living in a dorm...

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So living in a dorm is much more confusing than i thought it would be. There are so many different kinds of people and so many different kinds of standards! It's like high school all over again! There are bullies, and people expect you to conform. Anybody feels the same way?

I managed to piss off everybody on my residence hall, room by room. Each time it was for Aspie-related things, but I didn't know I had it at the time. If I had known I think I would have done better. The most important thing is not to alienate your roommate(s). Fortunately mine was as weird as me and was hardly ever in the room.

I hated living in the dorms. It was too noisy and taxing on my senses. I also didn't have any privacy, something that I, and many other Aspies, probably find to be very important. Navigating things socially was hell for me. Heck, I could rarely go down the hall to the loo without experiencing some random and awkward social encounter. I became stressed and depressed to the point where I quit school.

I went to another college a year later, but lived off campus. Having your own place, if it's possible, is much less stressful and enabled me to do much better in school. If this is not possible, it may be better to live at home and go to a college that's near you. Remember the main reason why you're in school is to get an education, not to socialize. Do whatever it takes to change your situation for the better if dorm life is not for you.

My floor had a bunch of people who's major is digital media. So everybody was kinda nerdy. The first night 10 of us watched a movie. Sometimes we would have rockband in the lounge and other stuff, it was really fun. The person who lived across the hall from me put up a sign pretty much saying f*** you to me. I had said I hate you to him (he is super annoying and I was really tired) in front other people. I even went and apologized sincerely. First time i saw the sign I wanted to cry, he didn't understand that i made a mistake

I got along well with the people I shared a dorm with. Because I kept my door shut and rarely spoke to anyone.

One semester, I had a fellow Aspie on my floor. His symptoms were much stronger than mine though, and he became our floor's "village weirdo".

I used to feel bad for not trying to help him, but now I understand that it was probably a good thing.

He was eventually kicked out of campus housing for his violent meltdowns and sexual harassment of the other females.

I do feel very sorry for him though.

Dorm living is hell for people with sensory sensitivities of any kind. Also your first dorm experience is likely to be an all freshmen dorm (depending on your college). And if there's a group of people more thoroughly obnoxious, sociopathic and spineless as a whole than college freshmen, I haven't met them.

I fought to get into a single dorm and that improved my situation greatly, but the experience was still very taxing on my nerves and only served to increase my sensory sensitivity issues. Now that I'm in my own place off campus I'm (magic!) more social and happy then I ever was in a dorm.

It really doesn't make sense that the university is allowed to force you into certain living conditions by threat of denying enrollment.

I never lived in the dorms. To me it has its pros and cons. I did spend a few times in the dorms when a friend was an RA. So she had her own room. There was one time I went to the ladies bathroom and saw a guy in there puking.