A bit of help here...

Post Reply New Topic

I am considering whether or not should I talk about my Aspergers condition in my college essay. Can anybody give any suggestions if I should do it or not? The reason is because Aspergers presented a weakness for my academics. I understand that you cannot blame the aspergers as an excuse for not achieving so well, but how do I present my average performance at school to make any college believe that I will academically succeed there?

Considering how little people know about Asperger's, you probably can use it as an excuse. You can say there's some delay in cognitive reasoning. You can say your unavoidable focus on your special interests made you deviate from your studies. Actually, these aren't really excuses because they are true with us spectrumites. I probably should be a doctor or lawyer or astronaut by now but I got waylaid by my special interests (music, writing) over which I've had no control.

I don't know. I used it in an application recently, and I think it may not have helped me --- it may have sounded like there was a chance I might not preform as well as I hope to, or perhaps they thought it may not be as pleasant to work with me as it would someone else.
simply, I don't think I'll use in another application.

No, you shouldn't. That could give the impression that you are making excuses.

Are there any other reasons for you average performance? Aspergers syndrom may give disabilities but it may also enhance your skills. That is why you should use it only to explain some of your problems, not all of them.

You shouldn't think how to explain your weaknesses, but rather how to enhance your strengths. The universities are not interested of why you performed badly, they are interested of how you can perform well in the future. You need to show them that you are ready to work hard, learn, achieve and accomplish things. Universities don't want people who live in the past, they want people who will be great in the future.

The academic world rarely cares about disabilities. If you tell them that you have autism, they will most likely treat you the same no matter what. If you want to use Aspergers syndrom, then you need to use that condition to show how you succeeded despite your disability.