What support would my ds get at university (autism and mutism)

[elliejjtiny]

He is 17, year 13 and diagnosed with autism and a type of mutism (I think it's reactive mutism, it's the kind where he goes mute in stressful situations). He is cognitively able, although he is failing a level maths. He has applied for Bristol, Buckinghamshire and LIPA.

Hi OP,
I'm afraid I can't answer your question but you could look into this funding if it might be relevant.
https://www.gov.uk/disabled-students-allowance-dsa

Ask each uni, they will all be different. Apply for DSA in March, as above, the UCAS site actually has better info than the .Gov site but the application itself can be done as part of the Student loans system when that opens.

Things to ask - what extra transition support they offer, do they have a guaranteed housing offer and is it for every year? How do their disability and well being services work and how easy is it to access them?

My concern would be that at university a student needs to ask for help if they need it. If DS isn't able to articulate that verbally would he be able to ask for help by email? If he can't reach out in anyway and shuts down when stressed then I would be looking at a gap year and working, building independence first, with perhaps extra visits to open days etc of first choice university to get used to the environment.

You will need to contact the universities that he is interested in or considering and see what each one offers.

As a parent of a child with situational mutism, if it’s an issue at his age then I don’t think a gap year will do anything to change that.

Start conversations with the university Disability support teams.

Contact the unis (Bristol was awful, hence the court case, maybe they’ve learnt - unis have fuck all money for decent support though), contact the specific departments and check out The Student Room. I have to ask though, Performing Arts for someone with selective mutism sounds somewhat challenging - how is that going to work?

Thankyou. I'll get in touch with the universities. My eldest is at LIPA, getting DSA but his needs are different and not as great. Ds2 is planning on doing music production at LIPA so no performance required.

You need to get a social care assessment as thr needs are split between social care and the university ( DSA band 1 and 2 now just reasonable adjustment).

DSA provide the equipment, mentors and maybe taxis if severe needs. So it’s laptop, weird head sets, lots of software. University provide a few hours PA support but thr bulk is from social care. This assumes he has high care needs.
.

Thank you. He wouldn't engage with social care or camhs. Camhs wouldn't see him after the initial assessment as he became so distressed. Someone from DWP had to come and check with him that he was happy for me to be his appointee for PIP and he was visibly shaking for all of the 5 minutes the person was in the room with him.

My dd has this in certain situations. Very little help from her uni.

She lives at home. We sit with her to do emails. She won’t ask for help at uni face to face though.