Treating every student equally

It Is hard to deal with hidden disabilities when students don't disclose them. As a careers adviser , I deal with the whole spectrum of students, but some are easier to deal with than others. My university is very positive about disability, and we have a large proportion of students that have declared a disability, but the ones that are the most difficult to deal with are the ones with below average social skills, who have not declared a disability. As we host the faculty of Computing on the campus I work at, we joke about the 'nerds and geeks', and the fact that many of them really do seem to be attached by an umbilical cord to their computers, but I now wonder how many of them are perhaps undiagnosed Aspergers Syndrome - as we certainly struggle to get through to them the importance of interpersonal skills, teamworking and self management when they are applying for placements and employment. So this article in the New York Times was really interesting - and I will certainly be more aware when I am teaching employability skills, that perhaps some of my socially inept students are perhaps struggling with an undisclosed disability, and perhaps be able to adapt the teaching to suit.

Students on the Spectrum