Josh's results are sinking in

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It's the day after results day and the magnitude of what's happened and how much Josh's life is about to change is beginning to sink in...

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= Video diaries

18/11/2008

Thank you

Year Dot is clearly agreeing with Josh... He's delighted with the responses he's getting from you guys and wants you to know it...
- Get in touch with Josh
05/11/2008

Josh is stressed out

Josh's Asperger Syndrome affects him in different ways... Missing an Ents meeting might not mean much to some but to Josh it's near catastrophic...
- Can you relate to Josh's stress?
29/10/2008

Josh is getting in to the swing of things

Despite finding the move to St Andrews extremely challenging, Josh is finally settling into life at university. Being thrust into halls of residence is difficult for someone with Asperger Syndrome who finds making friends tricky... However, Josh has made a big leap and joined the Ents society...
- How are you settling in at uni?
22/10/2008

The real challenge for Josh starts now

Now that Josh has overcome the stress of moving to St Andrews, he's realised that the hard part is only just beginning for him ...
- Got any words of wisdom for Josh?
15/10/2008

Josh moves to St Andrews, part 3

Josh is now a fully fledged member of the St Andrews student body, having been presented with the distinctive red gown synonymous with student life at the university. He says goodbye to his dad and officially begins his new life. Away from his family and everything he knows, this is his chance to grow as an independent adult...
- Uni fresher? How are you settling in?

Video story
Intro video

Get into St Andrews University
Achieve well in January and June Examinations – on track for 1st/2:1
Make 5 Friends
Look into relevant experience as psychologist
Come off Prozac
Pass Driving Theory and Practical Test
Travel independently to and from St Andrews (if I get in)
Do a talk in Scotland

Last updated: 30/06/2008

I live in Guildford, Surrey, with my Mum, Dad, sister and 2 brothers. We are not what you would call a typical family. Both my brothers have Autism, and I have Aspergers Syndrome, a form of Autism. I was diagnosed when I was 15, and since then I have been giving talks to parents and professionals about living with Autism. I am about to finish my A Levels, and I hope to go to St Andrews University to study Psychology. I suppose I want to go firstly because, as much as I love my family, I feel like I need to break free, start to strike out on my own. I see this as my key transition into adulthood. Secondly because it's my dream to become a clinical psychologist as I have always wanted to help people and I think this is the best way for me to do it.

One of my goals over the next year is to make 5 friends at university. This may sound easy for most people but I am expecting it to be my hardest task. Give me a psychology text book and I will be happy for days, but ask me to go out during fresher's week and make some friends is going to be terrifying for me. I mean, how do you make friends??? Knowing me I will stand like a lemon watching people for an hour wondering what to do and then give up! If anyone has any ideas about how to survive fresher's week or how to make friends at uni please let me know!!!

Last updated: 18/11/2008

My week “off” and an urgent plea

The week off bit.

Last week was Reading week, in which nobody reads and most people go back home. For me, I spent mine working on non-academic work. I wrote a full chapter of my book, which I am pleased about, and then in the wee hours of Monday morning, I began my journey to Belfast. After catching the bus, catching the train, and then catching another bus, I finally arrived at Edinburgh airport. When I got to Belfast, I met with the lady who booked me as a speaker, we had lunch with a few people (who ran the community centre where I would be speaking). After that I had a fascinating tour of Belfast. You see it in the news, you read it in the papers, but you don't get anywhere near the full picture until you see it for yourself.

IAfter a few hours at the hotel, I went back and was shortly on. The crowd were great – I have had crowds where there is no energy, they just sit there and think they will learn something, but this audience were really engaging and excited, which makes it so much easier to get my message across. What was really odd is that they seemed to treat me almost like I was a celebrity. I had photos taken of me with people, several great gifts... (on top of my speakers fee!) and after I had people come up with some really great questions.

The next day I went back home, the day after gave another talk, and the day after that came back up to St Andrews. I spent most of Friday writing and revising, but had Saturday and Sunday off. And then today, I went back to work. And it all came flooding back.

The urgent plea bit

At the moment, I have several problems, and the big ones relate to Biology. In short, I am getting left behind with biology. They say you do not need A level biology to do the course, but unless you have done it (or can spend an extra 5 hours every day catching up on a 1 hour lecture) you don't have a chance. I am going into lectures and understanding less than 50% of what they are saying. This is seriously worrying me as I need to get at least 50% between my final exam and continuous assessment, and I cannot drop below 40% in ether. While I feel my continuous assessment so far has been good, I think it is going to be a tall order to pass my exam at the moment. If anyone feels they can help, has any ideas on how best to revise biology, how best to learn it, knows any good websites or books for biology (my module is titled cell biology and genetics), if you feel you can be of any help, please get in touch – I am getting very worried I won't pass this module. If I don't pass, then I have to do it again over the summer – and I won't have the time or the energy to do that.

Deepest thanks

Josh

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