highly educated? and Aspergers?

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I don't think the intent of this thread was to look down, bash, or put anyone on a pedestal, or even have anything specific to do with intelligence. I think it is merely to see how many were able to "overcome" their struggles, and finish up a degree.

I have met very intelligent people that were not able to, nor willing to complete school, and also the flip side, people that have degrees that appear to be dumber than dirt, with no ability for self-though, just regurgitate what they hear. Going to school, and completing a degree is more than intelligence.

I didn't read anything too ego in this thread.
I don't think it's a problem for people to say what education they completed, since the topic is about education.

Guess I 'm to sensitive to these things , time to go on another thread , will go to the threads I can relate to the whiny resentful ones , there are many here ,.

Not a complete douche , do feel sympathetic if they did all that study and can't find employment in their field , better to get a trade these days , everyone seems to be getting a education due to the lying brainwashing boomer parents , get a education get a great job

You are obviously very intelligent, given your 4.0 GPA in grad school. If the counseling side of School Psychology doesn't work out, you could always to into educational research. That is another way to make a difference in children's lives-determine what helps the most for different disorders and publish it so others can learn from it and use it in their counseling practices. Or you could get a Ph.D and go teach School Psychology courses at a university. Train others how to make a difference in children's lives and you get to make a difference in young adult's lives.

That is what I do-teach at a university. There are very few jobs I would trade it for-I love it!

ProfessorJohn - I understand where you are coming from in teaching university students. That part of my job I also enjoy. I count how well I do as a professor based upon what my students do with what I taught them. Two of my best students have moved up into the Ivy League schools with full scholarships after I prompted them to apply for it. One will be going into medical school for specialized surgery and the other is leaning towards strictly biomedical research. Those are the ones professors always hope to get, as it makes our jobs worthwhile to guide them where they want to be knowing that they have the skills to get there. However, it is the inter-departmental politics that sometimes pop up on the job that drives me . We can be a fickle bunch to work with.

Fortunately I work for a department with very little politics. That is sure a blessing. We do have one student going to Harvard for the Ph.D in Clinical Psychology. Doesn't get any bigger time than that. Another student I worked with is now in a Ph.D program at Florida State.

It is rewarding also to help the student who never thought they could get through college actually get a degree.

I concur.


Count me as one of those brainwashed boomers who encouraged his 2 daughters to pursue a college education. So, I do understand that getting a college education is not for everyone. Likewise, I understand that getting a college education does not guarantee getting a great job. But, I cannot think of any reason to dissuade someone who is interested in getting a college education from pursuing one. Particularly in this day and age.

Finally, count me as another person who thinks that the STEM fields could be ideal for Aspies. And this field does require some form of college education.

I agree with you. I have met people who did not go to college that were smarter in some areas than some of the graduate students I went to college with. It all depends on how you use your knowledge and skills. I have met some PhDs who I would not trust with a clean lab beaker because they only have book knowledge and not laboratory skills. I have many long, boring stories on them. On the flip side, I have met a few that will someday be famous for what they do now or in the near future, although their work may be classified or patented for a long time yet to come.

Talking about someone being cocky with their education: I used to have to deal with a professor whose graduate adviser won a Nobel Prize in chemistry. Man, he was cocky about it all the time with us. He assumed that because his adviser won one that it meant that he was better than everybody else at that university because he was trained by someone special. The funny thing is that if you look at Nobel Prize winners, very few of them are students of other Nobel Prize winners for a reason. I was lucky enough to have met three Nobel Prize winners in person during my chemistry career and there are some things that I noticed from them that sets them apart: being able to think creatively on the fly is a required skill. That is something that one can have without a college education and do well in life. However, the education may allow the person to learn how to use that skill in a manner that helps others in much bigger ways.

I used to volunteer at a soup kitchen , the vast majority where unemployed skilled professionals , some only able to get part time work in unskilled employment , when was the last time you saw a unemployed tradesman , electricians charge more than a gp .

Though Australia not having had a recession in nearly 25 years that could all change soon ,

I have an undergrad degree in economics and finance. Since landing an awesome and rewarding job with that degree I have also done a diploma of management.

My only life long 'special interest' has been money. From money I have branched out into things like economics, finance (duh), business systems, accounting, currencies, commodities, law and politics. I even have a collection of coins and notes from all over the world, not to spend or show anyone. It's just sits there, slowly growing

The obsession with money and business stems from my childhood interest in trains. I remember a conversation with my grandfather when I was very young where I asked him what I would need to do to buy my own train, as in a real full size train with my own private track. He said I would need lots and lots of money. After further questioning he explained that the best way to get that much money would be to become a businessman.

Since then I have lost the interest in trains, but retained the interest in the business world and especially the systemisation of business processes. That's why I have my job.

Of further interest is the fact that a recent promotion put me in a position where the social and relational demands of my environment exceeded the ability of my coping mechanisms ..... you know the rest Now I'm on Wrong Planet!

I've never read so much about the intricacies of the human mind until the last month or so. If it weren't for that conversation with my grandfather I would probably not be here now. I was lucky enough to develop a special interest that has encouraged me to push on towards my goal of becoming a wealthy and successful business person no matter how many times I was knocked down or rejected. That interest led me to get the education I have.

I'll happily admit there were times at uni when I had major struggles. I was late to many, many lectures and even some exams. I would often go to the wrong class or turn up at the wrong time. I would forget people's names and not recognise people in the halls. I would struggle to start assignments and figure out what was the right thing to focus my study on, but when I got started and figured it out I was able to produce top quality work.

There were lots of subjects I struggled to understand too. But I would keep trying regardless. Eventually my persistence would pay off and I would understand the concept I was working at. There are still some things which though I understand them, I can not explain how I cam to understand them.

I even did some tutoring work while at uni and for a couple of years after. While in second year I tutored a masters student in biostatistics, I also tutored two undergrad students in epidemiology (this might seem odd, but once you understand stats for one discipline it is easy to understand stats for other disciplines). I even taught a class in basic maths and was a class tutor for business statistics. Though I didn't recognise it at the time there were times during these sessions when I would have what I now recognise as mild panic attacks. Over the years I have become very good at maintaining my composure during these attacks and I can even hide it from some of my closest friends, so I was able to pull myself together and get on with the class).

I apologise if this post seems too wordy or verbose. I am not trying to brag or show off. The reason for my sharing all this is I have seen a number of statistics thrown about in regards to unemployment and underemployment in the ASD population and I would like to do whatever I can to help fix what I think is a huge problem and I think my experiences may put me in a position to do so.

We aspergians have a great deal to offer society and because of our differences we are often overlooked. At the same time as achieving the successes I outlined above I have also experienced torment, ridicule, rejection and outright bullying. I've always had low self esteem and have tended to think that in spite of my accomplishments I had probably done something to deserve it. That bullying and low self esteem has been a constant fixture in my life for as long as I can remember, so I've tended to accept it as a given and just gotten on with what I wanted to do in spite of it. Now I want to show other people how to do the same thing.

I'm even in the process of writing a book about my experiences and how I have gotten to where I am today in spite of and sometimes with the assistance of the difficulties I have faced. If you're on the spectrum and you read this please don't let your differences get in the way of striving for what you want. I found a way and so can you. I'm so grateful to have found that there are other people who think like me and even more grateful that I may be in a position to help.

Namaste.

Of course, for example, my uncle has Asperger's and he has a Ph.D in Physics

Ph.D and two MAs. Double major undergrad. My area of specialization is very close to a special interest.
It's easier, more pleasant, and more interesting to study than to socialize.

It was so depressing when I would sit in the hockey dressing room with my Economics degree working minimum wage jobs and living with my parents in my mid 20s while the kids barely out of Trade School had trucks, homes, girlfriends etc. What's sadder was that it's what I wanted to do that too but every 'expert' told me that it was an unstable career path for dropouts and the future is in eCommerce, especially for smart kids like me. Shortly after enrolling in University, the dot com bubble burst and never recovered. Granted the skilled trades have took a nosedive lately but some of these kids (barely 21) made close to a THOUSAND dollars a day in the Alberta oil fields. Granted the work was brutal but think of the incredible nest egg I could have created with that!

I now have one Certificate in Building Operations from a top college and am getting three more by this time next year. Hopefully I will finally be able to land a well paying job after all that. I should have gone for electronics: I've done three courses over the years: I got 100, A+ and 100 respectively.

What did you do in the hockey dressing room?

You must have met some great hockey players!

I graduate this semester with 3.95 GPA. It's not an advanced degree though. Merely a bachelor of science... Integrative studies in sociology, business, and health promotion. Academics are not difficult for me... the intellectual side of it, that is. However, completing this degree has nearly killed me. I suffered a major mental breakdown last year (lost 20 lbs, major insomnia, was nearly hospitalized)... there are so many people, relationships, and noises at school. When I come home from class, I have to turn off all the lights and decompress for an hour usually. I obsess over all the information and sometimes don't know what is important so I take in everything... it is taxing. My University has over 36,000 students. That is WAY too many people for me! So, the process of attending school is what is actually the most difficult for me. I think many Aspies are highly educated regardless of whether or not they have a formal education.

Yes I have à masters degree and know à lot of AS people with à master and Some of them are dr.