"Confessing" AS to a prof

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In theory, maybe. Not in reality. The public school district I attended for k-12 forced me to drop IEP and all accommodations if I wanted to be in the gifted program or take advanced classes. A flagrant violation of the ADA, yes, but that's the way it was and I couldn't do anything about it. Also, it's up to the individual university to determine if you qualify for services, and they can make you jump through enough bureaucratic loopholes that it's the same as denying service in some cases. Or they can simply assess that you do not actually need accommodations. They get to interpret your test results and all the rest.


No it isn't. Where the hell are you getting this?


Or because you asked for them and were denied.T


No, you definitely need more than that. You usually need a full battery of psycheducational evaluations. Also, my uni requires that documentation be resubmitted every semester, and that documentation for psychological disabilities (which is where they class AS) be current from within the past 6 months.

Isn't confessing AS to a university faculty like confessing homosexuality to the navy?

Not at all. For one, they won't kick you out. Universities (especially top-tier technical universities) have among the highest rates of ASD in the world. It's probably best just to wait until after you're accepted to tell them, though...

Exactly.

My point was, university faculties are full of aspies, just like the navy is full of homosexuals.

I was not aware of that stereotype about the Navy.

What other type of guy can stand to be stuck on a ship or submarine full of men only for months on end?

I did it with all my professors and there has been no negative fallout. In fact, I am now able to take my tests in the testing center where it's quiet and I can concentrate, which makes a huge difference in my test scores.

One of the professors actually has an aspie himself and apparently didn't guess I was on the spectrum until I said something. We all present differently.

They *have* to accomodate you. It's the LAW. Go to the school counselor and see if you can get in touch with the resources for disabled students there. At mine, which is hardly progressive or liberal, students with ADHD or dyslexia, central auditory processing disorder, etc, all get accomodation and cannot be discriminated against. There should be a department that deals solely with disabilities at your college. Sneak over there and talk to them.

Sorry, I just read your other posts. I think you need an advocate, though how or where, I'm not sure. Voc rehab may in fact be a good place to start, or perhaps a letter from a lawyer would do the trick.

One of the first things I do is look over the syllabus and try to see which aspects of the class might bring out an expression of AS that could prove potential problematic .

Example: An introduction to arts course required that I attend a performance of "Drummers of West Africa." As I have severe auditory processing difficulty/ sensitivity, this would not bode well for me if allowed to stand.

After that I decide which traits will be most important to bring up to the prof. in my appointment to talk to them. This also helps me decide on a concrete specific accommodation should they ask, "what can I do to help?" I'm not sure why but it makes some people feel better when they they're doing something...But I digress.

Finally, since my expression of Asperger's is very subtle I wait a few class periods before I tell them. That way when they see me, they will already know I'm a capable person. Although someone with a more noticeable traits may want to notify the professor as soon as possible.

[rant] My uni's testing center has #$*&ing analog clocks that make loud ticking noises. For my chem final they put me in a tiny little individual room with one of those things right over my head. It drove me insane. I was on the verge of taking the thing off the wall and removing its batteries.[/rant]
Still, it is in many ways better than the alternative. When I took one of my chem exams with the rest of the class, one of the TAs stood literally breathing down my neck. Again, I had to restrain myself to avoid physically removing the source of annoyance...

The ones who are touting disability departments as some sort of oasis of understanding must not have had contact with them. I've been dealing with them for the past seven years and they do not give a s**t about anything outside their bread and butter, which is primarily physical disabilities and dyslexia. If I were to list the ignorant comments and dealings I have had with them and the professors in general, it would take up several pages. Academia is no friend to Asperger's. Not that I really care at this point as the saying "Those who can't do, teach" has been vividly illustrated for me.

I think it must vary between colleges. I do deal with the one at my college and they've treated me very well.

I'm one of the lucky ones because my mom fought hard for me to get my spec ed benefits, and now I don't have to worry if I get overwhelmed or need extra time on anything.
I feel for everybody here though, as I would probably be failing (though mind you, my standard of failing is under 70%, and even that's starting to change) if I didn't have my accommodations.

I've told teachers of mine of my Autism, and the ones who don't already know are rather shocked (because I'm pretty high functioning), but they're willing to accommodate me. I haven't had a situation yet where they haven't, but I know to tell my mom if that ever happens (you don't WANT to ever mess with my mom...*shutters*)

That's true--And by by area. It would be interesting to see where in terms of geography these responses come from.