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| What is college like for Aspies? |
| Hard and Horrible |
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33% |
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60% |
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| Easy Peasy and a total blast |
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6% |
[ 3 ] |
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| Total Votes : 45 |
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LindsayLew
Emu Egg
Joined: Nov 20, 2008
Posts: 7
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 Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 9:28 am Post subject: College Aspies: What is it like? |
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I'm really freaking out about college, i dont want to go and my mom says she isnt going to make me, she said everyone takes a different road and mine might not involve college because of my aspergers.
I wanted to get a few points of view on the subject of college from aspies who are in college or didnt go. what is college like? Is it harder being an Aspie in college?
I might add my two career choices dont require a degree.
Acting and Writing
Anyone have any comments on the whole college thing?
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zer0netgain
Phoenix
Joined: Mar 03, 2009
Posts: 1350
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| Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 11:37 am Post subject: |
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Depends on you.
I enjoyed it, but I like learning and found a few things I was good at.
I had only a couple of friends and didn't fit in socially. |
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EnglishInvader
Deinonychus
Joined: Sep 15, 2009
Age: 28
Posts: 311
Location: Hertfordshire, UK
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| Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 11:58 am Post subject: |
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You should make sure that you are ready for university. It's a lot of responsibility for an Aspie and it soon becomes a nightmare if you can't live up to it.
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LindsayLew
Emu Egg
Joined: Nov 20, 2008
Posts: 7
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| Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 12:14 pm Post subject: |
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I dont think i can handle it, i'd either be overly social and lose friends that way or not social enough and lose friends that way. i'm good at academics but i'd want to be social so badly i'd lose it academicly. and i hate change i dont think i could handle the change of going to college.
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sgrannel
Dr. Strangelove
Joined: Feb 21, 2008
Posts: 1160
Location: The Bland Corporation
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| Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 2:13 pm Post subject: |
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The whole frat boy and sorostitute, scream your head off like an idiot thing that you see on ads for "girls gone wild"? That was never me. What are your expectations? Yes, my undergraduate days were interesting and punctuated with occasional social gatherings, but things really started coming together when the physics department discovered me. However, for the most part I haven't kept in touch with other students, although one of these days I might go back and visit some of my professors. I never did get into the partying, and even in class I had trouble with relating to the other students. Even as a graduate student I think people disliked me because of my lack of drive to go partying instead of working on my stuff. It's like there's a whole dimension of experience that I don't have, or for whatever reason I don't see much value in it. I also had trouble with writing courses because everything seemed forced, like the content of assignments wasn't really coming from me.
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Last edited by sgrannel on Tue Oct 06, 2009 5:15 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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LindsayLew
Emu Egg
Joined: Nov 20, 2008
Posts: 7
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| Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 2:36 pm Post subject: |
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thats my fear is that it'll all be pretty much for nothing. I wont be able to act socially and I wont be able to have the experience i've always wanted to have at college, i'm just not there yet. and i dont know if i ever will be. i want to be an actress or an author i dont need a degree for that.
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kissmyarrrtichoke
Sea Gull
Joined: Apr 12, 2009
Posts: 215
Location: Oxford
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| Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 2:45 pm Post subject: |
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I'm finding it really tough and am proud to have lasted 2 weeks however I am determined to complete my 3 year course. I keep losing things, including my driving licence and debit card (have £5 to last me several days) and have trashed my room twice because of it. Also have a £13 phone bill for ringing my mum in panics. However the disability support are really good 
Everyone else seems to be having a blast but all I really wanna do is stay in my room. I feel I'm wasting my uni life really but best years of your life? Whatever! is my opinion at the present. I only know my 6 flatmates, only really see 2 of them and they wanna go clubbing but I can;'t go with them cos I hate it. All freshers activities are parties 
I'm sure there are others out there who know what I mean, but university I'm sure is a good idea in the long run. I'm here for the degree, not the parties, but that seems to be as much of the uni experience as the work.
You never know maybe your uni life would be different, easier, but never cross it off your list. Perhaps try and give it a go
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LindsayLew
Emu Egg
Joined: Nov 20, 2008
Posts: 7
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| Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 2:52 pm Post subject: |
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maybe the thing is i cant take the SAT's so i cant go to any college that isnt community and the only one i know of is in austin and i would be placed in a program for disabled kids. i may be an aspie but i dont want to be labled disabled. i'm proud to scream from the rooftops I HAVE ASPERGER SYNDROME!!!!!!!!!!!!!! but i dont want to be called disabled. and thats what going to college will mean for me. at least thats part of it.
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kissmyarrrtichoke
Sea Gull
Joined: Apr 12, 2009
Posts: 215
Location: Oxford
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| Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 2:56 pm Post subject: |
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Not necessarily. You could enrol with the diability support and they will giveyou the help you need, but nobody needs know of your problems if you don't wanna tell them. I've told 2 flatmates (1 had dyslexia and we got talking about disability allowance) and 1 teacher (cos he asked if anyone needs any extra help) nobody else knows. I've mentioned going to disability support to 1 or 2 but move on quick so they don't ask. And if you're proud like you seem to be, tell people! It's you and there's nothing they can do to change that! You can't help it, it's just the way you're programmed and it means you behave a little different sometimes, that's all.
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deadeyexx
Velociraptor
Joined: Sep 11, 2007
Age: 28
Posts: 434
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| Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 3:09 pm Post subject: |
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| It's easy. Just hitch a ride, have fun, & don't worry about fitting in. You'll eventually find a group or activity you like & stick to it. The only thing you should take seriously is your studies. |
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PlatedDrake
Velociraptor
Joined: Aug 26, 2009
Age: 29
Posts: 468
Location: Piedmont Region, NC, USA
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| Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 3:15 pm Post subject: |
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Lemme see here, i was in college for a total of five and a half years (2 different locales, 3 majors attempted, 2 degrees achieved). Community college was actually good, and it seemed like a good transition between high school to a mainstream college. A mainstream college felt no different (the Fraternity bit didnt really exist to me since it didnt seem necessary) . . . course my AS tendencies left me appearing a bit boring to others (all i did was classwork, study, part time job, and the occasional visit to the mall). Nothing really interested me, and it was to the point that my roommates thought there was something wrong with me . . . course they also thought i was 35 years old when i was 21. However, after 2 years attempting a 4 year degree at an undergraduate college, i got depressed and due to personal and financial situations dropped out (course making a D in Physics III didnt help much . . . the class being about the basic principles of a nuclear reactor/reaction). I may one day get a Bachelors in something else (Math maybe), but for now money is tight, job is low pay, and sanity is going.  However, i did get 2 Associate Degrees from the community college (helped some, but the job hunt wasnt much easier).
All i can say is college isnt for everyone, but a community college can be just as good to either get your feet wet, or whet your appetite for more. |
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LindsayLew
Emu Egg
Joined: Nov 20, 2008
Posts: 7
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| Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 3:53 pm Post subject: |
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idk i think its the change more than anything else... i really dont like change.... the aspie in me I'm just worried because i know i wont fit in and thats why i want to go to college is to fit in and have a blast but i know i cant do that i'm just not there yet
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sgrannel
Dr. Strangelove
Joined: Feb 21, 2008
Posts: 1160
Location: The Bland Corporation
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| Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 5:18 pm Post subject: |
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| LindsayLew wrote: | | thats my fear is that it'll all be pretty much for nothing. I wont be able to act socially and I wont be able to have the experience i've always wanted to have at college, i'm just not there yet. and i dont know if i ever will be. i want to be an actress or an author i dont need a degree for that. |
You're assuming that if you can't act socially, then it must be all for nothing. If that's true, then everything must be all for nothing everywhere you go if you can't act socially. For some of us, the demands of acting socially are preferably a very small part of the overall experience, but degrees still lead to worthwhile things.
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LindsayLew
Emu Egg
Joined: Nov 20, 2008
Posts: 7
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| Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 5:29 pm Post subject: |
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i can act social when the time calls i just cant do it 24/7 and i cant do it in college all the time i'll crash eventually
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Rhapsody
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker
Joined: Sep 04, 2009
Posts: 57
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| Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 11:20 pm Post subject: |
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| LindsayLew wrote: | | i can act social when the time calls i just cant do it 24/7 and i cant do it in college all the time i'll crash eventually |
That's the problem I have with college. It's terribly overwhelming because there are so many people. Most of them are really nice and awesome and all but still, sheer volume is staggering. Plus everyone else seems to be able to hang out with each other 24/7 and still manage to somehow sleep and get to classes. I have no idea how that works and half the time I end up feeling left out. But it doesn't really matter because my classes are more important than my social life. The only friends worth keeping are those who understand I have to go to class anyway.
Really though, college is a great thing. You get to focus on what you are obsessed with and you get a degree for it. And you really need a degree to get a good job anymore, even if your careers of choice don't 'require' a degree, it still puts you leagues ahead of the others who don't have one.
The setting change isn't that big, especially if you commute, and even if you don't it's not so bad. I've been living in the dorms for a month and I'm already dreading going back home for the weekend (first time in a month) because it'll be a change. The academics are virtually the same as high school, only with better, more focused classes, and the social structure is completely different but in a good way. I dunno how to explain it, it just is. And like someone else already said disability services are very useful people.
Why can't you take the SAT's? If it's disability related you can get accommodations on them. I did and it really helped my scores. |
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