neurodivergent-uni-support-group

[neurodivergent-uni-support-group]

How to plan a basic university essay and word count

You can make a formula for anything if you try hard enough and that's what I did with essays! Keep in mind that i have been entirely based in the School of English in UK universities but I feel like this should be relatively easy to edit to fit other types of essays.

Step One - What topic do you want to write about and what are the main arguments you want to hit?

You could probably avoid doing this if you really wanted but it makes the whole thing so much easier if you at least have a vague idea what you want to write about. You don't even have to know the arguments, but at least have some idea how many you want to hit.

Step Two - Is this essay better led by your main arguments or your data?

There have been two main essay structures I've used and they haven't failed me so far! The first one I will call the 'argument-led structure'. This is where you choose around 3 main arguments or themes and do a section focused on each, leading to a essay structure like the following:

1. Introduction

2. Argument/Theme 1

3. Argument/Theme 2

4. Argument/Theme 3

5. Conclusion

This structure is most useful when the essay you are writing is more of a review of current literature rather than one focused on collecting your own data and conducting an investigation. However, if you want a more typical structure to your essay or are doing a big project like a dissertation, you may prefer what I will call a 'data-led structure'.

1. Introduction

2. Literature Review

3. Methodology

4. Results

5. Discussion (Analysis, combining results and literature)

6. Conclusion

Depending on how long your essay is, you can add sections, combine them (usually Results and Discussion) or move them around. As long as you make it clear to the reader what you are doing, what literature you are using as support and what findings you are making, the rest should fall into place in time.

Step Three - How many words is your essay?

Whatever amount it is probably isn't enough for everything you want to cover, so maybe keep an idea in mind of which arguments should be prioritised over others. Some people can just use the word count as a guide overall but I don't know how to function like that, so I set separate word limits for each section. It's very likely you will go over or under these section word counts anyway and that's fine, but it also makes you aware of how much you're writing compared to expectations as you go.

For an argument-led structure, all of the central sections are likely to be around the same length anyway so it is relatively simple. Take your word count, combine introduction and conclusion into one section, count how many sections you now have and divide. This is mainly because the introduction and conclusion likely won't be anywhere near as long as the middle sections, so they can have the word limit of half of a main section each. It is likely that the conclusion will have more words than the introduction but it at least works as a guideline. I will write out an example, to make this process a bit clearer.

Word limit: 5000 words

Structure: Introduction, 3 main sections, conclusion

5000 ÷ 4 = 1250, 1250 ÷ 2 = 625

Introduction (625 words), 3 main sections (1250 words each), Conclusion (625 words)

Doing this for a data-led structure is a bit more difficult but not impossible. Just as the introduction and conclusion were combined, other sections can be paired up in a similar way depending on whether they are likely to be smaller or larger.

Word limit: 5000 words

Structure: Introduction, Literature Review, Methodology, Results, Discussion, Conclusion

Thoughts: Results doesn't need to be as long as the other sections, but Discussion will need to be longer. They can be paired up and some of the words from Results can go to Discussion. Introduction and Conclusion only need the combined words of a section, but conclusion will have slightly more.

5000 ÷ 5 = 1000 words, 1000 ÷ 2 = 500

Introduction (250-500 words), Literature Review (1000 words), Methodology (1000 words), Results (500-1000 words), Discussion (1000-1500 words), Conclusion (500-750 words)

Step Four - Add notes to your plan

Now just make the plan as detailed as you want! Add relevant literature for each section, figure out what arguments you are making, write down a random really cool-sounding sentence that just popped into your head. This all helps me, but I'm just one person. Get out there and figure out what works best for you!

#actually neurodivergent #actually autistic #university #university life #studyblr

[neurodivergent-uni-support-group]

When your brain refuses to function with the same strategy everyday

I've recently finished writing my dissertation after 3.5 months, so am still just about living in academic mode. Unfortunately one thing I haven't seen people who struggle with executive functioning talk about as much is the fact that I can find a strategy that completely clicks with me and works perfectly, but then won't even help me get five minutes of work done the next day. So, I'm gonna slowly build a masterlist!

This was originally supposed to be specifically about how to find the right music to function with but might as well broaden it out a bit. If anyone has any strategies/music/website recommendations that work particularly well for them, let me know and I'll be happy to add them!

Music

Lofi Girl Livestream - Starting with the obvious one, but it's well-known for a reason! The song styles remain consistent enough to not get distracted by changed while still being different enough to keep the brain working, people are constantly in the live chat so there's an element of bodydoubling, and it's a livestream so you don't have to worry about changing songs partway through work. Plus if lofi hip hop's not your thing, they have a synthwave version too.

There's a platypus controlling me but it's lofi (1hr edition) - Getting a bit weirder now, I will admit, but I stand by this one 100%! At least once in every assessment period I will have it set to loop and playing for a full day. If instrumental music leaves too much room in your brain to be distracted, this one usually does the trick. The first couple of rounds might seem more distracting than it's worth but half an hour in, you'll be golden!

Mario Kart Double Dash Full OST - This doesn't specifically have to be Mario Kart Double Dash, but it is a fun one! Basically just think of a game that makes you feel nostalgic or comforted or happy, see if there's a full OST for it and hopefully it'll help. Other soundtracks I'm a fan of using are Danganronpa 2 and Professor Layton, but it depends what kind of speed/genre you prefer.

Minecraft but it's raining - Kinda similar to the previous one but this time it's particularly peaceful OSTs with extra sounds on top! The one linked is the video I use the most but it's the same few songs repeated over and over for 10 hours so depends whether you work better with repetition or variation. There's also an Animal Crossing one here.

8D Lofi Girl (2hrs) - If normal lofi and added rain isn't cutting it, 8D might be the way to go! Since the music is constantly changing direction it adds a bit more interest to your brain. It's only 2 hours long but there do seem to be a fair few others on YouTube so shouldn't be too difficult to turn into a playlist or queue.

I'm Still Standing - Just the song. I just put it on loop and for some reason it sometimes works. Pick whichever song you want for this, though maybe keep it for final day crunches and be prepared to never be able to listen to the song again outside of work.

Websites and Apps

Forest - The main programme I've been using this time around! You set a timer and choose a tree, and every time you complete a time period of work without going on one of the apps/websites on your blocklist, another tree is added to your forest. It comes as both a Firefox Addon and an app, which can either be used synchronised or separately. Be warned, if you do want to synchronise them, you'll need to buy the premium version of the app, but it's a one-time payment of £3.89, so if it's something you can afford, it can be really useful.

Noisli - A mix of background noise and generally useful features, this one's a website and an app. It has lots of different background noises and you can mix and match them to make your ideal work setting. There's also a timer and space to type within the website if you don't want to move outside of it during work!

#actually neurodivergent #actually autistic #university #studyblr #university life

[neurodivergent-uni-support-group]

Happy Disability Pride Month!

A few quick reminders/affirmations to share today, especially based around academia:

There are likely more disabled people in academia than you think. No, this does not mean you can slap a label of "high-functioning" on them and call it a day - it means you need to make any academic events and environments as accessible as possible.

Many disabled people are also queer. No, you cannot use this as a reason to discredit their experiences with queerness or the queer community as a whole. Disabled people deserve just as much autonomy and respect as everyone else.

Self-diagnosis is a valid form of disability. There are many reasons why someone may be unable to get a diagnosis: financial reasons, waiting lists, limitations to human rights, or a lack of understanding disability and intersectionality from medical professionals. Despite how the media may portray it, many self-dx disabled people have done extensive research into the disabilities they feel a connection with, and/or feel a strong connection to others in the community with similar experiences.

If you're in academia, consider looking into critical referencing practices! Many of them focus primarily on gender and race diversity in citations, which is also important, but a significant amount of disability research is done by able-bodied neurotypical researchers who are looking at disability from an external pov and see it as a deficit. By including disabled researchers more, we can make our conversations within research much more nuanced. Nothing about us without us!

If you're not sure how to make something more accessible, just ask! Maybe there's local communities/organisations you can get in contact with to ask for advice; you can look online to see if anyone's already given suggestions for something similar; or if it's something with a budget you could even hire an accessibility advocate to help. If you're enlisting the help of disabled people beyond basic advice, remember to make sure they're reasonably compensated for their time and labour.

Disabled people are allowed to feel pride for their identity! Disabilities have their pros and cons just like every other part of life, so those feelings of pride might not be there all the time, but that doesn't mean people need to feel ashamed. And if they do feel that pride all the time, good for them!

I hope every disabled person has a wonderful day/week/month/life and anything good that can happen does!

[neurodivergent-uni-support-group]

UK Learning Support Plan Part 2 – Disabled Students Allowance

(I'm sorry in advance for how long this ended up being, but hopefully that means it's as helpful as possible.)

I wrote the first part of this with general information about how UK universities can support disabled students back in September, when I’d just submitted my DSA form and was waiting to hear back from them. Quite a lot has happened since then, so it’s probably time to talk about my experience!

I’ve been accepted for DSA! What now?

Thankfully I didn’t need to get denied and reapply at any point – they just accepted my application first time! It was around a month’s wait time though, so better to apply sooner rather than later. The first thing they asked me to do was choose an assessment centre I wanted to go to for my assessment. There’s a webpage on the government website where you can write in your postcode and it comes up with all of the different options in your area. I had a few different companies to choose from both near where I live and on campus, so it’s whatever suits you best! And if you really hate the idea of doing an appointment face-to-face, there’s options for remote assessments.

Once you’ve picked who you want to conduct the appointment and when you want it to happen, you need to submit your letter from the DSA confirming eligibility and any medical evidence you had to submit initially. It’s also important that, if your assessment company hasn’t asked you already, you make a note of the specific types of technology you have (laptop, phone, home printer, etc.) and particularly how old they are.

The DSA Assessment

Despite being called an assessment, you don’t have to prove you’re disabled enough to get DSA or anything! The hard part’s over, this is now to assess what kind of support you need. The person who conducted my appointment was lovely and we ended up going slightly over the time we’d planned, so take that possibility into consideration when you’re figuring out your plan for the day.

In the appointment, there was a really long form on the computer, already mostly written. This is because we went through each section one-by-one with me talking about my experiences and needs and the assessor going through and deleting things that weren’t needed and adding extra details that were. It started off with talking about my course, how long I’d be studying, my disability - all basic information. Then we went through the options of things that could help in those specific areas, the assessor demonstrating various different software so I could choose which I thought would help the most and carried on.

It’s okay to feel slightly overwhelmed by it all! The assessor’s there to help and anything you feel afterwards you want to add or take away can be done so really easily! It’s all trial and error.

I will go through the different sections we looked at in my appointment in a minute, but once the main assessing was done, my assessor generated a list of the things we’d agreed would help me, expected costs of things that needed buying, and then general recommendations on how the university should be supporting me personally.

Once the report was generated, I was told that I’d probably get a draft report. Once I read through it and made sure it looked right, I approved it and it was officially submitted to the funding body!

What kind of things can DSA help with?

1.     Research and reading

Pretty much does what it says on the tin, this was around how I processed information and utilised it in lessons and assessments. For me they recommended the text-to-voice programme ClaroRead. I have been using the mobile app @Voice for a few years now and it’s still excellent as a free option for text-to-voice, but with ClaroRead, I’ve been able to use it on my laptop, only read small sections of articles at a time, and also download full audio files of the article being read out.

They also recommended a subscription to an article summarising website, to make it easier for me to pick out only the most important parts of articles rather than just assuming everything was important and writing it down. The subscription I got was for Scholarcy which has been extremely helpful, but I have since also been using a free version of WordTune Read. They both do similar things, but the free version of the second one means that I can only use it on two article a month, and Scholarcy lets me put things in folders.

2.     Writing and Reviewing Academic Work

This one kind of blends in with the last one, especially if you study in the School of English like I do. The only official recommendation they made here was ClaroRead again, since I could use it to review my own writing as well. However, I will quickly go through some of the options that were offered but I refused, as well as free ones I’d been using anyway.

I’ve got methods of planning that worked well enough for me already, so I didn’t need anything to help with that. But, there was a programme that came in the general Claro bundle I got called ClaroIdeas. It’s a mindmap programme and if you’ve currently got a free alternative that’s frustrating you slightly, it might be something useful to have a go with. I haven’t really used it though, so can’t speak too much on its behalf.

I’m pretty confident with punctuation, spelling and grammar so didn’t really need anything to help with that. However, one of the options they did offer was a paid subscription for Grammarly. If you’ve been on the internet at any point in the last five years, you’ve probably heard more about Grammarly than you’ve ever wanted to, so you don’t really need me explaining it. But if you have the free version and want to upgrade while you’re at uni, this is a pretty good way of doing it.

This is one I’ve been using for quite a while (though have had to bookmark everywhere because I do keep forgetting the name ironically) – One Look Thesaurus. I think I found it through tumblr initially but this thing’s amazing. If you can’t remember a word, you just type in whatever words you can to describe it, and with luck it turns up on the list! I use it for everything, from essays to emails to normal conversations.

Another one I was using already, though this one was actually recommended to me as well – Zotero. This is a free referencing programme, where you put details of anything you read in a database and, when the time comes to reference them, you have them on hand! You can put things in folders, have group folders with other people for group projects, and tag items with keywords so you can find them easily again.

3.     Note-taking in lectures and seminars

This was the big one for me. Since I struggle with figuring out on the spot what’s important enough to take notes on and what isn’t as important, I needed a way of recording sessions so I could go back to them easily. Some universities are supposed to offer this universally through lecture capture technology – my university is supposed to offer it but argues that it only records lectures and all of mine are seminars so it doesn’t count.

There were a few different options suggested to me for doing this and your individual circumstances will help you decide whether you want something that plugs into your computer, something connected to your phone or something else. I was worried about battery life and prefer to hand write, so in the end we went for a Livescribe pen. This is a smart pen that records your handwriting, records audio around you and pairs them together, so you can click on a specific part of your notes and get the audio that was happening as you were writing. Because I’m only studying for a year, I received a bundle which included the pen, four A4 notebooks and a pack of refills, a bundle which has been more than enough to cover me for the whole year. If you’re doing it longer I believe you can get top-ups each year, but if you want to continue using it outside of university, it’s not overly expensive to get notebooks and ink independently.

4.     Managing time and organising work

This is partly a day-to-day thing. I was recommended a few apps and programmes for this with varying success. One task manager they recommended to me was Global Tasks, which comes as a mobile app and a website. I’ll be honest, I don’t think I’ve used this one since I first got training for it. It’s meant to make things easier when you’re overwhelmed with different things that need doing and want to prioritise some over others, but it’s a bit bulky and there aren’t any widgets for it, so I just forget to use it. If you think that’s something that may be useful for you though, feel free to look into it more! Other people may have had more success with it than I.

One thing that I do use a bit more that was recommended is Brain in Hand. While this also lets you put down tasks, it’s a lot more catered to emotional struggles and executive functioning. It’s also both an app and a website, and annoyingly you can only change the diary on the website, but it’s the other functions that really make it shine. Once you have the app on your phone, it can send you pop-ups regularly throughout the day asking how you’re feeling out of green, amber and red. You can adjust this to appear at whatever rate helps you best (I currently get one every two hours from 9am to Midnight) and if you hit red or if you press three ambers in a row (that part can be turned off), it will contact a 24/7 response service who will text or phone you (whichever you prefer) to check that you’re alright. You also get a mentor who meets with you regularly throughout your time using the service, so they can help you adjust your problem solution packs, be there with you when you test the emergency service to see if it works, or just generally help with whatever you’re struggling with! I’ve personally found it particularly helpful to meet with my mentor once a month, since then it gives me a deadline to be regularly updating the app.

On the less helpful side of things, my assessor also recommended I get 30 hours with a specialist mentor to go through time management techniques. That would’ve been great, but the uni didn’t have room for me and there was a long process to get a private company to mentor me, so I kind of just gave up on that end. If that’s something that would really help you though, push for it!

5.     Access to and use of technology

This is probably one more for people with mobility-related disabilities, but it was still really useful to go through! If you end up with new computer programmes you’re being recommended, chances are this is where they will recommend time with an Assistive Technology Trainer, who will take you through all of the software and help with anything you’re struggling with. They may also recommend a Microsoft 360 subscription, but those are usually provided by the university anyway.

The main thing I received through here is a laptop. This goes back to the point about making notes of what technology you have and its age in advance, but my laptop at the time wasn’t powerful enough to run the programmes that were being recommended. I was recommended a laptop, but the caveat here was that I had to pay the first £200 for it and if I wanted a laptop that was more powerful than the one I was being recommended, I would also have to pay the difference. If you would struggle financially to cover £200 for one, there is a chance the university might be able to help with that part, but I just wanted to get everything before December so was happy to pay. There was a specific website I had to order this through and it gave me the option of a windows laptop or a macbook, as well as a bag or case to come with it. The company I had to go through also put all of the programmes on there before sending it, so I didn’t have to deal with all of the installation.

6.     Placements, field trips, examinations and timed assessments

This was two separate sections in my assessment, but since I don’t have any of these things on my course, we mostly just deleted everything and carried on. But it’s important to note that there are things in place to help with all of these!

7.     Social interaction and communication

This section was mainly about how I interact with people around me, especially in lectures and seminars. We also talked a bit about presentations, since there was at least one I was aware of that I would be assessed on. For presentations, I was recommended Present Pal. This is a mobile app and can be used as an add-in on Microsoft Powerpoint and Google Slides. Admittedly, when I tried to do this on Google Slides it wasn’t very successful, so I sort of gave up trying to connect it to the presentation, but it still works without being specifically connected! You can create flashcards to go through on your phone throughout the presentation and add a timer so you know whether you need to speed up or slow down at any point.

In addition to this, we talked about Brain in Hand again, since it helps you prepare for things you’re worried might go wrong and how to deal with them if they happen.

8.     Travel and access to higher education environment

Again, this was aimed more at physical disabilities and potential issues with mobility, though immunocompromised people may also be helped in this section. I live at home and get the train in, but when I have a routine and get blast music through my headphones, it’s pretty alright. So, beyond talking about adding any potential anxiety around travel to Brain in Hand, there wasn’t a huge amount to talk about here.

One thing my assessor did say is that if it got to the point where train travel was too overwhelming and I couldn’t get into uni that way anymore, there may be opportunity for DSA to fund taxis to get to uni. There probably would’ve been stipulations around this, but that may be useful for some people.

What comes after the assessment?

As I said, once I’d confirmed the report looked good, it was sent off to the official funding body. They approved it after three weeks and sent me instructions on how to put all of the support in place. There were a few different companies I needed to contact for this and it was all online, so if you think executing dysfunction is going to get in the way of that, please get a friend or family member to nag you to do it or go through it with you!

If you’re just receiving software, it should be fairly quick to receive everything. I just needed to download the mobile apps from the store and wait to receive the login info to use.

If you need some kind of mentoring, they may be fairly quick to book up, so it’s probably best to do this sooner rather than later.

If you’re getting physical supports items, naturally these will take longer so any software that comes with these physical items will too.

And it’s probably best to wait until you have received all of your items to start an Assistive Technology training.

I think all in all it took about a month for everything to arrive for me, but that will probably vary depending on your specific recommendations and circumstances. So yeah, hopefully this helps with anyone wanting to go through the DSA process! If there’s anything else anyone wants to ask about or something that needs clarifying, just let me know!

#starting university #actually autistic #actually neurodivergent #university #university life #disabled students allowance

[neurodivergent-uni-support-group]

everyone with touch aversions who hate doing the dishes please 1. try dish gloves 2. put some scrunchies around the wrists so they don't get water inside 2a. fold the cuffs about an inch to catch drips 3. make sure you check for cracked rubber before you put them on because flooded gloves are a nightmare 4. if your gloves have a tendency to get sweaty try putting some cornstarch, baby powder (don't use talcum based powder, it has asbestos in it) or or antiperspirant on your hands before they go in the gloves

i see tons and tons of people posting about how much they hate doing the dishes or other wet chores because of the horrible touching, and i want you to know dish gloves exist and are extremely cheap. you can also wear gloves for literally any task you don't want to touch. folding laundry for example or moving wet laundry to a dryer. using a microfiber cloth to clean windows. dusting. putting moisturizer on your legs. whatever. if it's not a wet task you can use normal gloves. i really like using leather gloves for dry tasks, they're comfortable and breathable and not hot.

this post is not for people who also have a touch aversion to gloves too, if i find a good solution for you guys I'll let you know

#I've worn washing up gloves to take the bins out multiple times #Because the idea of accidentally touching a spider's web or anything like that makes me put it off #And with washing up gloves rather than knitted ones you can wash them immediately after

[neurodivergent-uni-support-group]

UK Learning Support Plans

(Edit: Part 2 of this post, focusing on DSA can now be found here)

Okay, I’m currently setting up a plan with my second university, so let’s talk about it!

This may be called something slightly different depending on where you are studying but a Learning Support Plan (LSP) is a plan you put in place with the disability team to ensure you are getting as much out of learning as your able-bodied, neurotypical classmates. Here, I’m going to go into a bit of detail about how you might get one sorted if you’re in the middle of your degree and have only just figured out, as well as if you’re about to start a degree. Additionally, sometimes you need support but don’t know what could help/what could be appropriate to ask for, so I’ll add some suggestions at the end that my universities have offered me or that I have found helpful.

(Obligatory disclaimer – this is me talking about my experiences with two specific UK universities so can differ depending on where you’re going or be completely different if you’re in another country.)

I’ve just found out I’m disabled – what do I do now?

I found out I was autistic in the middle of my second year, just as I was coming out of a meltdown/burnout that lasted a few months. Luckily I was doing my last sessions of counselling through the uni around that time so could ask for help on what to do next. Between living away from home for the first time and the academic pressure being completely different from A Levels and GCSEs, it’s not unusual for students to find out they are neurodivergent while studying at university, so this likely won’t be the first time your uni has dealt with something like this.

When I met with someone from the disability team for the first time, they were very welcoming, talked to me about how I had found this out and where I wanted to go from there. Some universities offer free testing for dyslexia, dyspraxia, etc. as both of mine have, so if you think one of those are a possibility you can be referred by the university. Otherwise the conversation topic then turned to medical evidence.

While both of the teams I’ve spoken to have been appreciative of the fact self-diagnosis is important and waiting lists can be multiple years long nowadays, most if not all universities do require something medical. My first university made this easy by giving me a DSA (Disabled Students Allowance) evidence form. You don’t have to be applying for DSA to use the evidence form (though I will briefly talk about that further down), but bringing the form to your GP and talking about the fact you think you’re neurodivergent means that your GP can make that referral to get you on the waiting list, fill out the evidence form and use it to highlight some things you may specifically need support for. It’s not a diagnosis but the disability teams I’ve spoken to have been happy to use it as such.

(It is important to keep in mind though that my experience has been for autism which doesn’t have a shortcut as far as I’m aware. Friends I have who have ADHD have used Right To Choose to get financial support from the NHS for a private diagnosis so some universities may ask that you do that instead? I’m not entirely sure in this area.)

Once you have an evidence form though, you can send a copy to your disability team and meet to talk about the specific details of your learning support plan. Ideally you want to do this in advance enough that any support can be put in place for your next assessments but there may be circumstances that prevent that.

I’ve applied to a new university – what happens now?

I’ve recently applied to a new university for my master’s degree and beyond talking to the uni during open events to make sure you’re happy with the support you can get, it’s probably best to wait to contact the disability team directly until you’ve been offered a place and accepted it. As soon as you have an accepted place, you can email the disability team about setting up support. Again, you will probably need medical evidence so if you don’t have that already either talk to the team or your GP about getting it. My university then signposted me to a page to register and upload my medical evidence, as well as having a section to say what support I will need. Don’t feel too pressured about this – some of the things you suggest may already be in place and the team will suggest things that haven’t even occurred to you later. The main objective is to give them a solid idea of areas you think you’re going to need support in.

Once this was submitted, the team sent me an email to arrange a time and place to meet to discuss my LSP further. Keep in mind that during the summer people may be on leave, so it’s okay if it takes a bit longer than you’re expecting for them to respond. During my meeting with someone from the team, she went through what I had said I’d need help with, told me which aspects where already in place for everyone (which hadn’t been at my previous university) and offered some suggestions that I hadn’t thought about or were more of a formality than something I would 100% need (things like exam support even though most if not all of my assignments will be essays and coursework, or library support which I had assumed was limited to physical disability support). She also asked me how much I wanted her to tell my lecturers and whether I was alright with her telling them I’m on the waiting list for autism (which I was). This support plan took a few days but is now on my uni profile, although you will likely get an email listing everything out either the day of or the day after the meeting.

There’s also support the disability teams can offer that aren’t part of the LSP. At my previous university, the woman I spoke to from the disability team told me about a social group for autistic students and offered to email them and walk with me to the first session, which was hugely reassuring. With the university I’m at now, the woman I’ve been speaking to has sent me a link to the neurodivergent society and reassured me that masters students are more than welcome in freshers week and societies. She’s also put me on a quiet tour around the library during welcome week, which will highlight the areas of the library that are least disruptive and the rooms that we will be allowed to book to have individually for a couple of hours. One of the biggest things my current university is helping with though is DSA.

Disability Students Allowance – what is it?

The DSA is an allowance that gives disabled students support that would require paying for. At my previous university I didn’t bother applying because I didn’t think there was anything I needed to pay for that would help me. I already had free recording, text-to-speech and notes apps, and the disability team said it was pretty unlikely I would be approved. As such it seemed like a bit of a waste of time.

However, with covid and the fact waiting lists are so long nowadays, the government has tentatively started accepting people who have medical evidence but haven’t been officially diagnosed. My current university has warned me that I will likely be denied the first time I apply but that they are willing to argue against it, which has helped the decision be overturned in the past.

Additionally, the allowance isn’t just limited to physical help such as programmes, but also services such as hiring people to give neurodivergent study support, counselling, etc. If you are a full-time undergraduate student, this may be done through a DSA Slim form with Student Finance. If you’re part-time or postgraduate, however, the DSA1 form is appropriate. It’s 33 pages so can be a bit overwhelming, but the majority of that is residency-related and lists various different reasons why you’re studying in the UK. So for the most part you can tick the one that applies to you and ignore the options after that.

I can’t really give any more info than that unfortunately. I filled out all of my parts, sent it to the university to complete section 5, and forwarded the completed form from the university to the DSA team. I’m currently in the waiting process and I suspect lots of people are applying before university starts, so it may be a while.

Learning Support Plan ideas – what are some things I can think about?

It probably bears repeating that my degrees are Bachelors and Masters of Arts, so the things you need support with will probably vary if you’re doing different courses. Still here, some brief lists, categorised by what they’re supporting.

Learning:

Recording sessions – a bit of a difficult one as some universities automatically record lectures and it can vary as to how comfortable lecturers are with you recording seminars. Be clear that this is for personal use and won’t be shared with anyone when you ask though.

One-to-one meetings with lecturers before assessments – I asked for this since we had it at the last university but this one has open office hours. May need to specify if you’re gonna struggle with setting up meetings in the first place.

General tutor awareness – they’ll probably be sent the LSP anyway, but it’s worth emailing them at the beginning of term as well.

Being able to access reading lists and class materials in advance – not always possible but sometimes.

Exams:

Extra time – a pretty basic one, they may give this to you automatically anyway.

Extensions on take-away papers

Doing the exams in a different room

A break in the middle of an exam

Computer use

Essays/Assignments:

Extensions – these can vary depending on the module and some are automatic while others need to be applied for before each individual assessment.

Spelling/Grammar ignored – More for people with dyslexia.

Presentations:

If you feel comfortable doing presentations but worry about having marks removed for confidence, eye contact, etc., this can be taken into consideration.

For solo presentations you could have the option to present to the teacher directly instead of the class.

For group presentations you could have the option to play a non-speaking role in the presentation.

That’s everything! Hope something here helps and if there’s any other questions people have about LSPs, feel free to ask. Have a good day!

#starting university #actually autistic #actually neurodivergent #university #university life #learning support plans

[neurodivergent-uni-support-group]

Hey I'm a literature student , for my current semester we have a course named : Introduction to linguistics, where we do phonetic transcription and phonemic transcription. Intial days i did some cheat sheets and revised it especially when they were teaching us consonants,but after they introduced some principles and rules i find it very hard to catch up the syllabi. My lecturer is open to helping us . But i should internally work first inorder to ask external help (if required,). My classmates find it easier. Some just listen in class and remember it. But it's quite hard to me especially being neurodivrergent i couldn't find any study techniques that can help.i am doing alot of flashcards and cheat sheets but it seems like i am spending too much time on a single syllabus but still I'm not able to find light. Can you recommend some tech. Or any channels that can help

Hey, thanks for messaging! I really enjoyed doing phonetics and phonology but it has been about three years since I had to do it so hopefully I can help!

When it came to the actual transcribing aspects I practiced a lot by taking random interesting small paragraphs and transcribing them using the accent I would use to read them out. A funny tweet, a birthday card, anything like that. I don't know how people absorb information by just reading or listening to it so my style of revision has always been very physical - if I don't write it by hand lots of times, I'm probably not gonna remember it.

When it comes to principles and rules, every syllabus is different so I'm not entirely sure what you're covering? But @lingthusiasm does a lot of different basic linguistics stuff so some of their resources might help? I'm going to link episode 6 of their podcast here, as it has a lot of resources in the post, but feel free to have a search around their blog.

In terms of tech, there isn't a lot I've had experience with. If you're worried about spending too much time on one thing, there's free text-to-speech apps like @/Voice (without the / I just don't want to accidentally @ someone)? I sometimes use this to listen to books and papers while taking notes, since you're then forced to keep moving through it rather than being stuck on anything for too long. Or if you still want to keep going with the flashcards but in a slightly different way, there's websites like Quizlet that make games out of them. Apologies I'm not able to help much in that department.

Lastly, if you want someone to talk to about the syllabus, I may not be the most knowledgeable, but you're welcome to send a message and I'll talk to you about the module! I still have notes on my computer about minimal pairs, voicing, etc. so am happy to help wherever I can.

Unfortunately neurotypical people tend to have the advantage when it comes to learning, so all we can do is try to find other ways of bridging that gap. Don't be afraid to ask for help from your lecturer if you need it though and if you're not sure what specific questions to ask, there's always the option of asking to talk about how you're getting on with the course. Sometimes just starting a conversation can make finding specific areas to work on easier. Hope at least something here helps though! Again, my inbox and messages are always open!

#linguistics #ask #phonetics #phonology #actually neurodivergent #university

[neurodivergent-uni-support-group]

undergrad (physics/stem?) tips from a struggling neurodivergent

i’m finishing my degree this year so i thought i’d share some of the things i’ve painstakingly and slowly learnt over 4 years of studying physics at university. i started out by failing foundation mathematics, then all of my first year physics modules, but despite never having to go back and pass these basics (thanks covid) i’m somehow doing well in third year. so, here is my wisdom:

[disclaimer: of course, the way i study will definitely not work for everyone so only take the parts that resonate. this is not the healthiest way to study, but rather how i personally am getting through such a hardcore course with limited physical and mental energy.]

past exam papers. look for patterns and types of questions that are asked often, and focus on understanding those. if you’re lucky this could be all you need to get a great grade.

don’t worry about understanding whats going on in lectures. sitting in lectures and not knowing what the hell was going on used to stress me out to the point that i stopped going, but i found that actually, just turning up and calmly copying down the maths and notes without understanding them really helped me piece it all together later, on when studying on my own.

similarly, i find copying out the notes without trying too hard to understand them to be very helpful. it is very time consuming, but worth it when no information will sink in by just reading through the notes. even if you still don’t understand it all after writing it out, you now know what information is covered, where to find it, and you hopefully have it in a clearer, more interesting to look at format to help you later.

learn on your own terms. don’t listen to what any other people say about how you should study. you know what works for you. its always stressed here how important it is to go to lectures and tutorials, but i know that for me, a lot of the time my energy is better used by staying at home and teaching myself in a calm, comfortable, low pressure environment.

hyper-organisation. have as many planners as it takes to keep a grasp on time and schedules and deadlines. i have a bullet journal, a pre-made planner to scribble in, a planner and tables of dates and deadlines on notion, as well as sticky notes above my desk reminding me of the main things i should be working on at the moment. keep it all in front of you where you can see it, or make it easy to access. 

create a nice environment. this is possibly the most important part. make it so that sitting down to work is enjoyable, and setting up doesn’t take valuable brain power. playlists of background music ready to go, everything you need nearby and organised and easy to access.

ask for adjustments, extensions, ECs. i’m still not good at this, but it can really make all the difference. when you can’t complete something in time or the thought of doing a thing alone makes you feel like dropping out, its always worth asking if something can be done to make it easier for you. (for instance i usually skip presentations and  take the 0 but after asking, i have been allowed to make videos instead and sometimes even just make the powerpoint and write out a script.)

a consistent sleep schedule would be great, but don’t sweat if your class schedule makes it difficult. i work best at night, but lectures mean i have to wake up early in the morning. i have tried going to bed early and while that made waking up and going to classes easier, without my nighttime productivity i got way behind on everything. so instead i let my body do what it wants when it wants, which usually means sleeping less at night along with naps in the day and a lot of catch up sleep at the weekend.

caffeine can be your best friend or worst enemy. use it wisely. (i owe my second year grades to the ginger monster energy flavour)

know when to push and when to rest. sometimes you know its just executive dysfunction stopping you from getting things done, in which case gently push yourself to keep working. even if you don’t manage much, any amount of productivity is good. but on the other hand, if you keep trying and trying and its still not working, thats probably a sign you should stop. if you don’t make time for rest, your body will take it for you. 

on that note, if you really can’t focus, stop to think about whats actually wrong. sit still, relax for a moment and zone in to yourself. is it because you’re hungry? cold? understimulated? do you not have all of the materials you need right in front of you? it could be something as simple as the lighting being off, or things being in the wrong place on your desk. 

break it down. when i’m stuck, most often the problem is that i don’t clearly know what to do next. break tasks down into steps, and then break those down again until you have small tasks you can easily face. baby steps are the way to go. 

something is always better than nothing! you don’t have to put your all into everything. if you’ve got 60% to give on an assignment, thats great. even 40%, 20%. handing in something bad and unfinished is still worth it, and sometimes all you need. 

in short, just be gentle with yourself. go at your own pace and do things in the way that works for you. you’re doing your best. there will be ups and downs, but if you keep going, no matter how slowly, no matter how much it may seem like all is lost, you’ll get there eventually. 

[neurodivergent-uni-support-group]

Customisable Stir Fry Recipe

Picky eaters and people with a need for safe foods - this one's for you. One of the things I like most about cooking is the amount of control you can have over your own food and focus on things you know you will want to eat and cook. Stir fry is a very good example of this because I enjoy eating healthily but can be quite specific with the veg I want to use. Also, as I may have mentioned before, I can't cook any meat other than mince, so I prefer to shove some chicken nuggets in the oven to go with the stir fry and it's something different.

Please be aware that I am painfully white and that may be a factor even though it’s primarily sensory issues. But as it’s a customisable stir fry you can add whatever you like to it and leave out whatever you don’t!

Ingredients:

Noodles (Amoy or Sainsbury's Quick Cook are what I tend to use)

Stir fry sauce (Again, I usually use Amoy or Sainsbury's own in either the chow mein or satay flavours, but you can just use soy sauce or something else if that's what you prefer)

Some protein (either something that can be added first to the stir fry like uncooked chicken or pork, or something that can be put in the oven at the same time like chicken nuggets or fish cakes)

Your choice of veg, preferably 3+ different kinds (I usually use carrots, baby corn and a bell pepper, but am using more here because I'm cooking for family)

Olive oil or something similar to add to wok when it's heating up

Cooking Utensils:

Chopping board (x2 if you need one for prepping meat)

Knife to chop vegetables (+1 if you need one for prepping meat)

Peeler (if prepping carrots)

At least one bowl for putting veg in

Wok

Cooking spoon

Oven tray (if cooking meat in oven)

Portion Servings:

As mentioned above, the pictures I'm using here will be from when I cooked it for my four person family, hence why I have five different vegetables. Usually though, I make a two portion serving and save the second portion for the next day. The Amoy and Sainsbury's Quick Cook Noodles are good because each packet has two portions in them in separate bags. That means if you have a bottle of whatever your choice of sauce is, you can just cook one portion and be done with it. On the other hand, if you're buying packets of sauce, chances are they will say 120g and will be meant for two portions, meaning cooking off two portions is just easier. It also means you can have a bit more variety in veg that way.

Instructions:

1. Prepping everything usually takes a lot longer than I expect it to, so it's probably best to pre-heat the oven and avoid putting anything in until the veg is prepped, if you're doing something like chicken nuggets or fishcakes. Obviously it depends what you're cooking and whether it's frozen or chilled, but check the back of the packaging for specific cooking temperatures and times.

2. Since it's a customisable stir fry, I can't really tell you how to prep your specific chosen veg, but I can say how I prepped the veg in the picture above:

Carrot: peel the outermost parts to throw away and then peel the rest into strips using a vegetable peeler. This makes it quicker to cook than just chopping slices.

Peppers: cut the outside into four like a hot cross bun, snap them off the top and slice them into thin strips around the same size.

Courgette: cut off the top and bottom, then cut the rest into very thin wedges.

Baby corn: cut into quarters, removing any stringy parts as you go.

Beans/mange tout: cut the ends off and if some are longer than others, cut the longer ones in half.

3. Now is when you can put anything in the oven if you want to, or prep any meat you want to cook with the stir fry, using a separate chopping board and knife. Then put the wok on the stove, setting the stove to medium-high (around mid-way on a gas knob, about a 7 or 8 on an electric stove). Put a small amount of oil in the wok while it heats up - enough that it will help the stir fry to cook but not so much that it will get dangerous if it starts spitting. While the wok's heating up, you can quickly set up all of the ingredients next to the hob.

4. Once the wok's heated up, you can start cooking any meat you may want to add to the stir fry itself. I don't have any useful instructions for this other than make sure the meat is cooked before adding anything else in. If it's pieces of chicken you're cooking, once you think they should be cooked just cut a piece in half. If it's white outside and inside, it should be cooked, just make sure you're checking whichever piece is thickest, since the thinner ones will cook quicker.

5. If you have something in the oven instead, don't worry about the step above. Instead, start by adding your veg and stirring it. If it starts looking like it's getting burnt, turn down the hob slightly. Different veg will look different when it's cooked. Baby corn will go a lot brighter a yellow, peppers will go limp, peeled carrots probably won't do a huge amount other than be slightly less crunchy. Getting it entirely cooked isn't quite as important as it is with meat though, since it will continue to cook with the sauce and noodles.

6. When you're happy with how much the veg has cooked, it's time to add the sauce. One important thing to note is that with heat, the sauce will reduce the longer it's cooked. So maybe break up the noodles in their bags first, then add the stir fry sauce, stirring enough that the veg is entirely covered by the stir fry sauce before adding the noodles. Stir the entire thing so you get a good distribution of noodles, veg and sauce (and meat if that's also in the stir fry). The noodles will need at least 1-2 minutes to cook, more if you're using more than two packets of them.

7. If anything in the oven was done before the stir fry, turn off the oven and just leave the tray in it to stay warm until everything's done. If the noodles are done first, take them off the hob, and cover them if you have something to use for that. Once everything's cooked, you can assemble it on the plate and you're done! Enjoy!

#actually neurodivergent #student cooking #university life #recipes #actually autistic #neurodivergent cooking #stir fry

[neurodivergent-uni-support-group]

Planning a Weekly Shop

I never really understood why all of the BBC articles I read about uni money management mentioned making a food plan for the week, but that was mostly because my family always did that anyway, so I was pretty practiced at it by the time I moved away from home. I was the only person in the house who made food plans, but it helps you reduce the amount of things you buy but then never use, it reduces the amount of time you spend each night staring at your food cupboard trying to make decisions, and it means if you need to look for any specific dates of products, you can do!

Step 1: Make a plan of all the dinners you plan on cooking for the next week.

Obviously it depends on when you next plan to do your shopping, but it’s easiest to start out with some dinners you’d like to have and the number of days that meal will last for. Most of the meals I cook are for 2 days, so I tend to only need 3-4 meal ideas per week, but it will vary depending on what days you’re alright to cook versus what days you’re busy and could do with reheating leftovers or having a simple meal.

I usually use Evernote (android and website) to plan lists, as you can see below. Alternatively, if you prefer to write things down on paper, I made an A4 print-out customisable page, which I’ll post screenshots of at the end.

Step 2: Consider other food you will need to buy.

What are you going to eat and drink for breakfast? What are you going to eat and drink for lunch? Are there any snacks or drinks you need outside of this? I usually have the same thing every day so this isn’t too difficult but it’s useful to go through plans for the week and see if there’s anything you need for specific days. For example, when I went into uni, I tended to buy lunch there but would instead need to buy squash from the supermarket to fill a water bottle and a breakfast bar if it was a long day and I was likely to crash part-way through.

Step 3: Find out if there’s any household/non-consumable items you need to buy.

The main thing here is checking toilet paper, soap, washing up liquid, bin bags, etc., because housemates may not have noticed when something is low or might have and forgotten to mention it. While it’s inevitable things will be forgotten, the more you can buy at the supermarket rather than the corner shop last-minute, the more money you will save in the long run. This is also time for you to go through your own non-consumables and see if you need to top up on any toothpaste, sprays, gels, etc. Where possible, it’s ideal to have spares of things that are difficult to know are running out until it’s too late. You may end up moving out and finding four different body sprays you forgot about like I did, but better safe than sorry.

Step 4: Make a list

This seems obvious and you may have been making lists consistently throughout. But to make the supermarket shop as easy to get through as possible, it’s best to make a list in an easily accessible place (preferably where you can tick things off) and in a way that will allow you to get through the shop without having to backtrack for things too many times. As I’ve previously mentioned, the Evernote app can be useful because it has the option to use tick boxes as bullet points for items, meaning you can tick the box when you find the item as you’re going around the shop. Another good app, is the Sainsburys SmartShop app (android). I’ll go into self-scanning apps when I go talk about actually doing the shop in another post, but even if you don’t use Sainsbury’s, the app is useful because it has a section where you can put in your own shopping list.

When it comes to writing the shopping list, I’d recommend putting it into sections. The more familiar you get with your preferred supermarkets, the easier it’ll be to categorise items so you can find everything, but to start off with the categories I tend to put items into are ‘fruit and veg’, ‘fridge items’, ‘cupboard items’, ‘freezer items’ and ‘non-consumables’. This just makes it a bit easier not to forget everything, and if you end up using a self-scanner, it also makes putting the items in bags slightly easier as well.

Another tip I’d use is writing down the date you need any meat for next to it, as it reminds you to pay attention to the expiry date of the item and makes it a bit easier to find meat rather than just finding the latest date and hoping for the best. You might find it easier to do meat dishes at the beginning of the week and veggie dishes at the end because of it.

Bonus A4 Printable Page + Example Image

#actually neurodivergent #university #actually autistic #actually adhd #student tips #food shopping #grocery shopping #meal planning

[neurodivergent-uni-support-group]

me, an autonomous adult in college: *looks up tips for managing adhd on a deadline*

every single result: AS A PARENT to help YOUR CHILD WITH ADHD monitor YOUR CHILD'S behavior and reward HIM for doing work because CHILDREN WITH ADHD need constant support-

#Haven't gone through it properly yet but the notes also have lots of other people giving tips #executive functioning #actually adhd

[neurodivergent-uni-support-group]

hello i am Also an autistic linguistics student (although i am an undergraduate). and i am Also interested in wimblr scoot and mcyt and potentially that youtube playlist you mentioned 👀 (only if you're comfortable sharing it of course!! :) ) either way that post has made me feel a lot better about starting uni very soon. thanks!

Hello! I'm very glad to hear the post helped, since it was mostly me rambling. And I'm always happy to hear from mcyt fans! I'll link the playlist here. I mostly kept it to videos that are around 12 or 25 minutes so I can finish them within two breaks but there's also a playlist of comfy vods for sensory overloads available.

Hope starting uni goes well! It's slightly terrifying at first but once you get into it, it's a brilliant experience. I can't say for certain it's the same for every uni but first year is all about getting everyone to the same level of knowledge so the work shouldn't be too out of depth. And I'm always down to talk about linguistics if need be!

#ask #actually autistic #starting university #student

[neurodivergent-uni-support-group]

How to Ask for Help at College: Tips & Scripts

One of the most common pieces of advice that I see people giving to first-time college (university) students is “don’t be afraid to ask for help.” Okay, great, thank you, that’s sooo helpful… if you are used to asking for help and receiving it.

Asking for help is a skill you can learn. I hope these tips and scripts help you (or a college student that follows you) get started. 

TIPS

Familiarize yourself with who you might need help from. If you have to meet someone new AND ask for help at the same time, that’s two things to be anxious about. In the first few weeks of term, visit the people/offices that might help you later.

Your professors. Drop into office hours and say, “Hi, I’m on my way to the library, but I just wanted to stop in to introduce myself and make sure I know where your office is.” You can make some small talk, or use your library excuse to exit. Now you have ripped off the bandaid of talking to your prof one-on-one, and it will be slightly easier to ask for help later.

Your academic advisor. They will help you with making sure you’re taking the right classes to graduate on time. Send them an email that says, “Hi, I’m in my first semester. When should I make an appointment with you to discuss my major/graduation timeline/etc?” The answer is probably early October, but now you know their name and email address. 

Financial Aid/the Bursar. You don’t have to talk to them, just go look at their office or find their hours online. Financial Aid handles scholarships and your FAFSA; the Bursar is who deals with the payments.

Find one staff person who you can talk to. Sometimes, you won’t know what office can help you, and that’s when you ask someone on the college staff for help figuring that out – even if you know they’re not the person who can solve your problem. I’m talking about academic advisors, student activities coordinators, residence hall directors, First Generation student support offices, affinity centers (e.g., Black Student Unions), and anyone who works there but isn’t a professor. They will know how the college is set up and help you navigate to find help.

Ask yourself each week: “do I need help with anything?” You can set an alarm on your phone to go off every Monday with that question. It’s best to ask for help as early as possible; regular check-ins with yourself can help you catch it early when you’re confused about course material, financial aid deadlines, etc. 

You don’t have to know what kind of help you need! Saying that you’re having trouble and looking for some help is enough. Folks will generally point you in the right direction.

SCRIPTS

For talking to your professor or the tutoring center: 

I’m having some trouble with this course concept. Can I make an appointment with you to go over it?

I’ve read the materials, but something still isn’t clicking for me. Can you help me figure out what I need to review?

I didn’t perform as well as I would like on the last exam. What do you recommend I do differently to prepare for the next one? 

I’m having trouble in this class, but I’m not sure where to start. 

I’m feeling stuck about my essay. Do you have any advice, or is that something I should take to the tutoring center?

For dealing with registration, financial aid, the bursar, housing sign-ups, or any other thing where you have to navigate bureaucracies and fill out forms:

I need some help with ____. Is that something your office can help me with? 

I don’t know how to _____. Can you help me understand what the steps are?

My friend said there was a deadline coming up for ___. Is there anything I should be doing for that?

You mentioned that I should do ____. I’m not familiar with that; could you explain it to me? 

I think I did this wrong. Do you know what I should do to fix it?

I think I understand. Can I repeat it back to you so that I’m sure I have it right? 

Can I check in with you again if I get stuck, or should I contact someone else?

And remember – it feels REALLY GOOD to be able to help someone out. So if you are nervous that you are inconveniencing someone by asking for help, please also know that you’re actually giving that person an opportunity to feel really good by being helpful. 

Good luck!

#US advice #student support #communication advice

[neurodivergent-uni-support-group]

Basic Chilli con Carne/Bolognese recipe

Starting off with this one because it’s one I’ve been doing for years now, is so easy to batch cook and can be left in the slow cooker if you want to eat it later. I’m doing both meals as a single recipe because the process is exactly the same, you just add slightly different ingredients to it. I’m going to include pictures from the chilli I made today, though there isn’t a final image with the rice because I forgot to take one! Also if there's anything I could go into more detail about, please let me know!

Chilli con Carne Ingredients:

Beef mince

Chilli cooking sauce

Canned chopped tomatoes

Red kidney beans

Any vegetables you want (I used peppers and courgettes)

Olive oil (just to lightly cover the pan)

Rice

Spaghetti Bolognese Ingredients:

Beef mince

Bolognese cooking sauce

Canned chopped tomatoes

Any vegetables you want (Again I usually use peppers and courgettes)

Olive oil

Your choice of pasta

Cooking Utensils:

Chopping board

Knife to chop vegetables

Can opener

Sieve

Deep frying pan (saute pan? wok? I’m not sure what it’s called but it’s deep enough that things won’t fall out accidentally)

Cooking spoon

Slow Cooker

Saucepan (if using for cooking the rice/pasta)

Portion sizes:

I’ve cooked this both to make two and four servings. If you are cooking just for yourself, this is a very good one to cook two servings, put half in Tupperware in the fridge for the next day and cook individual portions of pasta or rice. For two servings, I use 250g of mince, leave out the chopped tomatoes and use less vegetables (one pepper and one courgette usually). For four servings, I use 500g of mince and more vegetables (this time round I used two peppers and a courgette).

Instructions:

1. Start by preparing the ingredients other before you get the mince out of the fridge. Cut up the vegetables however you prefer (I sliced the courgette and cut the pieces in half, and cut up the peppers into small chunks). Open the kidney beans, pour them into a sieve and run them under cold water to clean them. If you struggle with opening the tab on top of a can like the one on the chopped tomatoes, I find it easiest to slide a spoon or fork under it and lift it up using that. If you struggle with opening the lids on sauce jars, it’s also a good idea to open them now in case it’s more difficult than normal. For that I hit the side of the lid on the edge of a counter to break the oxygen seal, as this makes it easier to open.

2. Once you have everything prepared next to the hob, it’s time to cook the mince. Add a small amount of olive oil to the pan and, depending on sensory issues/general anxiety, you can either separate the mince as you put it in the pan-of-ambiguous-naming and then turn on the hob, or you can turn the hob on, put the mince all in at once and then use your spoon to separate it. To cook it, it’s best to turn the hob to medium-high (I have a gas hob so that’s directly in the middle for more me but it will likely vary depending on the type of hob you have).

3. Mince is one of the easiest meats to cook because you know it’s fully cooked when all of the mince is brown. When this happens, you will need to do your best to get rid of the fat (the liquid that’s come out of the mince). I tend to just use the spoon to get as much out of the pan as I can without accidentally also throwing out mince, but you could also use a sieve if the mince can’t get through the gaps as well. It doesn’t matter too much if you can’t get all of the fat out though, just get rid of as much as you can.

4. From there you can add all of the other ingredients for the sauce! Order doesn’t really matter, though if you’re worried about the mince burning while you add everything the sauce might be the best thing to add first. Just keep stirring in between adding each part and once it’s all been added continue cooking at medium-high.

5. Once the sauce starts boiling (aka the entire sauce is bubbling rather than just the edges), turn the heat down to low. You’re going to leave this for around ten minutes, stirring occasionally (a phrase I usually take to mean ‘stir the entire thing once per minute’). If you’re not going to put it in the slow cooker, you can start cooking pasta or rice in this time. Since I normally cook it for myself, I tend to just use microwaveable individual rice pods or follow the instructions on the packet of the rice/pasta, so can’t give any specific instructions here. But if the rice/pasta takes longer than 10 minutes, it’s not too big a deal because the sauce will be fine cooking for slightly longer. If you are putting it in the slow cooker afterwards, you can use this time to do a bit of cleaning instead.

6. If you are using the slow cooker, once it’s been 10 minutes you can turn it on and put the sauce inside. I tend to cook around midday and eat at about 7/8pm, so will put the cooker on high until the sauce is bubbling again and then turn it down to low. Then when you’re ready, you can cook your pasta/rice and combine.

#actually neurodivergent #student cooking #university life #recipes #actually autistic #actually adhd #neurodivergent cooking #chilli con carne #bolognese

[neurodivergent-uni-support-group]

Potential learning/assignment tips from a neurodivergent linguistics graduate

Alright, I said I didn’t really have techniques that worked for me while studying but it would be more accurate to say I did have some, I just had to regularly cycle through them rather than sticking to the same thing every time. So I’m just gonna put some things that helped here in case they’re useful to anyone else. If I think of anything else or anyone else has tips they want to add, I will reblog them! Some of them may involve apps and I’ll say which ones I used but they are all windows or android.

Tl;dr, rest under the cut:

External screen-recorders for sessions

Going to lectures/seminars/labs/one-to-ones

Note-taking

Text-to-speech and other tips for essential reading

Planning for deadlines (University of Kent Assignment Survival Kit)

Pomodoro Technique

If you have online meetings/lectures/seminars and can get permission, it’s extremely useful to be able to have an external screen-recorder. This is particularly useful if you struggle to keep up when taking notes or zone out a lot as it means you can rewatch lectures and meetings later. If you are in contact with the Disability Team at your university already, this is a very useful thing to have on your Learning Support Plan (something I’ll go into in another post if I remember) and can be translated to face-to-face learning through audio recorders (or lecture captures if your university is lucky enough to have them). If you can’t go through the Disability Team for whatever reason though, it’s still worth emailing your lecturers to ask if it’s possible to record sessions. I emphasise using an external screen-recorder because most lecturers are a lot more comfortable with only you being able to access the recording rather than using the Team recording function and everyone being able to access it. There’s a chance they will say no depending on recording permissions other people have given in your class, but it’s so worth it if they say yes. For specific apps, I use Screen Recorder Pro (Windows) on my laptop and XRecorder (Android) on my phone, both of which are free and seem to do the job well enough.

Speaking of lectures/seminars/labs, I can’t emphasise enough, you need to go to as many as you physically can. Even if you don’t think you’ll learn anything and know the lecture’s going to be available online later, just showing up makes you more familiar to the lecturers (meaning when the time comes for assignments they’ll be a lot more willing to go the extra mile to help you) and you might passively recall some of the session even if it’s not a huge amount. I’d also encourage where possible getting out your notepad and pen/laptop and just writing down everything you see/hear if you’re really struggling with concentration. When it comes to looking back at your notes later, the more information you have about the lecture the less steps you have to take to piece together everything that was covered, especially if your university doesn’t have a lecture capture.

This goes double for one-to-one sessions with lecturers for assignments – if you have the opportunity to book one, take it. If you’re already confident with the topic and don’t have any questions, you can go over your plan with the lecturer and they can give you any tips you have, reinforce that confidence and feel confident themselves that you know what you’re doing. If you’re so confused that you don’t even know where to begin with asking questions, it may sound cliché but your lecturers are there to help. Either they can help you feel more confident in an idea you’re unsure about or they can help point you in the right direction of reading for the topic. This comes back to the point about showing up to sessions, because if they’ve seen you there regularly they already have a good idea of what knowledge you have and where specifically you may be struggling.

Note-taking is a skill that I’m sure people have already talked about a lot and I don’t know a huge amount about. However, I do know that if you’re like me and want to write down everything you see/hear, you need to make any tasks you have to do as visible as possible. If you’re typing your notes, you can make it bold/underline it/start the line with “TASK”/anything like that. If you’re writing them out, you can use highlighters, draw a star or something next to it in the margin, anything like that.

Then when you’re done with the lecture, I know how easy it is to just sigh and move on with your day, but if you can it’s important to write these down somewhere you’ll remember to do them, whether that be putting them in your google calendar with a reminder set, writing them on a post-it note next to your desk or bed, whatever will get you to consistently remember it’s a task to do rather than forgetting until the day you need to have it done by. I tend to have a weekly task list on Evernote (because I use it for literally everything anyway) that I can add to and if you have the Evernote app (Android) it now has a scratch pad visible when you first go into the app, so you can add and remove things without having to go through and find the right note.

Have essential reading to do each week but struggle with actually sitting down and reading? If you can access pdf versions of the reading, text-to-voice apps mean you can listen to the reading while doing things that require passive focusing rather than active. By this, I mean you can load up the pdf of the reading onto your phone and listen to it while you are travelling/cleaning/cooking/etc. so you have can’t get stuck reading the same line over and over again. This probably won’t make you remember everything, but it means when you go back and have to take notes on the reading, it’s a lot easier to skim through and pick up the most important parts to write down. Depending on the app, some also allow you to listen to it read slower or faster depending on what your brain cooperates with the most. The app I use for this is @Voice (Android), which has adverts at the bottom of the page but is free.

Speaking of doing reading, if your books have summaries at the end of each chapter, read those first. If you are writing notes on a screen they tend to give you easy bullet points to start with and expand on when going through the main reading but most of all they mean if you run out of time to finish reading the whole thing before your session, you still know the main points of the chapter. If it’s an article or essay, the same goes for reading the conclusion first. A good conclusion summarises what the question they’re answering is, how they went about answering it and what answer they got.

Every course and university is different, but mine did all but a few assignments at the end of each term. That’s a lot of writing in a single period of time, especially if the module hasn’t required you to write essays throughout. While you hear a lot about people banging out their essays in twelve hours before the deadline or your lecturers encourage you to get it done weeks in advance, it’s better to get to know your limits and what works best for you. That’s not to say doing it further in advance isn’t the best option, it definitely is, but I know my brain refuses to finish the essay until 24 hours before the deadline. It’s going to be trial-and-error, but if you want a good plan to work from in the beginning University of Kent has an Assignment Survival Kit, where you input the type of assignment, the day you start it and the deadline, and it works out general deadlines you want to work towards for each section.

For me personally, I’ve always printed out a calendar up until the final deadline where I work out which days I’m dedicating to each module (not specific tasks, just the general module) because I’m not very good at switching between topics within the same day.

I’m gonna switch to a new section for this part because it’s more about writing up assignments than the planning, but one concept you may hear from academics and student support is the Pomodoro Technique. This was introduced to me by my Student Support Guidance Tutor and it’s where you give yourself a task, set a timer for 25 minutes, work for those 25 minutes, take a 5 minute break, and then repeat. This doesn’t really work for me because zoning out is an inevitability so it’s better to give myself a more general task (like continuing to work on a paragraph) and longer work/break times (32 minutes work/11 minutes break). The technique also only works for me like 48 hours before the deadline when I’m panicking about not being done in time. I say this to emphasise that the Pomodoro Technique may not work with those specific times for some people and may not work at all for others, but it’s good to try it out with different times to see what works for you. Additionally, when I take breaks, I can’t take passive breaks because then I start thinking about all of the things I still need to do and just get stressed. Instead I have an Emotional Support Deadline Videos playlist on YouTube that I watch so I’m distracted by that rather than thinking. I’d link it but unless you’re interested in watching Wilbur Soot and mcyt videos, it’s probably not gonna be useful so I’d encourage making your own.

That's everything I can think of at the moment! Hopefully at least one of these can help people get through their next year of uni more smoothly. If there's any questions or anything I may have missed, please let me know!

#actually neurodivergent #studying #university #studyblr #actually autistic #actually adhd #student tips #pomodoro technique

[neurodivergent-uni-support-group]

Intro + Masterlist

Hi! I'm a student who finished a Bachelors in English Language and Linguistics a couple of years ago and is about to finish a Masters in Gender and Sexuality now.

During my last two years of my undergraduate, I was privately renting student accommodation and was hoping there might be some recipes and tips and things about being neurodivergent and getting through uni, but haven't really found anything so far. So this blog is a space for me to post my own recipes and ramblings, as well as sharing other people's!

Quick disclaimer that in collecting these posts, I will be attempting to collect posts that help people with any neurodivergency, but I am autistic so most of my original posts will be based around dealing with sensory issues and executive functioning.

(Also I didn't find many things that worked for me when it came to completing uni work so most original posts are very unlikely to be studyblr posts.)

Masterlist:

Recipes:

Basic bolognese and chilli con carne

Customisable stir fry

Customisable couscous (upcoming)

Basic pasta (upcoming)

Shopping:

Getting through a UK supermarket weekly shop (upcoming)

Planning a weekly shop

Basic checklist for house necessities (upcoming)

Household Stuff:

Splitting up chores when living with others (upcoming)

Washing up my beloathed (and other kitchen cleaning) (upcoming)

Dealing with exit inspections (upcoming)

Uni work:

UK Learning Support Plans

UK Disability Students Allowance (Disability Funding)

Studying Tips

When your brain refuses to function with the same strategy everyday (Music and resource recs)

How to plan a basic university essay and word count

#university #actually neurodivergent #student #uk universities #neurodiversity #actually autistic