Higher Education

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Just wondering what, if any, higher education anyother of you guys have attended any form of higher education and what problems you found? i have, twice if im being honest. I went to the university of nottingham to study history last year, however i got thrown out after poor attendance and was also reported for leaving lectures half way through as, even tho i loved what i was learning, i couldnt concentrate for 2 hours with no break whatsoever... i also hated the fact i had to do sub-siduary modules (modules that arnt your major subject) i did not care about these therefore i never went, as this was not what i wanted to study, failed all 4 modules of these... i also hated seminars (group discussions) i hated talking infront of people and hated having to comment on other ppls talks, especially when a group of 8 peers were watching you... in the end i left by mutual consent after admiting i didnt want to be there, then question came up 'well do u think you should be here?' and my answer was no. This year i have began a degree in Music Production and i love every second of it, however its hard because alot of the work is group work and i need to listen to everyone elses ideas when i really dont want to, howveer im learning and im getting btter. also i can play guitar all day everyday and say its revision...

whats everyone else up to/done before and what problems did u encounter and what have u learnt?

i just finished highschool a semester early, so im off right now. i rem while in school, during a lab in chem (i didnt do labs in any science. they where only 10% of the final mark, i was happy w/ a 90%) the teacher asked me what i was going to study in university because i do not work w/ ppl; implying i would have to in university. i said "math" thinking i would just have to go for the first day to see what i gotta know, then for the exam. but if its not really like that, than i dunno
also i was worried about how i will get my weed if i go away for university, i wont know any1...

I'm at Uni down in sunny Bath at the moment and finding it a slightly mixed bag.

On the upside it's pleasant to be around people who generally share my somewhat overactive interest in rivers and to be living with four people who don't find me all that difficult.

On the downside, however, I find almost every other aspect of Uni life somewhat difficult to endure. I have yet to find any other Aspies there so in general I tend to keep myself to myself, which for a lot of the time suits me down to the ground, but it does get a little lonely.

But I know that I need a degree to get a foot on my chosen career (Environment Agency) so I guess i'll just have to stick it out, and thankfully thats something i'm not too bad at.

I finished High school, could have got a partical scholarship to a few different universities, but things where "complicated" at home, so I went to a two year college instead.

It was an environmental tech program. I loved every second of it, although I took a break between the two years to persue "something else". I was actually told by the program co ordinator that I was the "only person" she would give a recommendation to from my graduating class.

Dispite all this, and the fack I had a lot of grades in the high 90's, I could not handle the stress, and had to drop a couple courses. I have never picked them back up, dispite trying to several times. I just can't "get back into it". So, after thousands of dollars, and a near heartattack in stress, I have nothing to show for it.

I also had a hard time with the "social end" of the program. I was always on the fringes, looking in. I just did not "fit" with the other students and built no real relationships. considering we did a lot of "in the field" work, and had to drive there, and I did not have a car, I was left in a lurch a lot of the time. That felt pretty awful.

I think that if anyone with AS is considering Post Secondary options, they need to first choose a program they are interested in, and then schedual a meeting with a rep for the program. Find out what the requirements are like, get course outlines if possible, (not just a brief list of courses, or those 1 paragraph blurbs in course calandars). Ask questions like "how much group work is done" and find out if it is possible to drop a couple courses each term and graduate a year late. The stress of being in post secondary can be very intense, you need down time, and since many aspies have LD's too, the workload can be a back breaker.

Also contact the special ed of the college / university and see what accomidations they can make for you.

I've been going to school for 9 years and I don't have a degree yet. (I finally will in another year though, yay!)

I went to college for five years and got a BS in computer graphics. It took me so long because I couldn't decide what to study after I realized I didn't want to study what I had originally majored in. College was not a fun time for me and I hated every roommate I had. My sensory issues made classes really hard to deal with because it was nearly impossible to avoid people chomping gum.

Unfortunately computer graphics was a bad choice for me because I've had trouble in my jobs since graduating 7 years ago. My perfectionism makes it really hard for me to work fast, which is what they've always cared about. It's always quantity instead of quality and I just can't deal with that. And I've always had to work in teams, which is hell for me because of my social issues.

So I'll be paying off my student loans forever and I don't even want to work in the industry that I got my degree in. I haven't worked in quite awhile because I just don't know what I can do that won't make me miserable.

Anyway, just make sure you've chosen to study something that you'll want to stick with.

It took me fives years of working full time and school part-time to get an Associates degree, though I will eventually go back and continue. I excel at school and the classroom setting and can soak up information like a sponge always spitting it back at them just as they want. However, it was harder applying it the workplace because of all the unwritten rules and situations you aren't prepared for that either aren't or can't be taught to you in school. And the social aspects of things with other coworkers and then later for me as a manager with qutie a few employees were very frustrating, confusing and incredibly exhausting and stressful to figure out! I felt like they were always playing games with me..

I got a Bachelor's degree. On the good side, the professors didn't get into my business like high school teachers, and they didn't criticize my quietness. On the down side, my classmates petitioned to get me kicked out because I never did social stuff with them. The dean told them to grow up.

I've trained myself to be a work-aholic, so I never missed class. Kind of OCD about being there and being on time.

boots

I've nearly finished my first year at university, doing History
My main problems have been with concentrating in lectures, I make sure I get in early and sit in the same seat at the back in the corner now. It's noises behind me that distract me the most.
I'm doing my exams in a different room, with 10 minute breaks and someone to clarify which questions I'm supposed to do, which will help as I've failed things I should have done well on before for doing the wrong question.

I have attended college where I obtained a Bachelor's degree and grad school where I completed a MLIS degree. My biggest problems in school were taking notes from lectures. I really struggled with trying to figure out what was the important stuff to write down and also trying to write everything quickly enough to keep up with the lecture. This caused me a great deal of anxiety. I just thought I was a lousy student. Although I did manage to eek through and graduate I believe that had I recieved some accomdations I would have probably learned more and had a higher GPA. I was not diagnosed with AS until aproxomately 1 month before I graduated, but if I had known I would have asked for a note taker (a student paid by the university to take class notes and provide copies to me) and permission to use a tape recorder to record lectures. I'm not sure what if any accomadations would have been helpful on tests, I really tend to struggle with essay questions, I also have a great deal of difficulty with term papers.
The other area of school I really stuggled with was have no friends in grad school. None of my classmates lived in the dorms (most commuted, many were married or working) and I didn't make any friends in my dorm. So I never had anyone to eat with. Thus I spent most of my meals eating wshile reading a book, which didn't really bother me but I took the book mainly because I fear that others would see me sitting alone and think I was a freindless freak! I figured if I was reading a book they would think I was doing research and working through dinner.
Roommates are also hard for me to deal with, I need plenty of space and alone time to unwind. I found it best to get a private room and just not have that problem.

I have a Master's Degree in English. I also have an Associate's of Occupational Science in Legal Office Systems from my local business college.

Same here. Have a BS in nursing which I regret now because the jobs are so hard for me. I decided last year to get a master's, on the basis that people were saying that academia was a great sanctuary for aspies. Hah. I've posted a lot about this, so forgive me if you've read all this before.

Academic politics suck. Fellow students suck. I'm stuck in the same boat with student loans now, and don't know what to do, either.

BA and MA in English. I also hated the other classes. I took all my classes for my major, quit for two years and went to Italy, came back and finished. Then, I took my Master's. Much better. You don't have to take those other classes.

I had excellent grades in school and had a scholarship to some liberal arts college out of state. It was too much for me to try and do that though so I didn't bother. I went to a community college for a little while and was so bored that I decided to go to work on my own instead. I think it is great that people can get some accomodations in college now - and also that there isn't this huge stigma about having something like AS. I didn't know about AS back then, but I had OCD and depression and I figured I would have had some sort of nervous breakdown shortly after starting school just because of all the strangeness.

I never had friends in college but still did well with the classes. I use to socially loathe public school, but it didn't bother me as much not having friends there at college cuz I just went part-time at night just for class times and wasn't at the college at other social times.

I did the whole thing, lived in the dorm, went out with the crowd, and met my best Aspie friend and my NT husband there.