Why shouldn’t I be autistic and a student?

BBC News
Sean Coughlan
Education correspondent
27 April 2018

Getting into university is a challenge, but imagine if you’d also been told you shouldn’t even be in mainstream education.

Hannah Khan, a high-achieving first year student at the University of Bath, has had to battle against other people’s preconceptions about her autism.

“I worry that there are a lot of autistic people who are scared of university, who get pushed down a route they don’t want to go down,” she says.

Hannah says being autistic at university can be “very tough” – but she is keenly aware that many autistic people don’t even get the chance and are consigned to low achievement and low expectations.

The university says that fewer than one in six autistic adults are in full-time jobs – and even those who have work can be stuck in roles that are far below their ability.