Should I request help?

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Tomorrow I start at TAFE (or technical college for any non-aussies reading this). A couple of years ago I saw some presentation at AutismSA where they had the disability officer from TAFE give a speech where she recommended that aspies who enrol at TAFE should register for some kind of "disability access plan", whatever that is.

Now I've left this 'till the last minute because I've been trawling the their site for the past few days but I haven't been able to find any relevant info. So I ask you students, not just TAFE students but just students in general, what, if any help is likely to be offered to or needed by aspies?

The reason I ask is because the TAFE-SA site's page in disability is extremely generalized and I don't quite know what to expect. I don't want them to laugh me out of their office saying I'm not disabled enough and I also don't want them to treat me with kid-gloves or make me where a rubber helmet or something.

So to any here on S&C who are/were enrolled in post-secondary education, I ask you what kind of help have you received or needed? What should I expect from these guys if I tell them I'm aspie?

Yeah, you should request help. I used the disability center and the provisions they allowed for me were to use a tape recorder to record lectures, and to ask for time to take breaks or to take a test in a quiet room. Just call them and see what they have to offer, and don't be caught up in the anxiety.

Well, IDK about OZ as much as the U.S., however the services and help they're *likely* to provide will likely change drastically depending on a diagnosis and what it entails. In the U.S. at least, if you go into your school/Uni's Disability Services Center (Or whatever title they choose for themselves, I've known of half a dozen at this point), and say "I'm self-diagnosed", they'll at best give you a reference to a doctor, at worst laugh you at the door. In the U.S., they have to have documentation on file before they can spend resources on you.

That said, having recieved help from these places, has been the difference between day and night for me. Without them, depending on the cirriculum's you're likely to face, continued education tends to be a very lonely un-guided unstructured place. With help and support from wherever you can get it though, it becomes alot more manageable. The form that takes will depend greatly on you and what you need. Early Enrollment times, Individual Test Settings (Out of the class), recording/note-taking devices, etc etc. The college I'm currently attending meets with me every quarter and I always have the option to request additional services or give up ones I'm currently using.

At the very least, regardless of your personal situation, you should at least go and talk to them. Introduce yourself, tell them why you're there, and at the very least their professionalism will demand a reasonable response. Worst thing they can do is say no, and if you don't ever go and talk with them it'll be the same as that anyways....

Aldran