Autistics and Universities
How can I find all the assistance I need to attend a tertiary educational establishment or institution and fare well?
----- modern requirements
Each university or other tertiary institution in the West (and now in many Asian equivalencies) are almost required to have some sort of disability support service that offers
- web-based accessible information on what neurodivergent folk might expect, and
- where to go for assistance, and
- how to obtain study and exam accommodations, and
- how to access more sympathetic environments.
----- truth in advertising
It is very hard to grade or rank these offerings according to truth, as many are wildly fluffy, honoured in the breach, or sound better than actual delivery turns out to be (if only autistics who literally mean what they say operated these!).
----- using an Oxford example
Some support examples using a somewhat advanced case, Oxford University (they have a total of 41 Neurodiversity bodies, protocols, sites, events, staff, etc.) might <inspire> others regarding what to seek out at the particular establishment or institution they attend (Oxford students who have chosen to identify on record as autistic are 1.8% or 522, with a matching number of unofficials):
Reasonable Adjustments and Inclusion at Oxford:
https://academic.admin.ox.ac.uk/key-concepts-reasonable-adjustments-and-inclusivity
DTC Disability and Neurodiversity:
https://www.biodtp.ox.ac.uk/disability-and-neurodiversity
Neurodiversity at Oxford Group:
https://www.ox.ac.uk/students/news/2022-06-13-student-spotlight-neurodiversity-oxford
Oxford Guidance for Disabled:
https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/applying-to-oxford/guidance-disabled-applicants
MPLS Disability and Neurodivergence Networks and Support
Oxford Neurodiverse Careers Support:
https://www.careers.ox.ac.uk/article/careers-support-disabilities-longterm-conditions
Oxford Group for Neurodiversity - Neuroinfinity
https://www.oxfordsu.org/get-involved/clubs-and-societies/join/neuroinfinity/
Oxford Neurodiversity on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/p/Neurodiversity-at-Oxford-100076098276485/
Oxford Assessment and Diagnosis:
Oxford Disability Evidencing (knowing what you have to provide, seen in reverse, tells you what is available to a degree):
https://www.ox.ac.uk/students/welfare/disability/needs
Oxford University Disability Advisory Service:
https://www.ox.ac.uk/students/welfare/disability/aboutdas
----- detailed offerings
Oxford Blue, Oxford Union, Oxford Commons, Oxford Brooks, Houses at Oxford, etc. will all have further disability, more specific Neurodivergent, even more specific Autistic information that might pertain to Oxford Autistic Students or students anywhere in the world.
----- invite-only
There is, I understand, an invitation-only group, Neuroversity ( a portmanteau deriving from Neuro[divergent] and [Uni]Versity ), that cautiously but conscientiously seeks to assist some students through selective application of additional staff/senior-student mentorings, playing a critical role in recovery from falling behind, absence through illness, homesickness and feeling lost, loneliness and ideation. To join you'd have to "get known" by availing yourself of other neuro-services.
I think Cambridge has something similar, established in honour of Srinivasa Ramanujan Aiyangar (22 December 1887 – 26 April 1920), the greatest mathematician who ever lived, and certainly autistic.
----- caveat
No suggestion is made here that Oxford are world leaders in provisions for either the disabled in general or specifically for autistic students, and having money to address the topic does not always equate to resources and environmental suitability. Caveat Emptor, always.