i am having trouble with college professors

Post Reply New Topic

hello, i am from the United States and was wondering how do i tell my professors i have aspergers, how do i m ake it so that they understand why i am different and why i ask question so that i can understand the assigments?
By The Way i am studying photography for my major

You contact your university's office of disability services and find out the proper method for alerting your professors first. It may be that they need to do the notification for you.

i've done that already, but i dont think they realize what aspergers is and how it affects my learning and sensory issues

"They" meaning the professors, or "they" meaning the folks in the office of disability services?

i have already talked to the disabilities coordinator, it's the professors who i don't think understand what aspergers is and how it affects me

Have you seen your professors at their office hours? Can you help them understand?

Exactly what issues are you having in your classes? Is there a professor who is refusing basic accommodations as required by the Office of Disability Services? Please be specific. It's hard to give general advice in these situations.

@PSChristmas i am having trouble with understanding the directions for some of my photography projects and am also having some sensory issues such as the other students in my class talking non stop and i've moved to the front and the same people are still talking, i don't think the professor even knows of aspergers...

@sharpteeth
i attempted to talk to one of my professors/advisor this morning but i dont think he really understood the problem because i was having some anxiety, i hope i can talk to him after registration for classes today

You may need to sit down with the photography professor, at least. Don't try to explain everything about AS; too much information will just get in his way. Professors are busy people, although they really do want to help you. Write down exactly what the problem is with the instructions you are being given and have a solution to the problem ready to give to him when he asks what kind of accommodations you need. For instance, are the instructions being given verbally or in writing? If they are being delivered to the class verbally, it would not be unreasonable to ask that he -- or, rather, his TA -- type a handout for the class for each assignment. This would likely be of benefit to the entire class.

If the instructions are already delivered in written form, but are in paragraphs, try sitting down at your computer and re-typing them on your own with each sentence as a bullet point. If you still have trouble understanding them, take them to the professor during his office hours and ask him for guidance. Don't, however, just drop them on his desk and say, "I don't understand any of this." It will be interpreted as being aggressive and troublesome, even if you honestly feel completely overwhelmed. Try to have specific questions about the things you don't understand.

There's not much that can be done about the noise level in the classroom, especially if it is a lab class where people are working on their projects. Some people learn best by interacting with others in this kind of environment, so you can't ask them to stop doing that. However, you can politely explain to your professor that you sometimes have trouble hearing during class. (This may be another good argument for the written instructions for projects.)

I hope this helps.