Page 2 of 2 [ 18 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1, 2

deltafunction
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 4 Jun 2012
Age: 33
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,094
Location: Lost

02 Dec 2012, 10:48 pm

All I can do is speak from my own experience - my career journey is far from over, but I made a pretty significant change.

One pitfall of having Asperger's is you want things to stay the same. You may become so focused on your ideal career that you may overlook another perfectly good career that you may succeed at. Or you could ignore the signs that the career maybe isn't for you and just keep narrowly focusing on your ideal outcome, no matter how off-track you may be on that goal. That's the situation I was in. I didn't want to switch careers because that's the way it was and I spent money on tuition, I felt like I fit in socially, it was easier to just finish my degree... endless reasons why I didn't want to switch. But mainly because it was all I ever imagined myself doing for years. In this mindset, I ignored that maybe I wasn't very suited for it.

Being aware of your own resistance to change could help you to truly find what's right for you. If you critically examine the outlook - not just during university, but 5 or 10 years down the road. Where do you think you'll end up? How will you get there? Would you be satisfied? What would you change? What else could you do? Really challenge yourself to brainstorm and come up with as many careers as you think you would like to do which you have or could acquire the skills for. Then start eliminating possibilities and see what's left. If all that's left is your current career plan and it's realistic, go for it. Otherwise, be open to many different career possibilities - most people have a few careers in their lifetime anyways, so you may find yourself doing more than one of the careers on your list.



littlelily613
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 11 Feb 2011
Age: 40
Gender: Female
Posts: 3,608
Location: Canada

03 Dec 2012, 12:01 am

When I first started university, I didn't have accommodations. I went to a counsellor there though for extreme depression (to the point of almost being suicidal), so I definitely had A LOT on my mind. I also had meltdowns even at school. I have slow processing time when people speak, so, despite my best efforts, I often got behind in my notes. Now I do have accommodations and counselling to help manage some of the autistic traits that impact my academic progress (ie. executive function)--since the depression has died down and practically gone now with medication. Anyway, my point is, I had a lot going on too, a lot of my mind and trouble with notes, etc. None of the counsellors I saw at school (there were several) ever told me "university isn't for you". They were there to encourage while I tried hard to make it through. I perservered, and it took a lot of hard work, but I graduated and am now in a Masters program. If this is what you want, don't let her deter you from your goal. It is possible to get through university if that is what you want to do.


_________________
Diagnosed with classic Autism
AQ score= 48
PDD assessment score= 170 (severe PDD)
EQ=8 SQ=93 (Extreme Systemizer)
Alexithymia Quiz=164/185 (high)