Autism in Higher Education: An Autistic Student's Experience

This poster presentation explores how being an autistic student can impact experiences in higher education and identifiespractical changes that can better support neurodivergent students. There can be many unintentional disadvantages within university environments for autistic students, including sensoryoverload, unclear expectations and inconsistent communication. These challenges can affect academic performance,confidence, participation in group work and overall wellbeing, often requiring autistic students to expend significant additionalenergy to meet baseline expectations, which over time can contribute to heightened anxiety, burnout and a reduced sense ofbelonging within the university community. This poster draws on lived experience to highlight the gap between formal academic support and the day-to-day reality ofbeing an autistic student at university. While reasonable adjustments may be in place, everyday expectations, social pressuresand fast-paced learning environments can still create significant barriers. By sharing my perspective, this presentation aims toraise awareness of how seemingly small practices can have a lasting impact, and to encourage more consistent, practicalapproaches to inclusive teaching and communication. The poster will outline practical, achievable changes that could reduce these barriers, including clearer and more consistentcommunication, structured guidance within group work and increased staff awareness of neurodiversity. By centring livedexperience, this work contributes to wider conversations about belonging and inclusion and encourages universities to movebeyond reactive support towards more proactive, inclusive design. Autism.pdf Only LJMU staff and students have access to this resource.