5 Weird things about the UK eduation system.

I am just done with my first year as a post-grad and things have been crazy. The hardest part about this year has been adjusting to the school system in the UK because it is so different from my Hippie College and everything else I have ever experienced. So, here is the skinny on being here in the UK.

1. You will probably not see your professors ever.
There are way fewer contact hours between students and the professors. On average, I saw my lecturers for about 3 hours per class every week. At the Hippie College I saw lecturers about 10 hours a week. In theory, students should be spending their time in library doing their own research. But there isn't much guidance in how to do your own research and their isn't an emphasis in teaching study skills. Which brings me to my second point

2. Soft skills are not taught.
Students don't really know how to take information from the lectures and transfer them to notes and then study those notes to know the information. Guidelines are vague regarding writing guidelines, and professors will often tell students conflicting things about assignments. I haven't seen a rubric for any assignments. With the exception of one class I haven't seen a class breakdown. It seems like no one is really talking in a clear or effective way

3. Communication
Getting to talk to anyone can feel like one of two things: a giant Rube Goldberg machine made of paperwork and offices that are on opposite sides of campus, or it feels like Frodo's quest to get to the ring to Mordor. Office workers are sometime surly and sometimes act as if it is a great inconvenience to answer questions.

4. "Not my problem"
This is the weirdest one I encountered. You go into an office with a question pertaining to the things the office does, and they will tell you that it is not their problem. How weird is that? Some people say that there is a culture of laziness in parts of the UK. I'm still undecided about this.

5. You will not have assignments. You will just have tests.
Most classes will will end in a test that is 70-100% of your grade. As a non-neurotypical you can see where this might be a problem.


I'm also on tumblr now, if you're interested. diaryofnnt dot tumblr dot com.

This is not an invisible disability.

What's up there Y'all lovely NNT readers? Sorry these posts are all sporadic. You see. The internet here at the house is possessed.

Be Afraid

Sometimes I'll be all writing a blog about how much being NNT is awesome, and I'll be getting to the really profound part where I compare myself to Buffy the Vampire Slayer and then the internet will disappear.

There goes your internet...

So Then I'm all annoyed and can't remember what was so profound about Buffy the Vampire Slayer and sad that I don't remember what I was writing about.

And the internet is all

HAHAHA. We're running off with all your best ideas!

But I am going to finish this one. Promise.

I have an honest face

So I wanted to talk today about  invisibility. On my last post we talked a little about how I am not going to let this disability define me.

Today I want to talk a little bit about how weirded out by the term "invisible disability" I am.


So you see because I take these things literally I imagine that my disability is an actual entity, like an invisible person. No one else can see him but me.

But in reality, it's not like that at all. My disability is real. And it has a visible effect on my life. Most of the time it makes life harder.

It's harder for me to connect with people.

I don't always understand what they want me to do. Sometimes, people don't understand me.

I don't remember what someone wrote down on a piece of paper at work yesterday, but I can remember entire conversations that I had 3 years ago.

But my disability is very much visible. Most people just don't know to look for it.

It's true it doesn't change my appearance the same way that a broken leg, or blindness might. And it's not as obvious as Down syndrome. But the signs are still there.

After all, the doctors don't just pull a diagnosis out of thin air. (I hope)

Looks Legit

There have to be signs along the way

The main issue is that the Bubba's of the world don't really know what to look for. No one ever told them. No one ever told most people.

And that in my opinion is the fundamental problem. There isn't enough education around ASD. Most teachers and other educators don't know enough about the problem, at least they didn't when I was in elementary school. What is actually a manifestation of my disability was taken to be bad behavior, or bad parenting. In our rural town, there was no one who knew about ASD.

What is this 504 plan of which you speak?

When my parents went to get accommodations at the school for me, they were met with confusion and distrust. Administrators just wanted to dismiss the whole thing. Teachers were mistrusting of the diagnosis. You could tell that they were thinking

But she doesn't look disabled. Obviously her parents just want special treatment for her.

Other parent's just didn't get it either. They thought my Mom was just a bad Mom, you know, totally unable to discipline her child. They saw my parents as being lazy or incompetent. They saw me and my sister as being willful, or just ornery.

Like congress

I hope that now parents don't face that same discrimination, I hope that people are a little more understanding. I hope that children are a little bit more accepting.

Readers: it's been 15 years since I got my diagnosis, and at that time no one knew what the Autism Spectrum was, is it the same for you now? Do people have any idea about Autism Spectrum Disorders? What do they know about it?  I would love to know please leave me a comment!