The number of University students with social impairments is growing rapidly, but the support they get tends to be shaped around academic needs while autistic learners drop out mainly because they feel socially isolated.

Some Universities are learning how to accommodate these needs by organising weekly lunch clubs or other autistic social groups, individual mentoring sessions or via new technologies, like chatbots or Apps such as Brain in Hand.

Funds for support are available but many are unaware and applying can be a daunting task. Also some do not have a formal diagnosis, while others choose not to apply because they do not perceive themselves “disabled enough” to warrant it.

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Having Asperger shouldn’t be just about limitations, impairments and difficulties. In this video, autistic speaker Dean Beadle speaks with humour and makes us laugh out loud about some of his life experiences… Worth a watch!

In this article, poet and writer Joanne Limburg wonders whether her autism has been a help or a hindrance in growing up and becoming who she is.

She believes that given the right conditions and support, people with autism can thrive, shine and even reveal what some may call “superpowers”.

As a new school year begins, this mother tells the story of her son’s first day at school and how this led to his autism diagnosis.

Although we are discouraged from applying labels to children, being diagnosed with autism is not a negative thing when it means having access to support that might otherwise be unavailable, being understood by others and understanding oneself better.

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After years of battling anxiety and panic attacks, at the age of 21 it came as a relief to Charlotte Amelia Poe to learn that she had Asperger syndrome. She has now written a book she hopes will help people going through diagnosis as adults.

“There’s a whole generation, at least, of people who don’t know they’re autistic, and I feel this book could be the spark that leads to diagnosis.”

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