Studying with asperger syndrome

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Hello everyone,

I was interested if people with asperger syndrome are capable of studying engineering and an university?

I want to be an engineer, but I have no idea if I'm capable of studying it. Are there many aspie types of people studying engineering subjects?

I could never do it, but it is very common. Many people with Asperger's and Autism seem to become engineers, especially with computers.

The only way to know is to try.



From my experience I have learned to not ever say, "I'm not capable", instead I say, "I do not yet know which tools I need to succeed"...and then I go find them.

i cant study to save my life, its boring and requires too much focus, and i retain most lessons on my own, i dont need to study.

I will give you my personal experience and see if this applies to you. I am an electrical engineer myself but I am self taught. I could never learn anything in a classroom because of the way my mind works so going to school for was never an option for me. If the university you are wanting to go to is local in your area or if there is another university that also cover engineering. try just sitting in on a class. that's what I use to do and see if that environment is suited for you. Who know, the university may work perfectly for you. You can also watch a lot of MIT classes video on YouTube as well.

Yes, it's not just possible, it's a reality in my case

I'm a mechanical engineer, graduated in 2007 and since then I'm working in the area. I find some of Asperger's traits (mostly attention to details, logical thinking and focus) are very worthy in this carreer. Of course, the human interaction thing still exists (you might endure several meetings during a single workday, sometimes it triggers meltdowns), but you are valued more by the data provided and calculations done than by what you say or look like...

Are you wondering about the university environment or the curriculum? If the former, take LupaLuna's advice and sit in on a class and watch videotaped class sessions (you can find some on MIT's OpenCourseWare website). If the latter, get an engineering book and try to learn some things from it.

It has been commented that some subjects at the university level have a lot of staff who have AS, things like maths, physics, chemistry and enginnering. If you do well as an undergrad, you can become a postgrad, if you are good at that then you can become a postdoc, then you can try and get an assistant prof post, then associate prof, then full prof status.

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Diagnosed under the DSM5 rules with autism spectrum disorder, under DSM4 psychologist said would have been AS (299.80) but I suspect that I am somewhere between 299.80 and 299.00 (Autism) under DSM4.

From my experience so far, Universities are FULL aspies. Yeah, study skills can be a little hard to learn, at least for some people, but it's incredible the number of college professors who are on the spectrum (although a lot of them probably don't know it, yet, )

For me studying is easy as programming is my main special interest. I can spend hours thinking about various data structures, how they work, what they're good for etc. I have also implemented most of them on my own just to learn more about how they work.

Another think about programming is that when you write some code, trying to do something, and it works it give me a huge boost. Which in turns gives me incentive to do more.

I do, however, struggle a little with it too. I struggle a lot with motivation sometimes. And sometimes I have a hard time understanding what the text is trying to say. Is this common for people with aspergers?

I'm going to be an engineer! I found a university with a really, really good disability program, and if I can get in, it should be much easier than the nightmare that was my previous schooling. I've never had problems with studying (I've actually never needed to study much...), but I had HORRIBLE problems with homework.

I recommend either starting at a community college or finding a "regular" college/university with a really good disability program. Before even thinking about applying anywhere, contact their disability services office and make sure they can give you the accommodations you need. If they can't, run for the hills! Er, I mean, find somewhere else.

I also cannot recommend occupational therapy enough. It might be hard to find someone who treats adults, though. If you have a hard time, start contacting the occupational therapy departments at big hospitals and universities; that's how I found mine. A good OT can help you with all kinds of sensory and self-regulation things.

Good luck!

I'm not an Engineering student (although my dad has a PhD in Civil Engineering), but I study Pharmacology at one of the top universities in the UK and they provided me with a full time support worker from an autism charity. She comes with me to all my lectures, practicals, workshops and tutorials. Without her I wouldn't be able enter the uni at all. I've had meltdowns involving punching dents in walls, head banging, screaming etc at uni but she knows exactly how to calm me down. She also communicates for me with other people as I struggle badly with communication. Full time support workers are difficult to get though.