Colleges for People with Aspergers

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Does anyone have a list of colleges or know anyone that has had great success at certain colleges for people with Asperger's? I am looking at Arizona State and University of Kansas at the moment.

I tried larger colleges but found success at a small Baptist school. I really would not recommend anything over 1000 students for AS people, but then others may differ. At my college, I get very personal attention and people are understanding and forgiving if I have a screaming fit. It is a wonderful experience!

G

What were the differences that you noticed between attending a large university and the small baptist colleges. You mentioned that they were more accepting of your behaviors. Why else do you like the small size? I would like something small but want the academic resources. I picked those colleges because they possessed the academic resources. I am a science major.

Thanks

At the large university, people were not so forgiving, and I even felt like I was on the verge of being bullied, just like when younger. Also, the students were much more savvy and they engaged in a lot of things somebody as naive as I was at the time had best stay away from, for my own safety. The teachers simply did not care. Some classes had 300 students which is anxiety producing for me. Most classes at my college have 10-12 students, and some have only 3. Overall, the environment is much better here and I wish I'd never gone to the 20,000 student monster I did before. I least I did not live on campus - that is all that saved me. I was a natural-born victim back then. G

Coming from someone with an ASD this may sound surprising, but I could only visualize myself at large colleges. As a sophomore at one of the nation's largest universities, I am very satisfied with my educational environment. I don't want to generalize because there are many ASD people who excel at small colleges and can't contemplate attending a large university, but in my situation, a large university has proven to be the best fit. I have some obscure interests (but who doesn't here? ) and smaller colleges--at least the ones I visited--didn't have unusual classes like advanced Korean literature or Medieval orchestral practicums. Many small colleges can't offer the diversity of majors and courses available at large universities because of a smaller staff, so this is something to take into consideration if a wide array of course options is important to you. This also pertains to clubs: my gigantic university has essentially every club you could ever want, so I find it exciting that so many individuals share my interests.

I tend to be a loner, and while I've made many friends at college, I am not the sort of person who likes to be around familiar faces all the time. I like my privacy. One of the most nerve-wracking parts of attending a small high school for me was being around the same individuals all day--if I didn't like the people in my English class, too bad, because they would probably be in bio as well! Oddly, I few more confident around strangers, so I like the anonymity afforded by a large university. There's less speaking in class, everyone isn't looking at you all the time like they would be in a discussion circle of 12 students, but I have still found that my professors are typically accessible.

If you have any other questions about what it's like to be at a large university, let me know. I hope you find the size that is the best for you!

Coralie--

I am the same way I think. However, I like participating in small seminars and large classes alike as well as having one on one conversations with my professors. I just found out recently that I have ASD which explains a lot. I am graduating this year from a University and did not have a great experience even though it was small and private.

I am deciding whether or not I should complete another bachelors degree (for other reasons) or just complete the courses that I need to move up to a masters.

How do you process information? I'm trying to find an optimal way to process and retain information. My mother says most is just work ethic and although she is right, I feel as though I am missing something else.

If you pursue a second Bachelor's, what area are you thinking of studying? I am sort of in a similar situation. For my area of graduate study, I have the option of either a). completing pre-req's in grad school b). enrolling in a special pre-req second Bachelor's program or c). staying around at my current university to complete pre-req's. I think I am opting for c). since I am fortunate to be receiving a scholarship at my current university, but that could mean that I'd have to stop pursuing my original Bachelor's (my passion!) in favor of this new practical program. To be fair, I am really excited for the grad program, provided I gain admittance, but the prospect of giving up my less practical special interest degree is saddening

In terms of information processing, my most effective strategy is "pre-studying." It took me a long time to discover this trick, and in high school, I didn't do as well as I could have because I had no idea what the teacher was talking about and didn't take notes fast enough to receive pivotal facts, thus, my studying would be based on a fragmented idea of the teacher's lesson. Basically, I refer to the professor's syllabus, and if she is covering "Irregular Future-Tense Verbs'" I read those chapters once, if not twice, BEFORE class; rather than being taught by her lecture, I use the lecture as review. Basically, I aim for mastering the material as much as possible prior to the lecture. I have a poor auditory attention span, so this ensures that if I zone out when she is talking about the pre-fix of blahblahblah verb, I still understand what she is referring to because I have studied the chapter independently. I have found this technique works especially well with cumulative, skills-oriented classes (foreign languages, computer science, etc.), which I struggled in most because of the sequential presentation of information. Now if I get lost when a professor is presenting a conjugation, I can think back to my studying at home and regain my bearings, whereas in high school, I would have had no idea what to do because I would be completely confused! Before, I would be completely lost, too lost to ask questions, but now that I take the time to understand the information prior to class, even if I zone out I can still ask for clarification because of my prior knowledge. My retention and grades have improved as a result, and I find that I am ahead rather than behind.

I also think that it is helpful to explain the information to someone else (or yourself) orally. It can be easy to look at a math problem and say "yeah, I know that" or skim over a chapter on Catholicism during the Renaissance and think "yep, all seems like common sense," until you have an exam and start to panic. I have made this mistake many times. When I explain a concept out loud (without the textbook) I force myself to make sure that I understand every detail, since you can never know what the professor will put on tests!

I'd personally recommend trying to go to a smaller college for social issues. I've been to both (1 with ~40,000 students and another with around 10,000) and the smaller one was much more personable and it was much easier to make friends and meet people. Kind of goes contrary to what you'd expect, you'd think it would be easier at a larger school since there's so many more people! But I find at the smaller one, since there aren't that many people, everyone makes an effort to get to know everyone else, and tries to be friendly to them. Whereas at the larger one, people just did their own thing and didn't really care about anyone else.

Now in terms of coursework and all I don't think it really matters. As long as whatever school you go to is accredited in your field, they'll likely be pretty similar.

Coralie- I am thinking of studying either Molecular Biology/Genetics or Biology. Thanks for the information. This seemed to work before but then I would wonder what the point of going to lecture would be unless material was covered that was not in the book (happened so far about 20% of the time).

I am coming out with a history degree (not special interest). The school with my interest was very competitive and I switched majors. But the history major has helped me see what else I could do with my special interest (human genetics) to make it more practical and applicable and it has helped me to be able to write better.

I couldn't really figure out what your special interest was but I'm thinking its in the humanities. Is there anything else that you are interested in? See if you can figure out a way to apply your special interest to a more practical field. I am taking a class now that is aiming to do that.

Stargazer- Thank you for the information. I have started to give up on the social issues. I simply don't understand NT's although I am trying.

BTW (for you both)- do you think that the support groups advertised on college xpress for colleges very friendly or friendly for people with asperger's are effective in terms of providing both academic and social accommodations or did you go to a school not on the list?

All of you are a great support group.

I've found both the universities I attended were great. Sure, not all the professors have been accepting of me, but it's way better than K-12.