Moya Flynn, Student Support Coordinator at National Autistic Society Scotland (NAS Scotland), discusses their Student Support Service for autistic students in Higher Education. Moya shares how the service developed, how it underwent changes in response to periods of lockdown and how the mentoring service can benefit autistic students.

The NAS Scotland Student Support Service provides specialist mentoring, in-class study assistance and study skills support for autistic students at universities and colleges across Scotland. The highly skilled and experienced Student Specialist Mentors who make up the service focus on individualised, autism-specific support for students accessing higher and further education. The aim is to enable students to realise their full potential within an often-challenging environment. We adopt a person-centred approach, tailoring support to each student’s specific needs and preferences. 

Specialist mentoring is offered on a one-to-one basis and usually takes the form of weekly, one-hour sessions. Our Specialist Mentors support university students (both undergraduate and postgraduate-level) with a range of different issues they may experience throughout the course of their studies. Including:

• academic matters (navigating university and study support)
• helping with social and communication skills
• assisting students in accessing and participating in clubs or societies
• support in developing study and independence skills (such as time management and organisation skills)
• signposting students to other support services within their university 
• assisting with communication with academic and other support staff.

This list, however, does not truly reflect the full role of the mentor, or the relationship which exists between the mentors and the students they support. The format of the mentoring sessions is entirely flexible. Students may prefer sessions which follow a more consistent structure or that are un-structured and adaptable, or a combination of both. Sometimes, the mentoring session just provides a ‘space to talk’ and the focus of this varies widely, from exploring something that has caused anxiety over the preceding week, to chatting about special interests or giving an update on recent social activities. Mentors often meet with a student when they have just arrived at the university as a first year, and they may well remain together until the student graduates four or more years later. 

The support can be accessed in several ways. We have long-standing agreements with several universities and students at these institutions usually access our service through their disability advisers. Even when agreements are not in place, students at any institution can access the NAS Scotland Mentoring Service for support by following the process described immediately below:

• A student can contact their university’s disability service to request support at any point during their studies. (there can be delays due to high volumes of service requests at the beginning of a new academic term).
• When meeting with a Disability Advisor, access to Specialist Student Mentoring may be suggested by the advisor or requested by a student.
• With assistance, a student can apply for Disabled Student Allowance (DSA) to fund the support and any other adjustments, support or equipment required.
• Once the funding is in place, the student is assigned a Mentor, who will arrange for an initial session to take place – some universities might be able to start the support before DSA is awarded, however there may be a delay.

Currently, the service supports over 100 students at seven different institutions mainly in Glasgow and the surrounding area, but also in the East of Scotland, and as far north as Aberdeen. Traditionally, the service only provided face-to-face support. However, during the period of repeated lockdowns due to COVID, our Mentors and students were forced to make the move ‘online’. Although this was a difficult transition for both students and staff members, it became some students’ preference and a positive outcome is that we decided to continue both forms of support. A further positive of online support is that it allowed us to provide this in more remote areas of Scotland where no Mentors are resident. This is something we intend to continue with and build on in future years.

As part of our ongoing evaluation, we ask the students about their experiences of the service at the end of each academic year. Below are just some examples of the feedback our service has received in recent years: 

Working with my NAS Scotland Mentor during my undergraduate degree has been essential to my university experience and well-being. They have consistently given me the utmost support around both my studies and my peer and familial relationships. I hope that NAS Scotland continues to support students such as myself with Mentorship, as I have found it to be an extremely positive experience. 

I've found the NAS Scotland Mentor meetings helpful to talk through and organise my thoughts about life in and beyond university. They've given me a constant throughout university, particularly given the Covid-19 pandemic. I look forward to sharing news or asking advice from a Mentor who cares about me as a student and as a person.

Having a NAS Scotland Mentor during my postgraduate studies has been the most important support I have had. Not only was I well matched with a Mentor with similar experiences and scheduling, I have felt more comfortable in being able to share and ask for advice, knowing I would be understood and listened to. I didn’t know I could access support during my postgraduate studies, but I am so thankful to my mentor for being there. 

The themes which emerge point to the mentoring sessions providing a space for students to talk, and be listened to, in a non-judgemental and empathetic way. They also highlight the holistic, consistent, and long-term nature of the support, that can cover all areas of a student’s life.

We are keen for the support to be available to any autistic student who would benefit from the specialist mentoring (or other forms of support) we offer. We are always open to enquiries and can liaise directly with students or individuals from support services within universities and colleges. If you are interested in finding out more about the service, either as a student or someone who is supporting a student, please get in touch using the details on our website here.

Useful links 

• Disabled Students' Allowance (DSA) - SAAS - Funding (for Scottish students)
• www.gov.uk/disabled-students-allowance-dsa (for English students studying in Scotland)