This week, we are hearing from Nova who has worked closely with autistic university students as a Specialist Mentor for a long time. If you are in the UK, this job may be familiar to you. If you are not in the UK, it may not. British universities are often in partnership with non-medical help organizations to provide mentoring support for students with additional support needs due to "disabilities" and/or mental health issues. Nova has worked as a "Mental Health Mentor", "ASC (Autism Spectrum Condition) Mentor", and "SpLD (Specific Learning Difference) study skills tutor". Specialist Mentors in the UK hold specific qualifications and experiences to support their students. *At the Grace Center for Autism, we call our support service Specialist Autism Mentoring and offer the equivalent of what she and all the "ASC Mentor" offers in the UK.* Specialist Mentors in the UK are highly appreciated people by the students they work with! Let's get into the conversation with Nova...
What is your connection to autism?
I have worked with autistic students in higher education as a mentor and study skills tutor for over ten years. I support autistic students in a number of different universities, studying different subjects, from foundation degree to PhD. I usually get assigned to work with a student at the beginning of their course and then work with them until completion.
Could you tell us what Specialist Mentors do?
We work one-to-one with students to support them in getting the most from their university experience and achieving their academic objectives. This involves helping them manage challenges in relation to academic work and university life more generally, as well as recognising their strengths and developing their skills and independence. Every student and day is different, but my job usually involves providing a combination of personal and study skills support, so I might be helping someone to organise their time to meet a deadline, develop their ideas for an essay, or manage a social or unfamiliar situation. Mentoring also provides a space for students to share their anxieties and concerns and to support them in developing strategies for maintaining their health and wellbeing.
What is your favorite part of the job?
It’s hard to identify one single thing! I really enjoy working with a student and accompanying them on their university journey, be it from welcome week through to graduation, or just for a semester. I believe that higher education can be the most transformative and enriching experience, and I like being able to support students to get the most from this and see them grow and progress. It’s really satisfying to see students achieve the academic outcomes that they want but it’s just as rewarding to see a student recognise how far they have come and have the confidence to do things that they wouldn’t have felt possible when they started university.
I love too how much I learn about students’ special areas of interest (academic or otherwise), from black holes to Japanese rock music, it’s really expanded my mind!
What has motivated you to keep supporting autistic students as a "Specialist ASC Mentor"?
I have learnt so much from all of the students I have worked with and feel that I have personally grown hugely from working with autistic students. Before I started working in this area, my knowledge of autism was very limited and I didn’t have any real understanding of how autistic people might think, feel and generally engage with the world in a way that was different from me. I feel that through my work with autistic students over time my understanding has grown, but I’m still learning every day.
I believe strongly that all students should get an equal opportunity to engage fully in higher education and reach their academic potential, and I feel that mentoring support can help students achieve this. I feel this is especially the case for autistic students, who often have co-existing conditions, such as mental health or specific learning difficulties, which can make their experience even more challenging.
What are the strengths of autistic students? What are the challenges they often face?
I believe that neurodiversity is a superpower! Although I wouldn’t want to generalise about the autistic students I work with, I have recognised so many cognitive and learning strengths, including the ability to think, understand, problem solve and see connections that are not evident to others, focus and concentration, and a deep subject interest and detailed knowledge. There are also many personal strengths and qualities, such as thoughtfulness, honesty, reliability and a real care and empathy for others.
I think the challenges are many and frequent. There is still a fundamental lack of understanding of how difficult it can be at times for an autistic person to live in a predominantly neurotypical society, let alone thrive. I am learning all of the time about how autistic students have to deal with difficulties which are not visible, whether these be sensory issues, like a room being too hot and noisy, or anxiety in relation to doing or saying the ‘right thing’ in a social situation, to just generally feeling different or separate from others. I feel that these are daily challenges that as a NT person I don’t have to encounter to the same degree. I feel hopeful that this will change the more we hear and listen to autistic voices and experiences.
Written by Kana