Telling your teacher you have AS

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I am about to start a degree course this September. Do you think it would be a good idea to tell each of the lecturers personally that I have AS? If so, what would be the best way of conveying this information as they are unlikely to know anything about the so-called "condition". I am anxious that they will listen but inside their heads they will simply label me a freak. In the past I have been mistreated by teachers in educational establishements -- it seemed to me that they had a scornful attitude towards me.

If each of the lecturers took the time to tell you they were NT,dyslexic,dyspraxic,AS,OCD,schizophrenic would it make that much difference to you?
Would you treat each one differently?

Sorry, I didn't mean to come across as rude.

I just meant they must have every student telling them all sorts of things thats all. It must be a lot for them to keep up with.

I personally wouldnt mention it. Why do you think it is neccessary?

save it... keep it in your pocket til the day you miss an important class, or screw up a test and need a retest, or get a less than satisfactory grade on an assignment... then you can say, Oh, I have AS, aren't you supposed to make provisions for people with disabilities?

I wouldn't say anything unless you start to have problems related to it.
Their reaction could be one or more of the following -

'so what',
'just an excuse for poor work/behaviour',
'wierdo',
'okay I will make allowances'
'great an autistic savant, I shall expect them to be automatically brilliant'

which one would you prefer .....

Because in the past I have been misunderstood by teachers so many times -- I now realise it was because of my AS.

I wouldn't mention it either. I finished my degree just fine, with no problems at all, without even knowing that I was an Aspie at the time. Looking back, I can now identify a number of other Aspies in my classes, including a few lecturers.

I wouldn't bother mentioning it to any prospective employers in the future either. Just practice hard at camouflaging, and use your Aspie abilities to your best advantage.

*Shrug*

I think it's a good idea if the teacher wants you to interact/participate during the lectures (some colleges grade you by how well you interact/participate in addition to the usual stuff).

I cannot interact at all and I receive special allowances for such (the government makes them give me said allowances).

Too many variables to say. I don't know the teachers, course, content, examination format, class format. It depends both on whether you believe the teachers will make allowances for you or treat you badly (that, I expect, may well depend more on the institution than the individual - places with good anti-discrimination policies will likely have teachers more willing to make accommodations), or whether what you're studying will even be negatively impacted by your condition. Some things might be, some things not.

As a former university professor, all the universities I'd worked at required students with disabilities to tell the office of disability services and for that office to tell the professors. If a professor wasn't officially advised in advance, it was not only not required, but not allowed to make any accommodation for a disability that either the student told the professor about personally, or that they didn't tell them about until after problems came up.

If you were in my class, if you told me in advance I'd work with you, but if you took jrknothead's advice, I'd assume you were lying to me.

If you've been diagnosed you'll probably have to tel them when you enroll. But if not I think it's best to tell them anyway. I started a degree just less than a year ago and wasn't diagnosed till this January. But my mum informed my head of year before I started and told him I was awaiting a diagnosis. They were a lot more helpful than my high school would have been I think. I hated most of my teachers there but the lecturers at university treat you better in my experience. I think it's best to inform them about it.
Even if they don't directly seem to do much to help you, your tutors/lecturers will at least be aware of it and take this into account when giving you feedback on your work or explaining what you're supposed to be doing.

I actually do tell my teachers. The learning disability counsellor can do nothing for me, but teachers often seem to be very anxious at my college so far to hear things from a different perspective, and are often interested in what I have to say about other issues. I have been pulled aside and told it has been a pleasure to have me in the class because the other students tend to have the same answers for everything every semester, lol.

At the same time, a lot of the teachers like to be able to help students with stress type issues. When I'm stimming a LOT, they always ask me what is wrong and I cannot explain it. They generally give me a list of ways in an attempt to help, but they don't fully realize that those ways will help me. I also often get frustrated with those same teachers due to it, but I have to remind myself they are being very open-minded and are very interested all around.

Best example was my Orientation to College teacher. One morning I had 3 meltdowns before class-there was no way I was going in at that point. I e-mailed and explained and his response was "today the class talked for 2 hours about stress management (might have been useful to you)". I was kind of ticked off that he put his personal opinion in quotes like that, but upon looking at the homework assignment, I had an awesome opportunity to explain it all. The question was "What stresses you out and how do you cope?" A one paragraph answer quickly turned into a 3 page explanation. When I got my paper back, on the top it said "Well thought out answer/explanation! Excellent response!" He never tried to use that one with me again, lol, and seemed to listen better thereafter.

It is nice for them to know, because if they do and I am given a question based on personal experience or an opinion question, if there is a limitation as to why I cannot fully relate to what is being asked, or if I cannot put myself in another's shoes (i.e. if the question is "how would you feel in this situation?"), I can use it and talk about all of the reasons it is impossible to tell how I would react or feel, and in knowing, they welcome it rather than lecturing me that I am not applying myself enough or whatever they might say.

I just go up the first day if they seem approachable, or if I feel it is something they might need to know to understand why I respond to things the way that I do, and I tell them a little about it, and what I might specifically have trouble doing in their class if they ask. My reading teacher promptly ditched only having essay questions in which I'd have to be able to put myself in other's shoes. She had options so that I could choose to write about personal experience instead.

Seeing as I take courses that are attempting to obliterate the whole notion of mental illness and any scientific knowledge on the human mind in general (which is only limiting and wrong), my teachers would be like "there are no excuses, stop messing around."

If I ever do something with my life (musically) I am going to get diagnosed to show that autistic people can pretty much do what they want. Since I plan to start my own record label one day, I think it would be neat.

dosh,If I were you, I'd wait and see if the teachers say anything, then tell them after class. You don't want them forming opinions about you before they get to know you.