College was kind of a waste

Post Reply New Topic

]I went for psychology because I wanted to help kids with autism. Now I was awesome at it but it was extraordinarily stressful because I would basically sit and wait all day until my kids had problem moments.

Now I'm an hydraulics mechanic. Which allows me to be hyper focused and the people I work with are just as weird as me. Only complaint is I make 9 an hour and my college loans are by no means affordable.

Anyone else finding after college working in the "white" collar profession difficult. I'm kicking myself for not using my degree but my disorder keeps me put. College helped me grow but the paint unobtainable goals for most. I can't afford at this point to not get a white collar job because of the debt but what can an aspie do with a degree in psychology.

Sorry if I'm ranting, I'm rather scattered brained when I'm frustrated.

You have a degree? I was going for geology, I loved it with a passion. If I had gotten a job in geology, I would have been in Tokyo, walking the streets, teaching english on the side in the mountains, I would have done anything. But I flunked out. I lost my tuition, and have to go on social security to even get my foot in the ground. If you have a degree in psych, but you are able to work as a hydrolics mechanic? I don't even understand what is keeping you from doing so. If you've conquered all that, you should be perfectly able to do what you want in helping autistic children. I wanted to teach english, and work in a mine in Japan, but no, I can't, because I don't have a degree. You even have kids, what exactly is keeping you from doing this work?

Were you an educational assistant in the classroom? I can imagine that would be tedious. There must be other things you could do with the degree though.


I have a degree in humanities and I was actually thinking of going back to college to take Autism and Behavioural Science. I'm not sure what I would do with it, but I'd love to learn what the current scholarship is.

Is there a particular aspect to psychology that interested you?

First of all college is not a waist, though I think private colleges are because they are over-priced.
It is always a benefit to have the education.

And I don't think that being an Aspie keeps you out of the psychology field, in some ways it might even be a benefit. We look at things from different perspectives.
I've known people who had various disabilities like dyslexia become special education teachers, they can better relate to the children and provide a great role model.

You say you want to help people why not go into Social Work?

I can relate only I don't have a 9 dollar an hour job(I'd love a job) my college degree has gotten me nowhere.

Unfortunately a lot of the upper-level jobs in psychology require a doctorate or masters. But there are still things you can do with a standard bachelors, it may just be more difficult to find them. I understand your frustration all too well though.

I think that the social work suggestion is a good one to look in to, just keep in mind that it is a very stressful job with low pay and little recognition. A few states pay better than others but for the most part it's a really rough job. If you stay as a mechanic, try to get fully licensed and certified and you should be able to make a good deal more money.

I was a TSS. And I understood the kids alot better than most. I needed insurance an unfortunately it was part time. It was hard for me because in most cases I had to push the kids to be more social. I could never bring myself to because I knew how painful it can be. To do what I want I need at least a masters. Which of course will pile in more debt. Guess I've made enough bad decisions in my day to want to take another leap.

I'm not saying college is a waste for everyone but they do charge to much. Maybe if I can find a cheap grad school. Not sure if one of those exist.

I guess latitude with regard to methods of treatment is only granted when you get to a higher level. The program I'm thinking of deals with IBI therapy and I know I would not like to aggressively confront kids and force them to behave unnaturally. I'd love to learn more about it, but you're right, school is so expensive.

You might want to speak with a career counselor who can help guide you first. Assess the skills you have, your interests, your resume, and then see what the best type of work or graduate program might be.

I would suggest researching some of the state colleges in your area and see what they have to offer, public schools are less expensive than private.

I think one problem a lot of us with Asperger’s have is that we tend to take too long over analyzing and overthinking a situation, which distracts from us pursuing what we really want. I know that I procrastinated, I always knew I wanted to teach and now I am getting certified. You have to find your passion and follow it no matter what others say.

[joking]Epic fail.[/joking]

I do think private colleges are a waist of your money. I went to state schools and feel that I received an excellent education, no better or worse than what any private college could offer.

I agree if I could do it again I'd go state. Other people I know are no where near in the debt that private schools have. And they learned the same stuff.

I do over analyze everything I never liked to jump untill Ive went threw every scenario. 5 or 6 or 100 times or so.

Over analyzing has been the hardest obstacle for me to overcome. It is certainly a part of Asperger’s, but I think if you follow your intuition or gut feeling you usually will make the right decisions.