Aspergers and College

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This is a question to all people with aspergers who sucessfully got into and completed a four year college. How did you do it?

Aspies face many hurdles even going to college, including organizational/ executive function difficulties, and severe deficits in one academic area that can handicap us getting into a good college.

That being said, it is much more of an achievement for an aspie to do 4 years of college + graduate than any neurotypical.

So sit back and tell us college aspies, howd you do it?

I know that without a lot of help and support from my father, college would have been quite difficult for me.

Well I completed 2 years at college which was the max I could do before uni if that counts? I was in uni briefly as well but dropped out due to not being suited to me at all. But during my time at college I did struggle. I found it difficult to focus during any lectures or carrying out most of the theory work. Its not that I wasn't capable of understanding, I've always found it difficult to force myself to focus on something if it doesn't interest me to a great extent. I was better at the practical side of the work, actually doing the task made it more interesting therefore I took more in as a result. I have pretty bad EFD too, so carrying out the work especially at home was tough as the anxiety of the deadlines and such would sink in, then all I would want to do is avoid it until the last minute.

I also wasn't that great at the social aspect naturally, so never really made any solid friends. Acquaintances yes, friends no. As for how I did it, I carried out all on my own. My diagnosis was disclosed to the college, but no extra help was offered despite my clear struggles. I did pass but with average grades due to these struggles. Which did feel irritating considering some did better than I did that did nothing but goof around half the time.

Well, Asperger's wasn't recognized by US doctors until I was out of college for several years.

I was fortunate to get into the college of my choice and choose a major (in my case, a dual major: American studies and journalism) which played to my AS strengths. I also quickly found a group of like-minded (if not-quite Aspie) friends who tolerated my quirkiness. If not for them, I'd probably be typing this from the inside of an institution.

In retrospect I wish I'd had access to better career guidance; it took me many months after graduation to land my first job, and many years to land a good job.

Simply telling the college you have AS isn't enough, you need to go to the disability office and ask for help.

I havn't finished yet. I started off studying by distance, then gradually got used to being on campus, sorting out accomodations, how to manage sensory overload, focus in lectures etc. I have recently switched to internal study though am really struggling from an organisational and focus perspective. I currently have accomodations for exams and (semi-)individual study space, during lectures I usually listen to music through headphones (while still listening to the lecturer) and often stand at the side/back rather than sit. I'm also working with a neuropsych to manage/figure out strategies for dealing wtih some stuff like sounds merging together making it difficult to understand speach.

The areas I am still struggling:
I could really do with some help from an organisational point of veiw though I am not sure what I need, I'm not managing to plan or structure my study and it's all a bit chaotic at the moment.
I find lectures really too loud.
I am not able to sit still for long enough or focus long enough on study.

Cogs;

I've seen our office give accommodations to allow students to take a break during class and disability people do work with students to help with planning but I've never really seen the class to loud addressed.

Are you able to tell me more about what the disability people can do re:planning?

I'm not expecting them to do anything re:class to loud, that is a sensory issue with me that I need to find a better strategy for working around. I tried some basic earplugs but that made it harder to understand what was being said (already an issue) so I'm thinking of maybe trying to find a medical someone who can suggest better earplugs? Idk, I can't really think of anything else with this one.

How'd I do it? Having a single dorm room and a major I loved.

If that was to me then I've been out of education for a good while now so no longer applies to me. While I was there such a thing wasn't mentioned to me or the services they offered to those with disabilities.

I failed so I don't know...but I am not necessarily disappointed in myself for failing at least I gave it a go.

I've now sorted that, got weekly meetings with an academic support person

It was relatively easy because compared to public school, it was HEAVEN! Not only did nobody once bully me (it wasn't too bad in High School either but bad enough) I didn't have anyone standing over me and wasn't treated like a prison inmate anymore. I did have a major emotional breakdown in year 3 (it was October 2001 so that's the likely reason) but I never missed any time and passed all my courses. I had the usual problem of not being able to focus on something that wasn't my special interest which is why my professors in Astronomy and Geography liked me better than what I went to University for (Business) but overall, University was not too bad. If I had my time back I would have insisted on either taking a year off or going to a Trades school (I was practically forced to attend University by my parents) but it wasn't because I struggled with the environment in general, just I am poorly suited for the corporate world. I realized I was on the wrong path midway through year 4 but it would have been silly to quit at that point, especially when my grades were fine.

There are many support programs as well that can assist with the executive functioning issues, extra tutoring, and all the other things that come up like handling relationships, advocating, budgeting (a huge one), etc. Many college just offer accommodations (if you a.) qualify and b.) pursue them on your own). ISER is a good resource for programs. You can search it online.