Finding an Aspie friendly major when you suck at math

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PhilolovesJ
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22 Oct 2007, 2:14 pm

This has been on my mind for awhile.
Having seen this topic on forums before
It does seem to be that many aspies are happy with math based majors
I am not the best at math and I also don't have a lot of interest in studying engineering or science or math
I like the liberal arts and things that are verbal based.
Having NLD added to the mix I can't do spatial things well at all.
I love history and philosophy (hence my name here) and literature and other more verbal things.
Just wondering if other aspies have done a liberal arts field and liked it and been successful with it.

I'd love to hear some advice on this and maybe get some hope.
Thanks.



Phagocyte
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22 Oct 2007, 3:04 pm

My best friend has Aperger's and is somewhat disinterested in mathematics and science, instead being incredibly gifted in English, film, and history. One of the main features of Asperger's is intense, focused interest. While it is very common that these interests are fact-based scientific fields, that is not always the case. I think you should do what interests you, not what you think you should do based on a generalization.



Triangular_Trees
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22 Oct 2007, 3:52 pm

I find any major to be super easy - its the job afterward thats the problem. Thats part of the reason why I'm considering being a college professor. I guess it would be for a geography or tourism position because thats what my master's is in and so thats what it will be easiest for me to get a doctorate in. Which reminds me I need to find out about taking the GRE (my master's program didn't require it because I had a 4.0 GPA from my undergrad)



Space
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22 Oct 2007, 6:18 pm

I am a political studies major, there's no math in that.



Novinha
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22 Oct 2007, 9:12 pm

I have the same problem. So now I'm an English major, creative writing concentration... and praying to finish and publish something.


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hyperbolic
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22 Oct 2007, 10:48 pm

Problem: it is not as easy to get nice jobs with the liberal arts and social sciences majors than with the science and engineering majors, such as mathematics. This problem also affects people without Asperger's.



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22 Oct 2007, 10:58 pm

hyperbolic wrote:
Problem: it is not as easy to get nice jobs with the liberal arts and social sciences majors than with the science and engineering majors, such as mathematics. This problem also affects people without Asperger's.

True. We are twice screwed in life: we have AS, and suck at math.

Virtually everything involves math now. Even all the trades you need math skills if you want to do the most complex work, because you need to know formulas and how to read blue prints etc.



jread
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27 Oct 2007, 2:37 am

Geography is a good major if you're not good at math. Lots of interesting jobs in the Geographic Information Systems field... I've been in it for 10-years now.



pugfug90
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27 Oct 2007, 9:06 pm

Don't forget Biology

You can be in the zoo or something w/ that



Phagocyte
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27 Oct 2007, 9:10 pm

I used to have a lab partner who was an Aspergian business major. Not terribly mathematical, beyond calculus and statistics, I believe.

From what I've studied on the subject, having Asperger's syndrome puts one at a significant advantage in information absorption of the subject of interest. I don't think that there is a good "aspie major." While I think majors that require, logical, analytical scientific thought like mathematics and physics have an appeal to those that value rigid, factual rigor, the best way to choose a major is simply find something that you're interested in.



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28 Oct 2007, 4:56 am

Phagocyte wrote:
the best way to choose a major is simply find something that you're interested in.

pretty much.



militarybrat
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30 Oct 2007, 3:07 pm

I'm a triple major in Archaeology, Religion, and History. All three of these fall into the humanities section of a liberal arts education. I love my majors and classes and am quite good at them.
Go with a major that interests you whether or not it seems to be an aspie one or not.
It isn't strange at all for an Aspie to prefer verbal based majors over math based ones as most people with Asperger's Syndrome have high verbal IQ's. This goes into brain structure while Autism tends to be marked with a strong right hemesphere and a week left hemisphere, Asperger's Syndrome is largly opposite with a strong left (verbal) and weak right (mechanical-spatial) hemisphere.



surroundfan
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30 Oct 2007, 7:20 pm

I did a double degree with history and economics as my majors. Closer inspection of the economics major reveals a lot of economic history... ;)



Phagocyte
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30 Oct 2007, 8:53 pm

surroundfan wrote:
I did a double degree with history and economics as my majors. Closer inspection of the economics major reveals a lot of economic history... ;)


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JWLuke787
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10 Dec 2007, 2:03 pm

Just you must make sure you become the best at whatever you choose to do in life. If you can do that, the possibilities are endless.



BlackMetalIstKrieg
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16 Dec 2007, 12:07 am

I abhor math, so I do everything else. I switched majors like 5 times as an undergrad, and finally settled on musicology.


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