A ray of hope - information please!

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there are several things i want to do:

1. offer a support group/mentoring/informal counselling - i've been doing such things for years, and think it would be useful, as i have AS.

comments and suggestions?

2. prepare and distribute an information sheet to lecturers about what they might expect from students with AS, and strategies which would help those students.

again, i'd like your suggestions for what would be useful for lecturers to know, and suggestions as to what would help the students - from an academic as well as from a social point of view (e.g., not too much abstraction in lectures, etc).

3. i've been asked to help the SU with an autism/AS awareness campaign. what sorts of stuff would be good to disseminate?

thanks for this. if you could either reply on this thread or PM me, i'd be really grateful. and could you make it a list, rather than anecdotal - easier to data crunch! (although i am interested in personal experiences, as long as they're succinct )

i know that this is a general thing i'm doing, and students' needs are individual, but i'm hoping that, if i start things off, then students might feel more supported, so that they can ask for particular needs to be fulfilled, through me, if necessary.

any questions, please PM me.

and thank you in advance for your help - i hope it will make college a little better for our students with AS (and me, of course).

V

p.s. this is undergraduate stuff, in case culture/country means it wasn't clear about the age group, so sorry, but no suggestions for high school/pre-degree level students thank you - it just wouldn't be relevant, i'm afraid.

Last edited by vetivert on 07 Dec 2005, 5:01 am, edited 1 time in total.

I think what you're doing is excellent and will help a lot of people out!! in response to question #2 I'd have to say
-Students with AS may have trouble following what the professor is saying, so it would help to write down the important points. Many of my professors offer typed copies of the notes which helps a lot.
-A lot of us are visual thinkers so providing illustrations of tricky concepts can help
-Group assignments can be very difficult for us (I hate them!! !), so maybe giving students an option to work individually, but I know some people think it is good for us so maybe informing the rest of the group about us would help.
-When asking questions, make sure the question is very clear and give the class plenty of time to respond b/c a lot of us need time to formulate a response. Also ask that they raise hands instead of shouting out answers b/c most of us won't answer that way.
-science labs can be tricky for us so make sure there are written directions and if the student looks lost ask them if they need help understanding them (some of us-myself, anyway-will not always ask for help).
-We are a really bright group of people that don't always seem that way, so highlighting our strengths, like our intelligence, helps people forget or overlook our "weaknesses"
In response to question #3 I'd have to say
-an extensive list of AS traits b/c many people don't yet know they have AS
-Something that outlines all the amazing qualities that we have so people will look at the positive side of this
-tips on how nt's and aspies can best communicate with eachother and have postive relationships with eachother
Good luck to you!! !

As a fairly recent graduate I have the following suggestions for question 2:

*I found spider diagrams (mind maps, if you prefer), flowcharts and notes in the form of powerpoint slides (posted on the intranet afterwards for reference/revision is great) very useful, as being visual and sequential they are much easier to follow/memorise than written notes, particularly in a busy lecture theatre.

*Acrostics and other mnemonic tools are also useful to help organise key points.

*Lecturers/ tutors need to be aware that some people with AS often have difficulty motivating ourselves to formal study particularly if a topic is not of interest, and energy/enthusiasm levels can vary dramatically or cycle over time. Some flexibility with the timing of assignments, and possibly study support (i.e. nagging) would therefore be helpful. Thankfully for me I had the lovely Mel cracking the whip to make me get on with my work instead of playing minesweeper...

*I agree with Midge that group assignments are a nightmare - something that helped me was dividing tasks between team members and collating/editing reports via email - we often acted as a 'virtual' project team and made sure free riders had their proportion of the overall mark reduced, so it can work if some direction at the start of the project can be initiated/enforced if necessary.

*Given the tendency of some aspies to be poor at managing a fixed period of time, where this applies to an individual, pressure should be exerted on examining authorities to allow extra time to these students in exams (ditto managing sensory issues which may detract from exam performance, eg lighting, smells, noise, proximity to others).

In relation to question 3, at the risk of being shot, NTs may relate to the 'famous aspies through history' approach (yes Gwynfryn, I know they may or may not have been... )

hope this helps

dunc

For me at least.... Things that would me in my studies would be....

1. Motivation - Things that have no immediate interest to me I tend to put off, or not do at all. Thus, to keep someone like me motivated to do the class work and readings, daily quizes of the previous classes material have helped me get motivated to study.

2. Keep sound distractions to a minimum.

3. In addition to writing down all the assingments in the class syllabus, write down the next due assingment on the blackboard in a clear and un-ambigious way, and make a big issue out of it so that people like us won't miss it.

4. Go for incandesent lighting when ever possible. It's much less tiring on the senses than flourescent.

5. Be prepared to spend alot of time explaining and answering seemingly redundant and idiotic questions regarding things that I don't understand.

6. Try and include visuals during the lectures to help explain complex or new topics.

7. Speak when ever possible in laymans terms.

8. Do allow recording of lectures.

9. If group work is necessary, don't let the students pick their own groups, divide the class up into groups, and if possible, make sure that each group member has their own task to perform.

I agree with what's been said so far, I especially find hand outs or having the teacher write notes on the blackboard to be helpful. Noise distraction is also one of my biggest problems in class.

Here are a few more recommendations:

1. Different types of presentation, such as videos or slides, may help not only aspies, but also visual learners, understand more easily and remember more readily.

2. The teachers should always give out their email address and respond to students' questions via email in a timely manner. This is the main way I contact my teachers, since I have difficulty formulating my thoughts on certain subjects verbally and in person. It has worked out quite well so far.

thank you for your replies! - i'll be preparing the info sheet as soon as i have time, and will post it somewhere for comments and suggestions.

V

You asked me to post here, and this is what I could think of that might have helped me in the class I am in:

1. More handouts with diagrams and written instructions of equipment and procedures. He gave us one, and it was very helpful, but it would have been better to have a diagram for every piece of equipment we have to use.

2. Possibly, exposure to the equipment beforehand. Individual/one-on-one explanations on how to use the machinery outside of class time (where there are few distractions and no fear of being embarrassed by getting extra help).

3. Always MAKE SURE the student really understands what is being said. Even if he or she says they understand, they might not, they just think they do. So test them on it, and help patiently if they are incorrect.

4. Be clear and concise with directions and explanations. Try to avoid long sentences that could be taken multiple ways. Also try to avoid awkward wording, as this can really slow down comprehension for those with AS.

thanks, civet - that's brilliant - really useful.

and thanks for being sooooo obedient - i must have been using my teacher voice!

No problem, vetivert. I am just glad to help. I don't know if you were using a "teacher voice," but I am generally pretty obediant .

I thought of something else that I was going to type but forgot:

5. Having some type of syllabus or schedule outlined is extremely helpful in letting students know what to expect on a certain day. (This is actually something a lot of my teachers do do well).

Hey vertivert,

One thing I always have trouble with is taking assignments too literally - I can never tell from the syllabus exactly what to do, and often ask redundant questions to verify it.

For instance, in my COM 101 English Composition class, on the syllabus, the professor had written "All assignments will be written in standard MLA format". Not having had much experience w/ it, I looked MLA up in three different references, and found among other things that there was a certain format for putting identifying information "name, professor's name, class name, due date," in the upper left-hand corner, and then double-spacing everything in the paper after that.

I e-mailed the professor as we were doing our first assignment, and asked him how literally we were supposed to take these instructions for the first assignment, and he replied with "don't worry abou the formatting, we'll discuss it as the semester goes on".......but I ended up following all MLA specifications anyway simply because it made it easier for me to write the darned paper without having to worry about length and all that stuff.

This happens quite a bit with me and writing assignments, so that is something I want to make sure for professors - be as aboslutely specific as possible when giving out formatting instructions.

mentalman

yes - i have problems with that too!

Last edited by vetivert on 07 Dec 2005, 5:01 am, edited 1 time in total.

I understand what you mean, vetivert, since I go to an art school, and we are expected to critique other students' work during class.

One thing that I find helps me is to make a mental list of things to look for and judge in a piece (this is for figurative pieces like illustration, which is my major. When it comes to abstract, all I can really say is "I like it" or "it makes my eyes bleed" ).

1. Does it get the point it was trying to make across?
2. Does it look like what it was supposed to?
3. Is it original, or does it seem like nothing new and sort of boring?
4. Does the color palette work well?
5. Does the line work look well attended to?
6. How is the sense of space, if there is any?

Etc.

hurrah! at last! finally, i have written the thingy i said i was going to, all those months ago. this is the result of continued discussion between myself, the disability officer and the student untion support bloke. we decided to make the first bit of AS awareness an article in the university newspaper, which is read widely by both students and staff. and... i've just finished writing it.

if anyone's interested in having a look ( and giving CONSTRUCTIVE feedback/comments), let me know. it's supposed to be a brief introduction, not a comprehensive spiel on AS and students/staff, so don't expect an all singing, all dancing article. and i've made it about me, to give it that "human interest" slant so beloved of NTs

stim, stim, stim - feeling rather pleased with myself...