Advice about telling classmates that I have ASD

Post Reply New Topic

Hi everyone
So basically less then a month from now I will be in uni can't believe it my self il be studying health and social care management complicated stuff. But I have a bit of a problem il be in a dorm with other people I've been told that I should tell my dorm/classmates that I have ASD as soon as possible but I don't know how exactly if I do it wrong then il be in a rather sticky situation. Any advice ?
Thanks
Ryan

Perhaps you could ask the person telling you to tell people how to phrase this and when.

If it were me and I wanted to tell people I'd probably mention something I did or was involved with or happened that would be obvious, so it didn't seem so intense.

Roommates/dormmates would probably be good to tell so that they can be accommodating; I'm not sure what the purpose would be in telling classmates, though. For roommates, I'd just try to mention it casually. Like, when there's something you're doing or not doing that's connected to ASD, just mention that as the reason, but in a passing, matter-of-fact way. If you make it a big deal, then they'll make it a big deal; if you don't make it a big deal, then they probably won't, either. Mentioning it could be as simple as heading out to the library to study one day and saying something like "As an Aspie, it's so much easier for me to get work done on the quiet floor than here with chairs scraping the ceiling from the dorm above us." Just something little. If they ask more, tell more; if they don't, then you've made them aware, and you can follow up more later if needed (like when they're doing something that's problematic, you can be like "Ya know, since I'm on the spectrum, I can't deal with this the same way you can...can we compromise?").

Hi
Thanks for the advice hopefully the people I am with are understanding about my Aspergers.

I agree with the other posters.

Telling someone who will be constantly seeing you and interacting with you (a roommate, for example) is important. Telling your classmates is less so.

It's like ripping off a band aid, just do it and don't make a big deal about. I remember when I told my best friend about it, we weren't best friends yet and we were at our house floors daily get together for supper. He was making jokes about ass burgers and I went full throttle and confronted him about how Aspergers was actually a mild form of autism. He got real quiet real quick and asked me who I knew that had it since I was so knowledgeable, just out of general curiosity. I feebly raised my hand and said I did. And that was that, probably the most ballsey thing I've done, telling my whole floor I had ASD after only knowing them for maybe two weeks.

Yeah don't worry about anyone who isn't actually your friend like just a random classmate. If anyone does make a stink about it then they aren't work your time.

Good advice I just got to go for it really

There's a high aspie ratio at my university and I am a NT person studying autism. I would definitely disclose to your roommates as soon as you meet them, say "it's not a big deal" and then immediately give them your own definition of it. Like another poster said, if they make a joke, immediately say that's not cool. It sets the tone and you shouldn't have any problems after that.

In classes, usually people only tell their classmates if it's a small class, like under 10 people. Because in that situation people will be directly talking to you, listening to you, and will notice your mannerisms and mood. Then I'd disclose when you feel like it might matter. In one of my classes, a girl waited until she knew how I was researching autism and what kind of person I was before she said anything, which I thought was smart.

I do a similar thing to the girl I am lucky in the fact that my mum does nural listic programming it covers things like body language mannerisms etc. So it's allowed my to do two things hide my ASD very well I I don't mind saying so my self and also guaging a persons response to my ASD.