Telling people at university that you are autistic is also known as ‘disclosure’ or ‘declaring a disability’. More information about what this means and why it might be important to you is available in this article.

What do we mean by declaration?

You might not consider that being autistic is a disability, but that’s how organisations like universities recognise that you may have some additional needs and the declaration prompts the university to make contact with you in order to explore any needs you may have and the support options available to you. Telling the university you are autistic does not mean that you have to tell everyone you meet if you don’t want to, and nor does it mean that you will be forced to accept support you don’t want or need.

Why I might choose to declare that I am autistic

Some students don’t tell anybody at university that they are autistic, not even the university itself. Not declaring makes it difficult for students to get the support they need, both officially and from their friends and the other people around them. At school or college, you might not have received or even needed any support outside your family, and this may be the same at university. However, university is very different from school and college and there is a wide range of support available. The university needs to know that you have additional support needs in order to make any ‘reasonable adjustments’.  If you need extra time in your exams, a different location for exams, or access to study spaces for disabled students, you need to tell the university. To find out more about the support available and to consider what, if any, adjustments are required to ensure you have the best possible university experience it is essential to declare to the university via the Disability team. Even if you decide not to declare prior to your arrival at university or when starting your studies you can contact DisabilityAdvisers@qmu.ac.uk at any point throughout your studies or book a Disability Adviser appointment using Student Central.

When I declare, who will find out?

When you declare, either on your application form or directly to the Disability team, this is a confidential process. Your Disability Adviser will discuss with you what, if any, information needs to be shared and who it needs to be shared with. The Disability team will not tell the other students on your course; information is only shared with staff who are required to make adjustments, or with those who would benefit from being aware. In order to enable your tutors to understand a bit more about you, and be able to support you, it can be helpful to disclose. However, disclosure is always a choice. In addition to this, you may wish to speak to your course team about particular elements of the course and any concerns you have. Your Disability Adviser would be happy to support you with this if you would like them to. You may also decide to share information with your peers where you think it may be helpful to understand a bit more about you, but this is entirely your choice.

What happens when students don’t declare?

The Autism&Uni research surveyed people with experience of attending and/or completing university, over 70% of those surveyed said they didn’t tell anyone they were autistic. Some students were not diagnosed until after university.

Research suggests that students who were diagnosed before or during university and declared their autism were more likely to complete their course and get good grades.

However, of the 70% of students we surveyed who chose not to declare, those who left university prior to completing their course, told us it was because they now realise that they needed support with some aspects of university. Even though in general the students got good marks when they submitted work, they said that they struggled to manage without any support, especially early in the course.

Some students also felt that they were unintentionally bullied or excluded by other students, who may have been more understanding if they knew that they were autistic. (Note that QMU takes reports of bullying very seriously and encourages any student who feels they have experienced bullying or hate crime to seek support and/or report the incident using QMU Report and Support )

Several of the students who left their course prior to completion and then returned to their studies later said that they had a better experience because people knew they were autistic, and this meant they were able to access support and get on better socially. These students told us that getting support as early as possible, preferably from the start of course, made settling into university a lot easier as it is such an uncertain time, in spite of also being an exciting time.

Getting support in those first few weeks, even simple things like someone showing you around the campus and where your lectures will be held can be really important. In our surveys, lots of students didn’t tell anyone they were autistic until they were already really struggling, and in some situations. This meant that their work or/and wellbeing was affected.

It takes time to process applications for support and send information to the relevant people, so the earlier you can inform the university the better. You don’t have to wait for exam results (e.g. Highers or A level results) or a confirmed place at university, you can contact us now – even if you end up going somewhere else.

Fern: I think it is good to disclose as university is much bigger than school and so there is nobody making sure everything is ok and you are managing. (read the whole article here)

In some ways, making a decision to tell the university officially that you are autistic has obvious benefits with clear boundaries. Declaring means you can access support. The university will tell you what information and evidence they need from you and will not pass any information on without your permission.

If you decide not to declare on your application form, or have not received a diagnosis, you can tell the university at any time throughout your studies by contacting the Disability team to talk through your options and what this means if you have any concerns about declaring.

Some funding bodies such as SAAS recognise that the process of formal diagnosis for autism can take many years. You can therefore still access SAAS DSA funding if you have a ‘working diagnosis’ of autism from a medical professional such as your GP.  Likewise, you do not need a formal diagnosis of autism to have an ILP at QMU. You do, however, need to let the Disability team know about your support needs for the ILP to be created. It is your choice whether autism is mentioned on your ILP or not. Some students find it helpful to communicate this through formal channels such as the ILP so that staff are aware, and so that they do not need to re-tell each member of teaching staff. However, if you prefer not to share this, that is a completely valid choice too. If you do not want to mention autism on the ILP, we will only communicate the reasonable adjustments you may need.

You may wish to talk to trusted friends and family about declaring.

Here are some questions that might help you to think about declaring:

• Do you want to declare on your application?
• Would you like to talk to the Disability team directly?
• Do you want to access support at the start of your studies? If you do, you will need to engage with the Disability team in good time before you start your course
• Do you want your tutors to know?
• Are there any other people within the university you would like to know (in order that adjustments can be implemented)?
• You can choose whether or not to mention autism on your ILP, but for reasonable adjustments such as extra time in exams to be in place, the extra time needs to be communicated to relevant university staff. Funded DSA support, however, such as 1:1 mentoring beyond class hours and software and equipment to support your studies, does not need to be communicated to teaching staff. Would you just like to access support from DSA but not have an ILP?

This article was contributed by the Leeds Beckett Disability Advice Team, with some edits from QMU.