An autistic student has told how the amazing support she received while studying at the University of Huddersfield set her on the road to a successful career.

Megan Horner, who graduated this year with a 1:1 in Film Studies, was supported every step of the way while at the university.

Megan was diagnosed with autism at 17 and, while studying at Huddersfield New College, she heard how the university helps students to make adjustments around their learning, work and social life.

Now working as an activities co-ordinator for The Wilberforce Trust, which provides supported independent living for people with visual and hearing impairments, Megan says that the “amazing” level of help she had from day one at Huddersfield played a huge part in the next stage of her career.

Megan received support on her first day on campus from the university’s Disability Services team and never looked back.

Megan recalled: “Huddersfield does this really amazing thing called a disability induction day, and now they do a separate autistic students induction day.

“I was a year or two ahead of the specific autism one but I went to the disability induction day and it was amazing.

“I got there a little bit late and I was really worried and stressed about that but the support team were fantastic with me.

“They sat me down, they got me a hot drink, they calmed me down a bit and then it was talking to the people that provide support. That included people from the support teams and the Students’ Union and meeting my disability advisor.

“The induction day was just so informative. One of the main reasons I chose Huddersfield was because I’d heard from college how fantastic the disability and, specifically, the autism support was and that first day proved it.

“You do not have to attend the autism or disability induction day but I was so glad I did because it went so well.”

Disability advisors help students devise a Personal Learning Support Plan (PLSP) that is shared with teachers and course staff to clarify and explain requirements specific to each student.

“It explains how my autism affects me and how I may I need an extension,” said Megan. “That was amazing for me and I think it’s one of the major contributing factors on why I enjoyed university so much.

“When deadlines come up, I can feel so stressed about them that I don’t even want to start and then it gets to a point where it’s way too late. Whereas with those extensions in place, I was able to do the work to the best of my ability.”

The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic helped Megan change direction while at Huddersfield New College.

“Because of the pandemic, I did a lot of self-directed study which meant I could push myself a lot more,” she said.

“I’d kind of decided by that point that I was going to give university a try but I’d been diagnosed with autism at 17 after years of struggle in secondary school.

“The support that I had in my second year of college, and the support that I’d heard that Huddersfield gave, really pushed me to apply to Huddersfield.

“It also meant that because I was local, I could commute in for my first year to figure out what was going on and if I liked it.”