. Worth looking through the degree programmes.

To my knowledge Leicester and Lancaster are excellent options as is Sheffield , though the last two may be outside your geographical range. I am learning some new things on this thread, so thanks to everyone.

Oh, also Loughborough if DD likes their degree programmes.

I'm so sorry your daughter went through the same thing. Woeful is exactly the word for it 😔 xx

Really feel for you OP. So much good advice in here.

I would encourage your daughter to have another look at Reading. I hear great things. Plus you are close. She can live in halls or at home. It may be familiar, but maybe that’s a good stepping-stone or scaffold for her. Also MUCH easier and fairer on you. Otherwise the pain is king to be all yours.

Agree with previous posters about librarian suitability and future jobs. But I believe there will be good opportunities in the storage and management of information. Not just databases but archival histories of companies, organisations and private families.

Good luck. Lots of great advice in here.

I can’t believe Bristol haven’t improved their pastoral care after the spate of suicide and media spotlight