Sam finds college and course that meets his neurodivergent needs and allows his creativity to flourish

Sam, 23, is now heading into the third and final year of his course after two previous attempts at degree-level study were curtailed for different reasons.

He completed one term at Cardiff University on an Operating Department Practice course but felt the support for his autism and ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) conditions wasn’t always adequate.

Equally, he also began to doubt whether he was best suited a career as a Surgery Nurse.

Sam went on to enrol on a Natural History and Media course at the University of South Wales, where he completed one year before realising it was the latter subject he was most interested in and wanted to focus on fully.

With his family having moved to North Yorkshire, Sam looked around for an education institution nearby with a course that would both stimulate him and provide an appealing career pathway.

Two years down the line, he is pleased to report that he has found both and now has aspirations of becoming a film director or producer in Germany one day!

Just as importantly, he feels he is learning in an environment that understands his Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

“I do feel supported now,” Sam declared. “I get DSA (Disabled Students’ Allowance), so I get some technology, including a laptop and I applied to the college for additional funding to get certain equipment I need, which was granted. 

“I’ve got the costs of my bus pass covered, too, which is very handy. Film is also a very creative course and that does attract neurodivergent people, so my tutors are very aware, understanding and good at managing that.

“They are all really lovely, super supportive, chatty, cooperative and willing to answer questions. If I need to ask them something more than once, they are happy to answer me. 

“They are also good at giving feedback and letting us know how we can improve and challenging us in ways to boost our grade up and I’ll be doing my very best to get as high a grade as possible. I’ve only ever completed one year of university, so I’m very happy and proud to be going into my third year.”

Earlier in his life, from nine to the age of 18, Sam attended More House boarding school in Surrey, which specialises in providing education for neurodivergent males and where he felt fully supported.

He was accepted into the school following an assessment but never required a formal diagnosis for his autism or ADHD as his fees were funded by The Army dur to his father's job.

That later had an impact, however, on the support he could access at Cardiff University. 

Diagnoses had been received by the time he enrolled at the University of South Wales, but that degree ultimately didn’t meet his needs either.

“I was doing Natural History because it felt like the right qualification,” he explained. “I enjoyed a lot of it, but there were subjects such as Earth Science, where we were learning about rocks and stuff, which I felt wasn’t what I was there for. 

“It also felt a bit like the Media side of the degree was optional – almost like you didn’t have to do it, but that was the thing I was interested in most and really enjoyed. That also showed in my results, which was telling for me, because I now knew Media was what I was good at, so wanted to find a course where I could just focus on that. 

“My family had moved up here, so we looked at what media courses were around. I also had a look at some apprenticeships but, then, found this course.”

That option of studying a university course close to his family home in the Selby village of Bubwith has also been good for Sam’s wellbeing. 

“Living at home has helped,” he confessed. “I’m not as worried about feeding myself or going out, which I can also get stressed about and I found being on my own a lonely experience at times.”

Sam also feels that he is now pursuing a vocational route that is more conducive to his creative, neurodivergent personality.

“I talk to myself as a way to cope, because my mind is very active,” he pointed out. “I’ve not been diagnosed, but I have a very strong indication that I have something called maladaptive daydreaming, where I create very intense daydreams and fantasies in my head to cope with how life is.

“Talking to yourself in a surgery room could be a distraction in an environment where you can’t afford to have distractions, so it wasn’t necessarily that they couldn’t always understand me at Cardiff University. There are just some things in the medical world that you can’t do.”

On the Film course, which is part of our York School of Art provision, all three years of the degree cohorts attend classes together and Sam feels he has also benefitted from a hands-on approach to learning and the independence encouraged by Course Lead Josh Roberts. 

“Going into it, I probably didn’t realise how good this course was and, for me, the big appeal is that it’s very practically orientated, whereas lots of degrees are more theory based,” Sam reasoned. “You can sit down and be lectured every day, but this course is all about doing it, because that’s how you learn. 

“We’re always in class using software and there’s a lot of independent work. Josh never sits down and says this is what you need to learn or this is how you do this or that. 

“It’s all very self-taught but, if there’s a shot or effect you want to do, he’ll advise us to look at how to do it and, then, if there are any questions, we can ask him and he will give you recommendations. That has enabled me to build the skills to become confident that I can now do things myself. 

“As part of the second year, we did a client project, where we worked with someone to make promotional material and lots of people in this industry start in that area. We also do our own big film project and have a promotional module, where we launched our own social media, website and LinkedIn profile – all of which are big things in our industry as well. 

“That helps us to start thinking about what we want to do in the future, too, and it’s all about forging a network that might lead to opportunities.”

Sam believes, meanwhile, that he is now equipped with a skillset that means he will be ready to capitalise on any industry opportunities that come his way.

Click link below to view Sam's Dragon Jewel Productions show reel of his work at college...

“The key skills I have acquired have been creativity, innovation and a decent amount of initiative,” he explained. “My communication is a bit better, too, and I have a deeper understanding of film production. 

“I know a director outside of College who has worked on film sets and, from what he says, producers and directors really like people from this course, because we know how to work on sets. That’s because we spend so much time making stuff, rather than sitting down and writing theory. 

“That’s not to say theory isn’t important, but it’s often something that dominates degree courses. There’s also a kit booking system and that’s great, because it gives us experience and an idea of what we’ll need kit wise after we graduate.

“This course is very oriented towards teaching you the industry and how to navigate it. You are working on a portfolio designed for that industry and I think, 100%, that the course is preparing me for a career in the industry far better than any course there is out there.”

Away from College, Sam has performed voiceover work and also enjoys acting, which has led to a contact that could result in an opening in the film profession.  

“I was acting in a pantomime that was directed by somebody who had been an Assistant Director for a couple of episodes of Emmerdale and he said that he would pass on my reference to the current director of Emmerdale,” Sam revealed.

On his aspirations post-graduation, meanwhile, he said: “I’m very much leaning towards directing or producing because I like taking the lead creatively and I have ideas that I want to put on screen.

“I do enjoy the editing and writing and, while I don’t think I’d have done the course if it was solely focussed on those areas, I want to develop enough of an understanding of them so that I know what those jobs entail and can communicate better with the people who do them.

“After graduating, I’ll be seeing if I can get a job in this industry. I’ll be looking to develop my brand and seeing who wants what made.

“I also have ambitions. I’d like to work on a set and grow my opportunities by developing pitch decks and coming up with ideas for short films and I’m thinking of looking at Germany possibly.

“I’d maybe need to enrol on a German course first because, if I’m going over there, I’ll need to speak the language, but I’ve lived in Germany several times. My best friend is over there, too, and there’s a good community of people that I know.

“It would be a new adventure. It’s ambitious, but I can be a bit of an ambitious individual, which can be a positive or negative, depending on the ambition!” 

To learn more about our BA (Hons) Film Production & Professional Practice course, click here

Sam's Dragon Jewel Productions website can be found here

You can check out his YouTube channel here, his Instagram page here and his LinkedIn profile here

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