I think I found dealing with the sensory issues of having Asperger’s some of the most challenging aspects of lectures and seminars, and the most difficult to explain to other people.
| Area of Asperger’s Syndrome | Example | Issues I have experienced in Higher Education | Solutions that would have helped me |
| Sensory issues | Environment | Most Aspies have some sensory issues, either under or over-sensitivity light, sound, smell, taste, touch, temperature or movement, with very narrow tolerance range. | Be aware and be accepting – if a student asks to leave early because the room is too hot, they are not trying to pull a fast one. |
| Activity | An Aspie student may not look like they are listening or paying attention, when in fact they are. Examples of this may be not looking at the tutor when they are speaking, having feet up on the desk, playing or fiddling with something like a phone, pen or toy, moving about in their seat a lot, making noises. | Be aware of individual differences, and don’t reprimand. If genuinely disruptive for rest of class speak to student separately afterwards, not in front of group. I listen best to the content of your seminar when I don’t have to concentrate on looking at you and reading your body language, and when I am not focussed on ‘keeping still’. |
© Catastraspie, 2012.
catastraspie 