Friendly ND small universities

[Mangosorbetrocks]

Hi
Not sure of how to start my search but I’m looking for small neuro-diverse friendly universities, ideally campus universities please.
My DC is potentially interested in accounting/ Business Management degrees. Not RG unis, he doesn’t have the grades for those.
Any help or tips would be greatly received.

Wot? The Sussex University that hounded Kathleen Stock out of her job?
I'm not sure that I would call them 'nurturing'.

Bath Spa? Meant to be top of the tables for diversity, it is a small campus and really pretty, I did a PGCE there a few years back and DC going there after the summer.

Thank you for gnus recommendation. It wasn’t even on my list!

I was considering Kent but I wasn’t sure whether they were ND friendly?

Thanks for this recommendation. Would you mind sending a link to the diversity table that you are referring to please?

I haven’t seen this uni being mentioned during my online search for ND etc.

I know MN doesn't like it, but if you're on FB there is a group called What I Wish I Knew About University (WIWIKU). There is a sub- group specially for parents with ND children at uni or applying. They might be able to give you some help.

Obviously a lot more nurturing of at least a proportion of its student body than of certain members of staff, to be fair...

Which is precisely why I specifically put for students.

I’m aware of what happened to Kathleen Stock, I didn’t agree with that. Neither does my DD.

But I have an autistic & ADHD child that writes support, and what Sussex Disability Set ices offers autistic students seemed very good from speaking to them and comparing that to the many other universities we spoke to specifically about autism & ADHD support. Have you spoken to them?

I would love to be able to boycott many things for several different reasons, but in the case of universities it’s primarily up to your child and for me their neurodiversity takes precedence.

(Sussex’s views on certain matters and how they don’t welcome differing but reasonable views is a consideration for my DD, as it informs how they teach the particular course she applied for. It’s one of several reasons it wasn’t her first choice. But that’s a separate issue to their neurodiversity support.)

Typos Bloody phone (and my own ADHD…)

My daughter has had a very good experience with Anglia Ruskin and their Disability Team in Cambridge.

My DS went to Bournemouth and one of his friends developed MH issues. From what I understand the university's pastoral care was very good and he got several opportunities to take a break and then resume his studies.
It's a smallish campus outside of the main town centre although the student resi's are in the town itself. I didn't get the impression that it was a particularly notable party uni but maybe my DS didn't tell me everything he got up to...

Leeds Trinity
York St John

It's also a nice city to live in for students, my dd went to Leicester Uni and stayed there.

Does anyone know whether the number of students attending lectures, seminars etc are available online? Or will this information can only be given at the open day?

This is an unanswerable question as we have no control over whether the u degrease attend or not. There’s a rather counter-productive belief amongst some students that they do t need to attend actual seminars ….

But what you can ask is for:

• overall numbers admitted to a particular course/degree - that will give you likely maximum numbers attending lectures

• what’s the average small group teaching size? For example, in my course, we have a cap of 25 in seminars and 16 in practical sessions. Within each of those I would generally put students into smaller groups of 4 or 5 for collaborative projects and discussions within the seminar.

I’m enjoying reading all these suggestions but @Mangosorbetrocks has asked for

• within 3 hours of the SE
• A Business degree that asks for only MMM or MMD in a BTEC

Most of the suggestions will be out of reach either geographically or academically.

Im assuming you’re also looking for small classes, OP?

Reading have been incredibly supportive of my DD despite her still waiting for an ASD diagnosis rather than actually having one. She has a named disability advisor that she can go to for anything she needs help with and has been able to stay in halls for the whole time. Being close enough to London to be able to get around by train and tube easily has also given her a huge amount of confidence, she went to Wembley arena for a concert a couple of months ago by herself which could never have seen her being able to do before she went.

We have an open day on 29 June, I really recommend a visit.

It is a great city for students, easy transport links to just about anywhere. Inexpensive living, and because it is a diverse student population it’s not a big “drinking” type of place. There’s plenty that do that obviously but also lots of other ways of socialising and they are very inclusive.

My dd is at Bath spa (she’s ND with mobility issues) and loves it. First year was on campus. Most of her friends are ND too as it seems to be popular for ND.

Bournemouth was her next choice, she has friends there but I don’t think accommodation is on campus but it’s pretty close by.

DD is at Bournemouth and has found pastoral care to be excellent both when she needed support and when a friend was in difficulty.
DD is not a party animal - yes there are a few clubs but it is not really a party town by any stretch of the imagination as far as I am aware.

I'm not great with links sorry but if you just look at the website it tells you about it.

One of the things I would be asking is do any of these universities offer DSA funded support in house. Much better than getting in an external company but increasingly rare, especially with shrinking budgets. Do they guarantee a space in halls every year? Quiet flat/ensuite available if those are important? Would he get automatic extensions on assignments? Would he have a named disability adviser at the university? Do they have a mental wellbeing team? Are they available 24/7? What is the structure of the course including types of assessment - will any of these be particularly challenging for him, if so do they offer alternative assessments as standard or as a reasonable adjustment? Do they offer any sort of special transition events? Can you have a personalised visit or visits before starting in September to get more familiar with campus and set up support in advance?

I would also talk to as many staff in the faculty as possible - even within a diverse and supportive university generally you will find individuals and programmes that are less so, sometimes for historic/cultural reasons. At the moment smaller universities are seriously struggling for funds and making mass redundancies so a lot of staff are getting quite defensive even when they might not mean to be.

Forgive me, I have not read the thread... whichever institution your child chooses, make sure they have applied for Disabled students Allowance, if successful they will get access to lots of extra support, both technological and personal (a study coach or a mentor). I work with students who have a much higher than usual incidence of ND (it's a very niche course).

Too many do not take advantage of the extra support that comes with DSA and expect us to provide the support instead, we do our best, our teachers (who are also ND) are trained in working with ND students, but without the DSA support package, students struggle.
Make DSA your core ND support along with a smaller university such as Bath Spa and your DC can thrive.

Since Edge Hill is too far (shame! but I hear you @Mangosorbetrocks) I am going to reiterate Worcester - I've just recalled a YP I know who has various ND issues has had a great experience there and just finished a master's.

Also have you looked at Uni of Leicester? DD got in with a much lower offer than the book one (on clearing). She had various issues while there and I was really impressed with the support she received. She ended up graduating with an amazing result. It might just be her dept or even her PT but it's worth a look. Its business course asks for DDM in BTEC but still might be worth looking at. Not as such as campus but the accomm is based in a kind of village on the edge of the city and there is lovely green space. Also lots of cheapy private housing stock for later years.

I don't know what the student experience is, but Bath Spa has specialist research in ND and takes staff accommodations, lived experience etc, seriously. That centre's lectures and studies have been very good when I've participated: Centre for Applied Autism Research (bath.ac.uk)

University of Cumbria should be a safe option.