College Life for Aspies?

Post Reply New Topic

I responded to maddogtitan's thread, College Scholarships for Students with AS. Mich responded to my comments. I instantly went off topic (my apologizes for doing so!), so I figure I take it from where Mich and I (after maddog's intial post):

In addition, I don't have any where to get to a college if I really was able and willing to go.

Last edited by Tom_FL_MA on 21 Jul 2004, 7:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I think that many Aspies choose to go to college for a number of reasons. One of them is that they feel that it is a logical next step for them, especially since most have above average intelligence. Our society is also partly to blame, and college is routinely promoted as being the most effective way to earn more money. That accounts for the relatively high rate of freshman dropping out at colleges across the nation (I think it is something like 40%). I will be starting at Georgia Tech in the fall, and am really rather excited about it. This is partly because I am very well prepared for college. I have already gotten a few courses out of the way at the community college with a 4.0 in each and am accustomed to general dorm/college life. I spent seven weeks last summer in a precollege program at the University of Florida, which I found extremely helpful. I think that there may have at least two undiagnosed Aspies in it with me.

Tyson, that isn't my point. Sure aspies choose to go to college for a number of reasons, like all the NT individuals that apply,
are accepeted and go.

I am saying as someone with Asperger's Syndrome, I socially and emotionally am not able to actually persue a college career.

I would assume you agree with this aspect of the issue, despite you yourself and others on with the condition able to go through it.

When I first started out looking for colleges, I knew what my major was going to be. I was also looking for a good LD program. And of course how many people attended the college. Those were my criteria. I don't know why I wanted to go to college, I just felt that I should attend, which was fine for me. Anyways, I looked at 5 and only applied to three (which I got into all three). So right now, I attend the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh. This university has 11,000 students, which isn't bad. There is a good LD program and of course it has my major. My major right now is Special Education, which wouldn't be bad for me. I never had any college experience until the summer right before college began. That summer, the LD program hosts their annual summer school where you stay in the dorms for about 4 weeks, get used to the college experience, get a few courses out of the way. That was a really good way for me to get used to college life. That fall semester was a whole new situation. I started off real good, but some time in October, I decided that I didn't go to class anymore. That was my mistake. First of all, I knew that I could do the work, I just didn't feel like doing the work. Another thing that didn't go so well for me during my first semester was the fact that my first roommate decided after three weeks(the time when you can decide to get a new roommate if the two of you aren't doing so well together) that she just couldn't cooperate with me. So I decided to move out. I didn't really want to because I didn't like the idea of moving all my stuff out. But I did. So my first semester in college wasn't great at all. Then I got back on my feet during the second semester, and it turned out that I really enjoyed my classes that I had and I really had a better time. I was really happy. Anyways, don't do what I did the first semester, but college wasn't all that bad once I got going.

I don't know if I have asperger's or not, but I think I might. I am currently attending college. It's a small art school with only about 2,000 students. I was extremely anxious about leaving home for school, and I had a very difficult time adjusting to pretty much everything there- the city, not knowing my way around, not having my parents do certain things for me, going to class all day long (we had class from 8 am to 5 pm excluding lunch breaks during freshman year), meeting new people, living with a b*tch for a roommate, dealing with all the charcoal and bad light in the buildings, the workload, the noise, etc.

Despite all this, I was able to adjust. I still have difficulty dealing with noise levels as well as the chemical smell that permeates the building I attend classes in, and I can only seem to socialize within a very limited group of people. I still have a hard time approaching my teachers, but have been able to work through this by using email for important issues. The rest of it has pretty much become routine (except that now I have my own room, which is both a neccessity and a blessing). I don't know if I would do so well at a "normal" university with more typical students, and a much larger, crowded campus. I'm lucky to be surrounded by "weird" people, and we all have an excuse- we're artists!

My point is this- yes, asperger's syndrome may cause problems, but there are ways around it sometimes. Maybe if you are able to find a small school it would be easier for you. Especially if there is one close to home, so that you don't have to live away in a dormatory or an apartment. Or, you could see if there is any way you could do home courses of some sort.

One of the great things about Georgia Tech is that it has a relatively small size for a public university (less than 15,000) and has an excellent reputation. There is a notable population of Aspies there too, as it is comprised of mainly engineering students. In Florida, I would definitely recommend the New College of Florida in Sarasota, though it is difficult to get accepted there. The student population is under 1,000 and is public. It is a liberal arts college, but it does offer a program in environmental studies. The only problem that I would have with it is that the student body is very liberal, but the professors are supposed to be really good and the overall student happiness is very high.

Thanks for the information, but as I mentioned there is no way of me even attempting at going to college with my living situation and location.

I can still always start online course, as I said, however, again... what good is that?

Before I graduated high school, I sat in on a few of my brother's and sister's college classes, it was interesting, but it's nothing like enrolling in a college to earn a degree.

Hey Tom. Have you ever thought about preparing some kind of general form email that you could send off to lots and lots of meteorologists. Telling them about your interest in meteorology, your condition and limitations. I am sure that you could find hundreds of direct email addresses to TV Weathermen (and women). Perhaps one of them already knows your path. If all else fails there might be a way for you to slip into and out of a small community college without being excessively bothered. Don't give up. Perhaps broadening your interest of meteorology may help find alternative solutions. I know you like math so maybe Astronomy or Astrophysics could be an option. Private pursuit of these fields may be more practical if you cannot overcome your limitations.

I did correspond with a few meteorologists a few years ago, back when I first got internet access. Some I mentioned my situation and others I did not.

I understand why I am not able to pursue what I would like to do, depsite other's with Asperger's going forward in their lives. Along with this, my "main reason." Two different things along with this reason are living near a college that offers meteorology and not having one nearby.

I started college but had to drop out of two different schools. Both schools were small (the first 1,000 students, the second 2,000 students) and in fairly rural areas (especially the first). I was a straight A student (3.978 gpa), won awards, secretary of the anthropology club, member of the chess and games club, anime club, a tutor at the middle school, and a peer tutor at the college's writing resource center. I had friends and my teachers loved me.

I loved the first semester and slowly fell into a very severe, suicidal depression. I was *severely* overloaded. It had little to do with class and not as much to do with extracurriculars as one might think. I was upset with my friends and knew I couldn't really relate to them. I hated criticism. I couldn't handle the cafeteria or other places with a lot of people (sensory issues). Although my grades didn't slip, I started sleeping a lot to avoid public meltdowns (and had meltdowns in my dorm room), I stopped seeing friends, stopped eating in public, etc. I couldn't handle it. I had the same problem in high school and ended up having to be homeschooled (except for science and art classes) for my last two years (again, straight A's, awards, good relationships with peers and teachers).

I tried another college and immediately went back into breakdown-mode, despite no extracurriculars and dropping classes so I was taking a more normal class load (4 courses). I couldn't talk and I was suicidal (again). I can't work for similar reasons. I get overloaded very easily, and I've switched between disassociation and meltdown/shutdown my entire life. When I'm in breakdown-mode I appear psychotic, because of my strange mood swings, sensory problems, and language difficulties.

College is great for many on the spectrum, but it's too overloading me. I'm having difficulty just taking one, easy summer class right now. Medications didn't help, expose most certainly didn't help, it's just something I have to live with. Eventually I might be able to improve my exposure anxiety, but at the moment I'm pretty limited in what I can handle.