Supporting Students with Asperger Syndrome in Higher Education

1. Supporting Students with Asperger Syndrome in Higher Education Leeds Trinity University College 23rd November 2011

2. Including AS students in Learning, Teaching and Assessment Activities Di Drummond Reader in Modern History Leeds Trinity University College

3. Aims of this session • To identify positive factors and potential problems for AS student: • In the wider university environment, across three or four years they are taking their degree. • In taught sessions in general terms. • In learning, teaching and assessment in a specific area/discipline in HE – History (curriculum, learning and teaching methods used, assessment).

4. Determining support that is needed – from the WHOLE team. Positives, different perspectives and problems in this. • Formulating strategies for including AS students in teaching sessions, curriculum, assessment activities.

5. Why me/History on this topic? • Experience of having some AS students, now graduates, in recent years. • National Student Satisfaction Survey – History Scored 100% last year. History – Best in Britain, 2006. • Excellent teaching staff – PhDs/DPhils; Learning and Teaching Expertise; Recognition for research. • Some modules: Small groups.

6. History at Leeds Trinity University College

8. Exercise 1: Life and learning and teaching at University and AS students • Small buzz groups: • Identify features of AS that are positive factors for students at university and in learning and teaching sessions. • Identify key problems that might occur for AS students in both these circumstances.

9. Positive Factors • Intellectual contribution • Enriching others’ experiences • Higher marks for subjects which are your “obsession” • Motivation and application • Independent learning • Time management: regularity, punctuality • Number skills • Imagination; visual conceptualisation • Doing what’s asked • Intellectual and personal development

10. Problem areas for AS students • Overly focussed on a single subject area • Much evidence gathered; lack of analysis • Social awareness and interaction • Might not ask for help • Needing a set regime • Extreme stress and anxiety – assume they’ve “got it wrong” • Big jump from school/college to university • Being very literal • Sensory bombardment • Groupwork; roleplay • Understanding assignment briefs

11. Di – The Railway Historian

13. The Beauty of Anoraks!

14. Exercise 2: AS students and Learning, Teaching and Assessment – History example • Small buzz groups: • Identify features of AS that are positive for students on this History programme. • Identify key problems that might occur for AS students.

15. Aims of the History Programmes at Leeds Trinity • Not just to learn about specific eras and questions in History but also gaining essential historical and highly transferable skills: • Using and interpreting evidence. • Mapping the chronology of time and the causes of change. • Understanding and criticising historians’ debates. • Planning and carrying out complex research – project management.

16. Presenting your own ideas and arguments – in discussions, group presentations and in writing. • Thinking about how ‘History’ is used in today’s society – in education, ‘heritage’, films, books, politically. • Producing significant reports/dissertations (10,000 words plus oral presentation), using historical evidence, wider debate and your own analysis.

17. Learning and Teaching Methods • Reading – Books, but….. • Role Play • Film • Documents • Illustrations/paintings/artefacts. • Field Trips. • Group work. • Buzz Groups. • One-to-one tutorials.

18. Learning and Teaching – The Environment

19. The History Curriculum • History Benchmark Statement • https://www.history.ac.uk/makinghistory/resources/articles/HE.html • International and multi-cultural. • Range of topics, study areas and eras. • Statistics for Historians. • Empathy.

20. First Year of Your Studies – Modules • Patterns and Periodization • Study In-Depth - The French Revolution. • The Historian’s Craft - Early Modern History : Victorian Leeds.

21. History in Contemporary Society – The Representation of History in films, novels and TV programmes. • Introduction to Modern World History – Understanding the History of the Twentieth Century. • Vision at Work or the Professional Work

23. Difficult Subjects

26. The History Dissertation or Research Report. Your own research project! Recent subjects include: The Leeds Antislavery Association; Death and the Victorians; The Victorian Tea Party; Evacuees during World War Two; Nationalism and Beyond in Slovenia, 1980-2010.

27. Assessment Methods • Essays • Reports • Dissertations • A Chapter of a historical novel; first scene of a play or film script. • Posters. • Group Presentations. • Individual Presentations.

29. Strategies of support – For AS studentFor studentsFor staffThe Team – and how not to build it!

30. Strategies for support • Design of course and materials • Academic departments • support departments • Transparency for students • Identify individual students’ needs • Clear module descriptions • Be prepared to change • Prepare students for change

31. Bad Anorak!