ASD student 1st yr - poor support - is this FAIR?

[54isanopendoor]

Ds started his 1st yr at Uni 7 wks ago (Scotland).
He was a direct entry at Yr 2 : no choice as he entered via an HNC.
(the HNC was at a local College & was the 1st yr they'd run it & it turns it it in NO WAY articulates on & lots of stuff he should have covered has not been done. He has gone in with a middle aged friend who did the same courses & has studied at this level before & they are both massively struggling)

He applied via Clearing (both students had to in end as College Tutor refused to do references as 'on strike'). University do not have him listed as a direct entrant so he was not able to take up the 1 week 'College Transition' course pre Uni.

He wasn't Registered properly on their system for nearly 3 weeks (endless phone calls & much frustration from me) so couldn't attend lectures / practicals.
(due to this he also lost the chance of student accom so has a long commute in)
He then had 2 weeks of feeling very overwhelmed. He then got a really bad dose of Covid (we all tested positive for 10 days) during which he lost 10lbs & v ill.

I went in with him yesterday to speak to Student Support & whilst we were there we were able to see his Course Leader / Personal Development Tutor (same person, which isn't ideal). Ds has Autism. He has Dyslexia. He has Clinical Anxiety.

All of which were mentioned on application. He had a DSA assessment which we'd forwarded & he had support arranged & paid via DSA last year at College (although it was never really delivered so he has rather lost faith in the process).
When he gets overwhelmed he tends to 'shut down' & struggles to advocate for himself (speak at all really) so I went along to try to explain / ask for help for him.

Point of long post (sorry)
We were told that 'support can be arranged by Christmas' (via a local ASD charity for 'an hour a week'). Course Leader not terribly interested ('student support will deal with all that' & 'I'm not sure why you are struggling really')

He has been told he can defer his Xmas exams until next July.
OR he can defer the year & start again next Sept (in year 1 or year 2)
And we were told how much the bill will be for attendance so far this year.

I can see that no one can wind the clock back 7 weeks but this seems quite poor.
I think that pushing the exams back is probably a mistake (as how would he resit if he needed to then which he might with no direct teaching?) & he is best to defer to next year but I'm worried he's lost all confidence now & I've lost quite a bit too as they seemed so disinterested & mostly bothered about why it wasn't their fault (I went in saying that I wasn't interested in that, just how to move on)

Based on my past experience of students who get off to a bad start and then start again elsewhere it's unlikely that Abertay (or anywhere else) will see him as a failure.

As you say things went wrong the start atthat were nobody's fault - he missed out on some of the support he should have had due to the strike and clearing. Plus he needs more support with accommodation than his first uni were able to offer, and he'd like to start again from Year 1. And he's not enjoying the course he's on.

All excellent reasons to look elsewhere, and ones that will be familiar to staff doing recruitment. Your DS did well in his HNC and they will judge him on his merits, like any other prospective student.

It sounds as if Napier are trying to make him suspend his course. I think if he withdraws completely before the first term cut off date (what ever that is) then no fees payable. Take advice on this from SAAS/Napier student union.

I would definitely style this as dodging a bullet and big up other options. I remember you saying at one point that he preferred Abertay. Might help him not to feel he's failed if you say that is your fault for pushing Napier and you should have trusted his good instincts about Abertay.

@54isanopendoor apologies I gave duff advice on fees if he withdraws before cut off date SAAS won't pay fees but he would be liable for whatever uni charge. I'd ask Napier to waive these as they have been poor (strikes insufficient disability support).

God that would really piss me off - 'I'm not sure why you're struggling really' - well that would be because he's autistic, dyslexic, has clinical anxiety and has missed weeks of lectures through no fault of his own after doing a year of a poorly constructed course that didn't prepare him in any way that it should. I mean come on, you're supposed to be a highly educated person Mr Tutor I'm not sure wtf you could possibly not be sure about.

Sorry rant about that idiot over!

This might work out as the best thing for you son. He's found he hates the course, he has a year to make sure the other uni is right for him by visiting, talking to them, asking questions, making sure he gets himself properly prepared for the course content, organising what help he needs etc. It's just sensible to walk away now knowing this wasn't the right decision but his next experience could be completely different.

The other thing to consider could be calling Abertay, explaining the situation and seeing if it would be possible for him to switch to there - perhaps into the first year rather than the second if that would be possible and helpful.

Wishing him all the luck in the world!