Autistic individuals often struggle with sensory integration; this means you can be, at a given time, over or under sensitive to their sensory surroundings. Sights, sounds, textures, smells, tastes, movement may be felt more intensely, less intensely, or simply differently than others. Some students may have particular noises, smells, visuals, textures or tastes which they cannot bear or that they really like.
Full article5. Managing stress
2 Healthy living
This article focuses on the importance of healthy habits for wellbeing. The article provides useful tips and information regarding physical wellbeing, diet, responsible alcohol use, exercise and sleep.
Full article3 Registering with the Disability and Learning Support Service (DLSS)
ATU encourages students to disclose their disability/specific learning difficulty/ongoing health condition during their application process to enrol in ATU or immediately following admission. Students can disclose their disability/specific learning difficulty/ongoing health condition at any time during their studies in ATU.
ATU is committed to providing students with disabilities with the opportunity to meet a suitably qualified staff member in the Disability Service to discuss the Reasonable Accommodations required. Once a student discloses a disability and seeks disability support, they will be invited to complete a Needs Assessment to identify their Reasonable Accommodations.
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4 ATU’s Autism-Friendly Initiative
ATU is working towards Autism Friendly Status with Autism advocacy group AsIAm. We want to celebrate students and staff on the autism spectrum and to provide a learning environment to help all our students realise their potential.
Full article5 Student Supports
The DLSS is one part of a suite of supports for ATU Students. This section will give information on other supports that will assist you in your ATU Journey.
Full article6 Spunout Navigator
The navigator is a free, anonymous and simple three-step tool that helps you find mental health information and support in Ireland tailored to your specific needs.
The tool will ask you three short questions. You start by choosing a mental health topic or concern. Next, you refine your search by focusing on the specific aspect of that topic that is most relevant to you right now. In the final step, you receive personalised results, including expert-checked factual articles, real-life stories, calming activities, and signposts to appropriate support services in Ireland.
Full article7 Kathleen’s top tips for studying
Broadcast Media student Kathleen McDermott from the University of Brighton has put together three videos intended to help other autistic students cope at University. She draws from her own experience of studying for three years and uses the vlogs to teach others how to be organised, how to cope when getting confused and what to do when writing a dissertation.
Full article8 How to manage exams
Exams and assessments take place throughout the year for all students. This section looks at how to manage exams. This includes information about what to expect, how to prepare for an exam, and practical tips to help you perform well.
Full article9 Studying at your own pace and knowing when to stop
We’ve interviewed Callum at the end of his first semester of a Creative Media Technology course at Leeds Beckett University. In the 3-minute video interview he talks about working at his own pace, relating to other students and the support he received.
Full article10 Penny and the library
Penny shares her worries about being in a university library and some thoughts on how libraries can be designed to reduce anxieties in autistic students.
Full article11 Managing conflict
Different people have different expectations and styles of working or living together. Sometimes that can lead to conflict. This article will help you recognise causes of conflict and proposes strategies to resolve it.
Full article12 What are assessments, and how do you survive them?
This section will look at different forms of assessment. It will give you some practical ideas on how to prepare for them, and how to get the most out of them.
Full article13 How to reduce anxiety and stress
It is normal to feel anxious when starting something new, like a university course, and everyone feels stress at difficult times of the year like exam periods or when there is a lot happening in their lives. It can sometimes be hard to relax. This activity is about helping you to manage these feelings and includes tips from other autistic students.
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