Any thoughts on a good uni for autistic girl, studying neuroscience please?

[BillStickersIsInnocent]

I wondered if anyone had any insight / experience on this. She’s year 11, so a way off, but we’d like to start thinking about this soon because planning is really important for her.
Currently in a mainstream school, achieving very well, but with a toll on her mental health and social life, largely because of the busyness and sensory environment of a very large school.
She struggles in big cities and crowded places.

Does anyone have any pointers please? One idea is Exeter. Thank you.

Lancaster. Obviously North but go to an open day.
Very safe campus, Collegiate system. Beautiful grounds and sports centre so places to chill.
Lots of societies e.g. WhoSoc and PotterSoc friendly choir.
Our daughter ( diagnosed with ASD age 3) absolutely loved it there. Got a 1st class honours degree and went on to live and work there after a Post Grad qualification.
Her DSA paid the difference for an en suite room.
She made lots of friends and loved it.

I would very carefully consider how far away it is and how easy to get to on public transport.

Lancaster is a good shout but also Bangor (not sure if they do Neuroscience though)

De Montfort has an excellent reputation for looking after students with ASD but I’m not sure if they offer that particular course.

DD is autistic and we looked at universities within a 3 hour journey of home and with no more than one change of train which met her predicted grades.

She has just started at York and seems to be settling in okay even though it is at the 3 hour journey mark. Their support is quite switched on- she has adjustments and DSA support which was all in place for when she started and the department is also engaging and being helpful.

We liked Bath, Sheffield and Southampton for their autism support (she was put off Bath by the extreme hill!) but found Warwick hugely overwhelming which I hadn’t expected. We didn’t bother looking at big cities (Manchester / Leeds etc) as she wouldn’t get the enjoyment from being in one and it would likely be too much.

Open days were really really helpful just for getting the feel of a place.

Ah jist had a look at which Unis offer Neuroscience and De Montfort isn’t on there so please ignore my earlier post.

A bit left field, but OU?
A friend's DC didn't want to leave home and is studying a science from home with part time work.

Does she want neuroscience (focused on animals and cells and biochemistry) or psychology? Bangor is good on psychology and so is St Andrews. UCL has a new degree in human neuroscience which spans those topics.

I think the former, but will check. Thank you.

Thank you that’s really helpful. I think open days will be key for her in particular. Just need to spread them out so it’s not too overwhelming!

Can I recommend you go to whatever your closest local uni with an open day in the next couple of weeks? Doesn’t matter if she wouldn’t consider it, it will help her start thinking about likes and dislikes - students often, on paper, have different preferences to in person.

for a uni with neuroscience, Keele is worth a look

You don’t say what kind of level of uni @BillStickersIsInnocent but going on @BunnyRuddington’s list, I see Edge Hill is an option – it’s a fairly underrated university with a big campus outside Liverpool, noted (anecdotally by me talking to students there) for its support of ND and other students who may face difficulties.

It’s not on a par with such as Exeter in terms of offer tho and ofc is in the north so depending where you live may not be suitable anyway.

I also see Leicester is on the list – my ND DD found this a very supportive uni, tho a lot of that was department-dependent I suspect (Eng lit). But Leicester is a manageable city and the halls are in a village setting a couple of miles out of town.

It is worth thinking about if she might prefer a campus university or a non-campus one. I think a campus can be quite safe and contained feeling in the first year, as long as she has enough of her own space. I have a DN at York that has loved it.

Thank you this is all really helpful info.

I was also wondering about people’s thoughts and experiences of personal statements and demonstrating a well rounded extra curricular life. My DD has done some bits - DofE, some volunteering. To be honest school and a very small social life is all she can manage. I wondered how much this would count against her.

The personal statement is all about demonstrating your interest and enthusiasm for the subject you are applying for, so if she has read books on the subject talk about those, if she follows particular scientists on youtube talk about those. Extra-curricular isn't really needed but if it can show eg teamwork that might help a little but it really is all about the subject.

Yeh don't worry at all about DofE or captain of the football team. It really is not important whatever schools may say.

Her PS needs to show interest and engagement in the subject so why she wants to study it - what inspired her - what reading has she done? Online talks? MOOCs? That's what unis are looking for. Tho tbh the vast majority wil offer based on A level PGs and not the PS at all.

Thank you, that won’t be a problem then.

We went to an open day and one of the lecturers said it’s a students’ market at the moment (I suppose because unis are in so much trouble financially), that getting their entry requirements is most that matters.

I'd consider Keele - good options to blend Psychology and Neuroscience, a leafy campus, smaller student body and nowhere near an urban environment.

Royal Holloway in Egham good for similar reasons.

I know this is a bit left field, but I just wanted to encourage your DD to go to the absolute best place possible academically, within the range of those places she feels most comfortable.

Tbh I would start by narrowing down by course first, then contact each to find out about their disability/ND support? My DD has just started this week and chose her courses based on how interesting the modules were and the ranking for the subject. We also stipulated that she should aim to be within a 90min distance of home by public transport so that she can come home or we can get to her easily.

She was able to get DSA and has been allocated an incredible wealth of support - laptops, printer, noise cancelling headphones, bloody amazing software to support her in time management, academic writing etc (plus training on it); in addition to an academic advisor and ND mentor (30 hours each over the course of the year). The report and facilities was shared with the disabilities inclusion team at the university of her choice and they contacted her to advise her that they had already notified staff of her needs, arranged 5 day extensions on assignments, 30 mins extra time in exams, leniency in marking criteria of grammar and spelling (ironically she really doesn’t need the latter as she is a total pedant!) She is really excited to start and feels very supported (albeit, she has barely left her room as her flatmates seem to start their fresher parties in the kitchen and she felt a bit overwhelmed to walk in to 13 people squashed around the table on her first night).

Most of this is available at most universities once you have DSA in place, so I’d look into that and then ask preferred universities about the support they offer/relationship with DSA?

There are uni specific pages, also, on Facebook - ‘Parents of autistic / neurodiverse students’ is excellent with sub pages for each university to chat to other parents. I learned do much there.

Sorry, long answer!

I don't know about the support on offer, but looking at that list of places offering Neuroscience, I'd consider Nottingham, also a pleasant campus university.

Nottingham is great, DD loves it there BUT I am not sure its the best for pastoral

Some unis put on special visit day (mini Open Days, if you will) for ND students, on request. If available, this says a lot about the university itself and is also a million times less overwhelming than a standard Open Day which can be overloading at the best of times.

I think Exeter would definitely be worth a look. DD loved the neuroscience department there, though ultimately went elsewhere. It is on the small Exeter medical campus (St Luke’s?) which was once a theological training college and has a very collegiate feel, set out round a quad. The neuroscience department is not too large, came across as very friendly and supportive, and has its own dedicated lab on campus. Warwick could also be an option. Neuroscience there is on the biosciences campus, self contained and slightly detached from the rest of the uni. Again, friendly and not overwhelming in size. Students there are allocated to a tutor and tutor group which they stay with for their entire course, so they have a consistent point of contact.