Am I the only Psychology major in this site?
Hi, I'm studying Psychology too. I find the variation within it appeals to me - I enjoy the cognitive and biological side, but also the more subjective approaches like discusive and phenomenological psychology make a lot of sense to me. People have been surprised by my choice of subjects - A level Maths, Biology, Chemistry, then decided to do A level English at college, then did a degree in English, a masters degree in Scriptwritng for TV and Film, then a couple of years ago decided to study psychology. I guess I just like studying!
I have a BA with a major in Psychology.
As it happens I am also good at mathematics, but I am interested in history and languages and literature and psychology and sociology ....
An interesting question: are (male) Aspies who like the humanities and social sciences also better at "faking" neurotypical behaviour than Aspies who prefer engineering or physics? Just as female Aspies are supposed to be better at masking their social interaction difficulties than male Aspies, I wonder if male Aspies who are drawn to humanities and social sciences also mask their social interaction better than other male Aspies. I sometimes feel like I have half the qualities of male Aspies and half the qualities of female Aspies (except in sexual orientation I am hetero, not bi). Mind you, in my teen years I was very interested in physics.
Yes, interesting question. I should have a bit of data on that from my thesis, but only from NTs (and probably a couple of undiagnosed Aspies). It might not tell me much but I'll have a look at it tomorrow and see what I come up with! I asked participants what they studied, and wrote some questions trying to measure ability to "mask" social interaction difficulties.
I'm just about to finish a Psychology class but mainly because it's a prerequisite for my course.
Not sure what I think of it or if I could work in that field. I do have this odd nature that attracts people who like to dump their problems on me.
I sort of contemplate the idea of being some kind of mediator. I feel like the methodical patience and listening to both sides some solution can be found to most problems. However, I also can imagine myself dealing with people that are so irrational they're hopeless.
If I had the time I could see attempting some kind of volunteer counseling but I doubt I could do it professionally.
Well I am a 2nd year uni student but 1st year in Bachelor of Arts: Psychology and Social Science. I also do Teaching bachelor which i want to major in English and minor in Maths..
I am only just starting out as our university here in Australia just went back for Semester 1.
Its a really enjoyable course which i am finding i am able to apply my learnings to conversations in every day life.
I also find that its another interesting conversational piece to talk about with my NT friends who are doing degrees such as Nursing which invole some of the basic sciences that make up the basic founding sciences of Psychology.
Kjas
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I work in Psych now (so obviously majored in it). It can be very emotionally draining for me to work in this field, but that just means that I need to pay a lot of attention to my own needs (particularly outside of work) and give myself the support I need.
Whether or not your degree is worth it is really up to you. It depends how much responsibility you are willing to take for yourself, your AS and your degree. Potentially you could make a big difference, particularly if you decide later down the track to specialise in AS. You can understand those with AS the way an NT never could. Like anything in life, this is going to be what you make of it.
"An interesting question: are (male) Aspies who like the humanities and social sciences also better at "faking" neurotypical behaviour than Aspies who prefer engineering or physics? Just as female Aspies are supposed to be better at masking their social interaction difficulties than male Aspies, I wonder if male Aspies who are drawn to humanities and social sciences also mask their social interaction better than other male Aspies. I sometimes feel like I have half the qualities of male Aspies and half the qualities of female Aspies (except in sexual orientation I am hetero, not bi). Mind you, in my teen years I was very interested in physics."
I am a female with AS who majored in Psych and studied social interactions from quite a young age in order to understand them. People do not know I am Aspie, they treat me like an NT but if they spend too much time with me or around me (this means years, btw) they notice I am eccentric but none of them have ever caught on to the fact that I'm different. Unless they live with me. I think what you're interested in and what you study does have a big impact, like you I have half and half qualities and manage to blend too well most of the time. I imagine most males in your position could learn to blend reasonably well, although if people are close to you or spending lots of time around you, they will likely notice something.
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Diagnostic Tools and Resources for Women with AS: http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt211004.html
Whether or not your degree is worth it is really up to you. It depends how much responsibility you are willing to take for yourself, your AS and your degree. Potentially you could make a big difference, particularly if you decide later down the track to specialise in AS. You can understand those with AS the way an NT never could. Like anything in life, this is going to be what you make of it.
"An interesting question: are (male) Aspies who like the humanities and social sciences also better at "faking" neurotypical behaviour than Aspies who prefer engineering or physics? Just as female Aspies are supposed to be better at masking their social interaction difficulties than male Aspies, I wonder if male Aspies who are drawn to humanities and social sciences also mask their social interaction better than other male Aspies. I sometimes feel like I have half the qualities of male Aspies and half the qualities of female Aspies (except in sexual orientation I am hetero, not bi). Mind you, in my teen years I was very interested in physics."
I am a female with AS who majored in Psych and studied social interactions from quite a young age in order to understand them. People do not know I am Aspie, they treat me like an NT but if they spend too much time with me or around me (this means years, btw) they notice I am eccentric but none of them have ever caught on to the fact that I'm different. Unless they live with me. I think what you're interested in and what you study does have a big impact, like you I have half and half qualities and manage to blend too well most of the time. I imagine most males in your position could learn to blend reasonably well, although if people are close to you or spending lots of time around you, they will likely notice something.
Im very much a 'classic aspie' and like the sort of person who does maths or science (think Wittgenstein) but I still like doing psychology, only ever get marks 60-80% though, I did a life science diploma and got 80- 98% on my essays so wished I had done science instead lol. I dont think doing psychology helped me blend better but a lot of that is to do with arrogance I think, when I did my degree I did not know I had aspergers and I can remember in the essay on body language fiercely arguing against it and saying they were wrong and people did not use body language lol. Im doing discourse analysis now for my MSc and its very eye opening for me as its all about what language people use to mean things such as the way they phraze something indicates a refusal without saying it directly, it shows up to me how things would go so wrong for aspies but it doesnt help me get it right as I just cant see the stuff myself (such as tone or body language).
Kjas
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Of course, it won't help you blend better under the following circumstances;
- you are unaware or in denial that you have a difference in the way you approach social interactions
- you did not study social situations when you were younger or before your degree a bit obsessively because you knew you were missing something
- you are not overtly self aware, especially regarding your social skills
I think if anyone did a degree or had done a degree in with a major in Pysch under those circumstances, you probably wouldn't get all that you could out of it. I was not diagnosed either when I did my degree, but I certainly did get a lot of out it because observing and analysing culture, social interactions and relationships of every kind were one of my obsessions growing up.
If you grew up obsessing about it and tried to teach yourself all you could about it then it's probably not a waste of time (in other words, you liked the academic and personal side of it). If you just like the academic side of it, then I'm sure you'll do well but I doubt you will get everything that you can out of it in your personal life.
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Diagnostic Tools and Resources for Women with AS: http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt211004.html
Sweetleaf
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I'm a psych major.
I think it's a great fit with autism because autistics often consciously analyze stuff that NTs know intuitively. Plus you'd do great in autism research due to personal insight. And anyone with a different perspective from the norm has an increased chance of seeing what others have missed.
I'm a psychology major, but I'm still doing my general ed. I took intro to psych last fall and I'm taking abnormal psych right now. I loved intro and abnormal psych is just as fascinating. I can't wait for more psych classes. My ultimate goal is to get a doctorate (a long ways to go), although I'm not 100% sure what psych field I want to get into yet.
P.S. I'm terrible at math also.
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