{"id":141543,"date":"2022-06-16T12:03:53","date_gmt":"2022-06-16T10:03:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=141543"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:26:20","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:26:20","slug":"everyone-can-learn-from-people-with-autism-says-audrey-with-autism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2022\/06\/16\/everyone-can-learn-from-people-with-autism-says-audrey-with-autism\/","title":{"rendered":"Everyone can learn from people with autism, says Audrey with autism"},"content":{"rendered":"

Audrey would like a \u2018recovery week\u2019 after exams, for people both with and without autism. Because we\u2019re not so different. Everyone needs to learn how to manage stimuli and stress. And if anyone knows how to do that, people with autism do. \u201cWelcome to my world.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Audrey thinks that all students, autistic or not, could use a 'crash week'.<\/span><\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t

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\n\t\t\u2018Why do we learn to work hard, but not how to mentally recover after all that hard work?\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

\u201cWhy do we learn to work hard, but not how to mentally recover after all that hard work?\u201d Audrey Ng-a-Tham (23) wonders aloud. Meanwhile, she fiddles with a green bean hanging on her key fob. Not a \u2018real\u2019 vegetable, but a kind of toy. She pushes out the peas one by one, after which they pop back into the bean. This movement helps her concentrate. As someone with autism, she works hard to manage stimuli and stress. However, study stress is a new challenge.<\/p>\n

\u2018Breathing space\u2019 is Audrey\u2019s answer when asked how the university could become a better place for students with an impairment. Students need breathing space. \u201cFor example, a recovery week after your exams. I now have lectures the week before the exams, but the new module starts the week after.\u201d Obviously, the university must be challenging, says Audrey, but now students discover their boundaries because they go far beyond them. \u201cYou need to look after yourself first, and then you can perform at your best. That\u2019s something we need to learn, perhaps even back in secondary school.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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Read more<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t