Do autistic/aspie people generally do well in education?

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That happened to me at work. I was good at the well defined job, so they game me a junior management position where I had to deal with people and chaos, I am currently off work with stress. (Along with every other person who has worked there over the last year, I should add.)

But I would question the concept of maturity and controlling one's actions. NTs cannot control their actions, that's why they create social groups to control their actions for them. And the current model of society is based on theft. I don't think conforming to that society is mature. There are other ways to be immature and lack self control of course, and conformity is often the least worst way of acting, but it is hardly a goal to aspire to.

i was put in special ed in middle school

At primary school and the first couple of years at secondary, I was always one of the top couple of pupils in the class. After that, I was still probably in the top 15%, but no longer one of the high flyers. Similar to y-pod, I got picked on by a teacher for uneven abilities. I'm a very slow reader and found it impossible to read a book in a fortnight, along with all my other homework. My Mum told the teacher about my difficulties with this and asked for me to be excused, but was refused. From then on, the teacher took a dislike to me and humiliated me in front of the class. But, I got a 2 (equivalent to a B+/A-), for 'O' Grade English, so my slow reading wasn't really such a big problem. I did well enough overall to go to university and got a degree. My problem 13yrs+ came from the fact that I have an inability to study (unless I'm really interested in the subject) and a tendency to procrastinate. In the earlier years, there was no need to study; I just took in everything in class and that was enough.

Those things are usually rational. In my case at least. Looking back the areas where I procrastinated are areas where I knew I would always struggle, so why waste valuable time? I got more benefit from watching TV than from failing in an area where I would always fail. But the areas where I work long hours are areas where I know I can do better than anyone else.

Procrastination is only a sin if we live by other people's rules.

I've always been successful with my education - only scored badly on group projects, interaction with other students etc.

Uni was great - got to specialise and picked up scholarships and awards. The worst part was the people.

Now its repeating in my job - doing really really well, failing in the people interaction.

I enjoyed the academic side of uni too. I especially liked the mornings, as that's when the lectures were and very little interaction was needed - just sit, listen, watch and take notes. But, in the afternoons, we had labs. I hated that as there was so much working with others and I felt like a complete idiot most of the time. I completed my degree then left prior to the honours year, as we were going to be doing lots of group presentations, working on projects and there was a weekend fieldtrip which filled me with dread. My degree is actually worth nothing.

The same happened in my job too. I was an admin assistant for 11 years and given quite advanced things to do, which no-one else was capable of (designing databases, etc) and was excellent at these. I'm seen as a 'nice' person, but that doesn't always work when you're a supervisor or dealing with management, or having to ask a social worker to take on yet another case. Since I left to have my baby, almost 6 years ago, their supervisors have been assigning cases. Maybe I should have spoken up and said that this wasn't on, but I know I would have been told to just get on with it. I was taken advantage of and lost loads of sleep over it.

I procrastinate about getting up in the morning, getting dressed, etc.

For most people that is the whole purpose of life: they go to work so they can take it easy at weekends, they save for their retirement so that one day they can stay in bed when they want. Sounds like you are living the dream.

I didn't do well before the diagnosis.

I have a high IQ, but the IQ's practicability in and influence on academics can be overshadowed. My academic performance in school was influenced by a number of factors relevant to my ASD such as:

A. sensory issues such as artificial lights and human noises of classmates and teachers
B. changes in routines in and outside of classes, including having to change rooms, changes in seating arrangements, spontaneous changes of the timetable
C. social interaction outside of class, having to join "social time" (=break) after each class, getting bullied
D. social interaction in class, having to work together as well as debate socially appropriately with classmates
E. social interaction in class and grading, having to make a "smart", "sympathetic" and "professor-ish" impression on teachers
F. difficulties to verbally answer unexpected prompts I otherwise knew exactly how to answer, temporary absence of speech (when overwhelmed)
G. being overwhelmed, having to do all of the above at the same time
to sum it up: being an autistic person in a generally autism-unfriendly environment was a key point

I also have ADHD. Untreated ADHD symptoms had an equally pronounced effect on my achievements in school.

I've done somewhat well so far, though I've yet to see all my GCSE results. They may tell me otherwise. I think if I hadn't had to have put up with so much classroom disruption, I would have done a lot better.

The problem is I'm a wife and mum to a 5yr old. My daughter and I slept in until 9.40 this morning (unusual for her as she's usually up when Daddy's radio alarm goes off at 7.20). She goes back to school on Wednesday, so I'll have no option but to get up. I'm really quite a responsible parent (or so it appears) and she's never late for school, or anything else for that matter. Pre-child and when I worked part-time for a while, I was known to lie in until 4pm.

Sounds like a wonderful life. Don't let the school system destroy your spirit!

You have to jump through their hoops to get their jobs of course. But the best education of all (and the best way to develop life skills) is to know your Mum loves you.

So far, so good, but she's just starting P2. She has undiagnosed but probable AS, according to her speech & language therapist. She's on a 2 year waiting list for assessment with GGHB. Fortunately (or unfortunately) her traits are fairly obvious and have been recognised (by myself initially) at such a young age. I've devoted the past few years to trying to figure her out and we're finally getting somewhere, with the school's help. I must add that my daughter's amazing and the positives far outweigh any negatives.

I think at least one person mentioned that there's going to be a wide variety amongst people on the spectrum and I have to agree with them. Some people excel academically, some people don't. When I was doing a social work placement at a high school, there were some Aspie students who were very bright and were doing very well academically [although they had issues socially], while other kids on the spectrum struggled academically for a variety of reasons [i.e. different information processing; one student required an Aide because he processed information slower than his peers. Lovely kid and not intellectually impaired.].

In school, I was generally an okay student and I leaned more towards the humanities. I think during grade 7, in terms of English, I was leaps and bounds ahead of the rest of the class. During high school I was in the higher classes and did a bit of work in an educational enrichment class [bit boring].

At university, a combination of mental health issues, poor study habits and a general, "WTF should I study?" meant I skipped across a heap of attempted majors during my undergrad. I'm doing a Juris Doctor now and with maturity and mental health issues under control, I hope to do okay.

My IQ is 135/140, so I do pretty well in school, especially is science.
The only subject I don't "get" is english, because all of the metaphors and similes and meanings confuse me.
For example:

A pig is not like a day, and most people dont jump when their joyful.