Autism | Childhood | Mental Health | Late Diagnosis | Life Story

Autistic Without Knowing: The College Years

Life when I was at college in 1980s, with no support for autism and ADHD

Some of my college work, and my old train timetable. Photo taken by the author, Autistic Widower.

I went through mainstream school and college in the 70s and 80s without knowing I was autistic — which means I had no support of any kind.

In this article, I want to focus on 1984–1986, when I was 16–18 years old. (Here in the UK, those are the college years, immediately after leaving high school.)

At the end, I list some of the music I remember from those years.

Further Education

Although my parents were not especially well-off from a financial point of view, it didn’t matter to me. They didn’t own a car, but we still managed to have a one-week holiday every year, which was almost always self-catering. When I was younger, days out tended to involve parks and packed lunches.

My high school maths teacher strongly encouraged me to do A-levels and a university degree. But I told my family that I wanted to do something more practical and a little less academic.

One reason was that I didn’t want to be a financial burden on my parents for any longer than…