visual spatial skills

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My testing has always been, well, odd. My verbal IQ is higher than performance IQ, significantly, and my visual-spatial skills are generally crappy, but I always did well in math. But, those tests that they give you in HS (some kind of military thing) showed me >99th percentile except for visual-spatial, which was a relatively embarrassing 30th. I do have some trouble reading maps, etc, but can do it if I really force myself...I dunno.

~Kate

There is no general "dominant" side of the brain. The functions of the brain are naturally asymmetrical, so that there are often "dominant" sides (i.e., sides with more activity) during a given task, but that varies by task.

However, for generalized language expression and reception, most people have considerably more activity in the left hemisphere when viewed on PET or MRI. But there is activity still in both sides of the brain even then.

There is no single dominance. You have a brain and it makes use of all its cells. It's popular media that has promoted the idea of Right Brain versus Left Brain thinkers.

Short answer: no -- unless you try really hard. More below.



I can only offer what the problem for me was: learning tactics pieces of knowledge without knowing what it's used for was far too boring for me to find exciting. And if it's not exciting, I don't learn it.
So I by read the advanced books cover to cover -- while still being confused about the tactics being assumed. Second, going back to learn those tactics. Finally, reading the advanced books again quickly while skimming the things I already learned. It's taken a while, but I've gotten it.

Example: wanting to solve Navier-Stokes for FEM; picked up the book "Mathematical Theory of Finite Element Methods"; so needed to know PDEs; picked up the "PDEs for Scientists and Engineers"; so needed to know Fourier Transform; picked up the book "The General Theory of Fourier Analysis"; so needed to know ODEs; picked up the book "REA/Problem Solvers Differential Equations"; so needed to know Linear Algebra; picked up the book "Cliffs' Quick Linear Algebra". Went backwards up the chain. Read about 2500 pages in about 18 months & now I'm writing my own BOINC/supercomputing FEM simulations.

If you're like me, I think you'd enjoy independent research more than the standard curricula. Look to see if something like this is available.


If I were you, I'd take the deal. That is an exceedingly rare opportunity in today's world, even in smaller engineering shops. You're unlikely to regret it.
Look, even if you find you don't like what you're doing half way in (which is a possibility since engineering's a tough field), it's still worthwhile to have on you resume. There's few people with graduate-level experience, let alone with graduate-level degrees. My family has multiple chief engineers; if you can perform without being an idiot -- a rarity in the field, I assure you -- they will make exceptions for you.

OK: now to the real question:



To my mind, this is not a problem. I've never had any difficulty separating my passion from my career - hobbies are the real work you do, jobs just pay the bills. I've never been want to find some way to intersect the two.
My recommendation would be to take the offer, finish the degree, then do the engineering by day job and continue studying physics at night/on the side. This is a long-term plan, but if you're like me, it can work out for you.

Then again, honestly, I might be misleading you on this. Just because I've found it easy to work in my own areas of specialty doesn't mean you will. I'm a serious student; I study a minimum of 30 hours a week, averaging 37 over the last 3 years. (I hurt my neck from studying too much, and I have the MRI to prove it.) And I have the skills: 80 percentile or better on all the performance reviews I've ever had. I systematize every minute of every day and rarely alter my schedule. This is incredibly hard work, and this type of commitment might not be for you. (There's a reason that I'm the only never-married guy of all my high school buddies, aspie or not.)
I've noticed that my career recommendations have been as old-school as I have been. What works for me rarely seems to work for the people I talk to, and there's no reason to say that you must be an exception.

If you have the ability to strictly compartmentalize your work life and your hobby life, then being an professional engineer and part-time physicist can work. If you get frustrated by too much working and studying, or ever want to have a varied social life (if that's even possible), then it quite likely won't work.

So, yes... if I were you I'd take the college deal, finish an advanced degree on my own pace, and then start doing physics as a hobby. This is not normally done that way, as it's hard. But it is possible, if you're willing to put in the time and effort.

The psychologist who diagnosed my children said that good visual spatial reasoning skills are not unusual for Aspies. She said one of the criteria for diagnosing Asperger's is an unusual spread in IQ. There will usually be one area that is relatively high and one area that is relatively low.

Eldest son was in the profoundly gifted range for visual spatian reasoning, but is fairly impared for cognitive processing speed. Everything else is pretty well clustered in the average/above average range. His report is filed, but I have the other two handy.

Middle son had superior verbal reasoning scores, very superior perceptual reasoning scores, hitting the 99 percentile frequently. His cognitive processing speed is on the low average side and his working memory is average. Those average scores aren't bad, but they are very low relative to how high his scores are in other areas, which is typical of Asperger's according to our Psychologist.

I'm wondering if these weaknesses don't contribute to his difficulties with social skills. Social stuff happens in real time. If he's not thinking so quickly and having a hard time keeping track of what's going on (working memory) this could explain at least part of why he's so lost socially.

My youngest child's IQ scores were all clustered in the above average range, and is part of her reasoning that he does not have Asperger's, though she initially thought he did have it. On the other hand his WIAT-II scores were extremely high hitting the 99.9 percentile or close to it in several areas. That's a bit of an anomally. With WIAT-II scores like that he should have had a much higher IQ, so maybe later we'll find he is an Aspie after all. He's definitely not typical.