Asperger's Syndrome (AS) can be seen as a developmental disability on the Autistic Spectrum. The word 'spectrum' is used because the condition affects people in many different ways and to varying degrees.
Asperger's and Autism impacts on the way a person communicates and relates to others.
"Reality to an autistic person is a confusing mass of events, people, places, sounds and sights. There seem to be no clear boundaries, order or meaning to anything. A large part of my life is spent just trying to work out the pattern behind everything." (person with AS)
Asperger's tends to manifest itself in the following way:
| Strengths | Weaknesses |
| A quiet social life means more time to focus on studies | Struggle with interviews (do not "do themselves justice") |
| Intelligent | Difficulty with proximity to others |
| "Formal" style of speech and writing comes naturally, which is helpful for essays | Trouble sharing accomodation with others |
| Original and creative in thought processes | Interacting with others in groups or seminars |
| Good memory for facts and information | Difficulty understanding instructions and requirements |
| Dedicated and works extremely hard | High levels of anxiety and vulnerability to stress |
| Precise, with attention to detail | Disorganised |
| Advanced vocabulary | Easily distracted |
| Very "professor" like | Difficulties with long or ambiguous instructions |
| Determined and do not give up easily | Trouble with inferring ("reading between the lines") |
| Honest and loyal | Akward body language |
| Quirky sense of humour | Learning and following "rules" of conversations |
| Good visual and spatial skills | Adapting to change |
| Unique personality | Seeing things from other view points |
| Problem-solving | Making and keeping friends |
| Logical thinker | Transferring knowledge to new situations |
Often students with Asperger's Syndrome have other associated conditions, such as specific learning difficulties (like dyslexia, dyspraxia or ADHD), epilepsy or obsessive compulive disorder.
Every student's needs are differenct. Your disability advisor can help arrange the most appropriate level of support for your needs.
This support can include:
All information provided to us is considered confidential. We would not normally disclose it. With your consent, we will contact relevant members of UEL staff to inform them of your disability and support needs. This will be done by drawing up a Learning Support Agreement with your disability advisor.
© 2009
Can't find what you're looking for on this page?
Click here to start a search
For a general description of these pages and an explanation of how they should work with screenreading equipment please follow this link: Link to general description
For further information on this web site's accessibility features please follow this link: Link to accessibility information
The following message does not apply to screenreader users:
You will still be able to access all the essential content of this web site, but it will not look, or function, exactly as intended.
