A little about me

Hi 🙂 I’m Frances (they / them). It’s nice to meet you all… virtually… (that’s me in the photo). I’ve just finished my final year at Loughborough University in Graphic Design with a year in industry.

When I was 18, I got a diagnosis of ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder). At this point I was in my foundation year, and we had just come out of our second Covid lockdown. I was staying at home and doing all of my classes online. Now, I am in the studio every day and about to graduate.

Making friends and hall life

When I first arrived at Loughborough University, making friends was one of the most challenging aspects for me to navigate after coming out of lockdown and not having much social contact in that time.

In my first year I stayed in halls, which was the best decision I made to help me make friends. Although it was difficult, it was an easy way to meet people, socialise and get my own space away from home. I didn’t stay in a quiet room, even though they were available, to challenge myself to have the ‘uni lifestyle’. It meant I met people that were so different from me, and the accommodation had quiet hours at night-time anyway. At times it was really challenging living in halls – I would sometimes have sensory overloads, have difficulty with routines and struggled with loneliness.

To combat all of this, I was able to find times in the day where my flatmates were most likely not going to be there, and times where they most likely were. I also got a part-time job that helped me create a routine and to take advantage of the on-campus work spaces.

Societies are also a great way of meeting people who are similar to you. After all these years, I wish I had joined one to help me meet people in the beginning. Everyone I knew that was part of a society was always able to meet people like themselves, and make friends a lot easier I found. Loughborough also have a great disability team, where I’ve always seen events on for neurodivergent students to meet each other in low stress and more relaxing environments.

Being in lectures

I remember when I first started classes here, lectures were the scariest part of learning. The idea of a massive classroom full of people with typing keyboards and whispering, was an actual nightmare. The thing that helped the most was wearing earplugs and sitting closer to the front. This meant I was able to concentrate easier without people distracting me in front, and my earplugs would tune out any unwanted noise. I would highly recommend loop earplugs for this – they are actually incredible!

When taking notes, do it your way – this is what I’ve learnt over my time at Loughborough. Using one document for individual modules is so much easier to flip through your information. You could also try using Google Docs (a newfound love of mine) where you can use tabs and separate pages for individual notes and classes under one module. This always helped me to take the stress of going back and finding old lecture notes as they were always in the same place, and I could skim read through it just in case.

It’s going to be difficult

Being at uni and being neurodivergent is difficult, but it doesn’t have to be for everyone. There are struggles we face that neurotypical people don’t even think about.

The most important advice I think I can give to somebody neurodivergent going to uni, is to trust in the people around you. Even though moving away to a different place is scary, you will still have the people back home, they’re only a phone call away. You will also meet so many incredible people at uni – for me, I didn’t find my crowd until halfway through my placement year (3^rd year) and I wouldn’t change a thing.  The people you meet all the way through your 3 or 4-year experience will be there for you, and you will create a beautiful support system.

Don’t be afraid to talk to people and ask for support from your friends, peers, teachers, and family. They all want to see you succeed; I promise. Make the most out of the support at the uni and DSA (Disabled Students Allowance), it changed my life.