r/AskEurope • u/amfoolishness France • 6d ago
Education What european country has the best higher education system for neurodivergents?
I guess you can already answer without reading, I'd rather get your first answers than none at all because you decided it was too long to read ^^' but if you care to, let me explain: I live in France, I'm not French.
TLDR; How are the education systems and culture different? in terms of flexibility, assessment, pedagogy & interactiveness, counselling...
I came to study: I finished my bachelor's in France, completed a Master's program but because of a very shitty internship and tutors, I didn't get my Master's diploma, so I haven't been able to work in that field. I'd like to validate that diploma. However, my experience with French uni (and workplace to be honest) has been... a bit traumatic, it really took a toll on me. Might be culture shock, idk. Very traditional, hierarchical, square... Last year I realized a lot of my difficulties came from actually having ADD, so those 3 adjectives are particularly difficult for me to fit into. I am currently medicated so I have gotten better about things, strategies and stuff, but I don't see myself going back to French uni, going through their crappy pedagogy (lectures, lack of participation... - sorry, i work in uni too now, i see it first hand).
I was wondering about studying somewhere else in the EU, ideally an English course I guess, (I do like learning languages, I speak 3 and am learning a 4th, I just don't know if I'd get to another academic fluency - already in French people say I write the way I speak and while it's correct I indeed am not great with formal syntax). How are the education systems and culture different? Example the Dutch have good studying opportunities but I heard they can be very brutal with feedback. The Germans... scare me a bit? x) with their deal with punctuality and such I'm worried they can also be rigid... Sorry for these examples, I admit I don't know that much about them so it's just impressions and worries that maybe you can help dispel :)
Sorry for the long context question. Thanks for reading.
(optional reading) As a tangent : I have a temporary visa, I hope to get citizenship in like 3-4 years. (Been living here for 11, 6 of which as a student, the rest as a partner, only been married for 2, need to be married for 4-5 to ask for nationality that way, so I'm waiting) My question on this tangent, just in case anyone knows, is if I study somewhere else in Europe, will my visa status allow me to benefit from european uni fees and not be labeled non-EU therefore paying thousands? Or am I right in waiting until I have citizenship.
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u/Tatis_Chief Slovakia 5d ago
Not Slovakia. Because apparently if you are not diagnosed as a kid there is no way you can be autistic or ADHD.