Best Universities for Autistic DD with social anxiety. Looking for flexibility

[whatisgoingonandwhy]

Posting for traffic. DD has autism but is very bright academically. She struggled a lot in high school but has flown in her A levels as she is attending an online college. She would like to study psychology and work with autistic children in some capacity. Has recently started to make progress in socialising more but is extremely daunted at the prospect of having to attend classes. Are there any Uni’s that have the flexibility to attend classes in person or online, or any that are particularly supportive for those who are neurodivergent?

I’m not sure if this would help but at DD’s university the lectures were recorded so that you could rewatch if you needed to. I doubt whether this is unique, so it may be worth asking. I think it would be a reasonable adjustment for your DD if she wanted to watch instead of attend.

I’m not sure that doing online work is getting herself ready for the world of work.

I've heard that Lancaster University and Leeds are particularly good at supporting students with autism. I think Lancaster haa quite a good psychology department. You need to visit though- attend a few universities and ask lots of questions. Find out what they offer to help students with autism. Speak to student services, speak to lecturers. I know lots of funding has just been cut in (many) universities but some are definitely choosing to invest in services to support autistic students.

Would she manage living away from home? If not, you need to look at universities within commuting distance or The Open University, which is truly excellent.

Uni lecturer in psychology here. Most universities record their lectures nowadays, so that won't be a problem. However, these are often supported by workshops or seminars where students may work in small groups discussing lectures or working on project.

Plenty of our students are autistic. Some cope fine to the point you won't know they are autistic; some really struggle. It's really a judgement call as to their confidence and social skills. What I would say is that students are generally less mature at 18 than they used to be, and I think many would benefit by delaying uni for a couple of years until they are ready. This may be particularly true for neurodivergent children.

Exactly. If she won't attend classes in person, how is she going to deal with autistic children, their parents and other health professionals in her future career?

I think rather than choosing an online option as a path of leasistance now she would be better off looking at some support (not sure where, charities? NHS cahms? Private therapy?) to help her to move back I to the world of education. It can definitely be done and she's older now. Could she take a year off academically altogether? And spend that time doing some kind of work on her anxiety and socialising?

Because she's currently only 18 and has the potential to continue developing and maturing!
She doesn't need to follow the same pathway or at the same speed as others to reach her goals.
It's attitudes like yours that impact ND and disabled people so negatively.

Bath Uni has a good reputation for supporting their sutistuc students. I went to one of their outreach events in the summer, which was run by autistic students. One of the students was studying psychology (she was our guide) and was very positive about the support, flexibility and acceptance at Bath.

Our uni is going for more in person attendance and stepping attendance monitoring up so I am not sure how this would work. We do have a very supportive disability unit who put in all kinds of adjustments but I am not sure not attending could work, perhaps you'd be allowed to enter the lecture at the back of the room instead for example? We do record lectures but the experience of watching them back is awful compared to being on the lecture hall. The sound is poor. Sometimes the recording fails to capture slides and/or speaker, it doesn't pick up discussion (and legally not allowed to) in the class.

I'd say if you want online learning then go to the OU because their whole system is set up for it.

Thank you all and just to clarify, she is having therapy and we have held her back for a year as we understand that she is not going to follow the same path as a non divergent young person. We are trying to work on her confidence and was hoping that by allowing her the opportunity to study from home when needed would decrease her anxiety.
She absolutely needs to be ready for the world of work and to be able to communicate with others for this to be effective but we also need to go at her speed and one she is comfortable with. I will talk to her about postponing another year to try and gauge if this would be a better option for her.

I second the OU.

There is a WIWIKAU page specifically for parents of ND students ( I think you may have to join the main group first) which will probably be useful to you. However, I would agree that it may be better for her to take a year or two out, volunteer or work and address the barriers to in-person participation before going to Uni. There is no need to go at 18 and I agree with pp that a majority of students would likely benefit from at least a year out because for whatever reason a 2025 18 year old is not developmentally as advanced ( particularly in terms of managing peer relationships and navigating difficult situations independently) as a 1990s 18 year old and these seem to be common reasons for YP dropping out. There’s no getting away from psychology being a “peopley” job where you’d need to manage some quite difficult emotions and situations with clients plus my understanding is it’s quite a competitive field ( more grads than jobs) so the better she can prepare for that in a lower stakes environment the better.

edit to add: OP we crossed posts so apologies if reads like I ignored your points

Could she do some study to keep her hand in? Open university access course maybe? I personally need to always be formally learning so she may need that for her mental health.

The OU offers a lot of support for those who have additional needs. Please don't rule it out as an option.

Don't be put off with it being a remote way to learn. You can chat with others in your cluster forum (I prefer the chat box!). Entirely up to each student, to do whatever is comfortable for them.

I have had experience of day school in my previous module to meet others in person which I enjoyed at a local uni organised by the OU.

Maybe a year out doing some kind of volluntary work where she can mature and learn to engage with people face to face.

Setting her up as a virtual uni student may be setting her up to fail, and just exacerbate the social anxiety. Ultimately she will not be able to work in her chosen field unless she develops social skills and a degree of confidence around other people.

Another factor to consider is the distance from home. Having sent 3 ASD children to uni, the ones that were ~one hour travel time coped better, partly because I could pop in, they could pop back - one DC commuted for a bit as well. The one that was 5 hours away did not last the first year, despite on paper having the most uni support available.

DSA will provide funding for a study mentor and possibly a skills mentor (whether they actually exist is another matter) and recording/dictation equipment for lectures. The uni's own disabled students team will put a plan in place for extended deadlines, request for smaller tutorial or presentation groups.

Bath does the Autism summer school in year 11. Reading and Exeter have their Scholars courses in year 12-13. Surrey does something too. Basically you'll need to search for widening participation on each uni site to see if they do a disabled student outreach programme which makes the transition easier.

My autistic DD was in no way uni ready at 18. She is now though (22) so will be starting an animation degree in September. The uni is commutable though as she wouldn't cope with staying...I'm hoping she may change her mind in the second year if she makes friends. Those few years out have made all the difference.

Have you talked to her about the infinitely wide variety of options outside ‘working with autistic children’?

If you’ll forgive me it sounds a somewhat solipsistic choice - perhaps a result of a teen’s limited experience of life outside their own world. Has she no interest in astronomy, clothes design, poetry, old buildings, pre-colonial history, baking, the sea bed, cures for chronic illnesses, rose growing, etc, etc?

Perhaps a year spent not thinking about social anxiety, psychology and autism might benefit her? It does sound as if she needs to broaden her horizons considerably.

Hello
Sorry to derail your thread but what online college has your dd studied with please? My dd is also autistic and has severe social anxiety. She's year 11

I’ve stopped posting about my nd dd on here. Because of comments like this. The university lecturers thread was particularly dismissive.

Mine started sertraline and it has changed her completely. Social anxiety has gone and she is coping much better.

I meant broaden her intellectual horizons, btw. (Whether online or in person.)

It’s not easy to see what she would bring to other autistic young people if she hasn’t studied anything outside herself at all.

My autistic college did her degree through the Open University, she said she never would have coped in large group settings. She is high functioning and most people wouldn't know she was autistic if they met her.

I have a relative with autism at Lancaster and it's working really well for him - campus so everyone is around, and a college system so they are living in small communities - so it's easier to socialise via clubs and activities rather than just personal connections. I believe it has a good rep for support services also.

My biggest tip is to consider a university that they can commute to. Lectures, classes and workshops aren’t that many hours per week, much of a degree is self study, it’s the rest of university life that is more challenging, halls of residence were ok as my dd was put into a “quiet” flat, still was too much really but she managed but shared house in year 2 was a disaster , thankfully we lived 35 miles away so she only stayed there 2 nights a week.