Fellow Aspies: Did you drop out of HS? Why?

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Guess I'm the odd one out .... I not only stayed in school, but I LOVED school.
I loved the routine, the timetables, the learning and some of the teachers. All the teachers like me - I was quiet, compliant and I worked hard.
I didn't like being bullied by my peers, but I basically ignored them and just got on with studying.
I also loved my undergraduate studies at University, and my Masters studies.
I didn't love my PhD so much. I dropped out of that due to lack of structure, poor supervision and having to phone research subjects was too stressful (I really struggle with the phone). I regret dropping out of my PhD, and would like to either return to it or more likely study towards a PhD in a different area in future.

Given the fact that attending school until the age of 18 is compulsory here, dropping out was never an option.

Of 14 years of schooling, my grades were all over the place, I stopped doing homework after 4th grade, I was bullied for 10 years and there were teachers across all 5 secondary school that I attended and who thought I was "dumber than most" or plain "intellectually challenged". Not so much fun.

Curiously, I never once considered not going to school in the morning until 11th grade. I didn't realise I had the option to refuse. You know, refuse childishly as in "sit down at home and refuse to move even when police comes to get you".

Glad it didn't come to that because I'd have bitten anyone who'd try to touch me to get me to move right until I was 15-ish. I don't think I'd have made a rational exception for police officers.

From 11th grade on I basically just was in school 2 1/2 or 3 of 5 days and stayed home, sleeping from sheer exhaustion through the rest. My grades hardly changed and got better during my last year eventually.

The fewer lessons I attended, the better I did. Almost a paradox.

I'm currently in my first year of Sixth Form, which I think is roughly equivalent to High School. For the first few weeks I wanted to drop out because of severe stress, anxiety, the noise, and not being able to manage the work, and then again after Christmas when I thought I was falling behind.

I doubt I'll drop out in the rest of this year or next year.

There were times, particularly in primary school, when I wanted to be home educated, but my parents both worked.

No. I stayed and continued the school work despite it being hard and my struggles. I wanted to go to Europe mom promised me so I stayed. I would have dropped out if I didn't get any help. I would have gotten so far behind and miss assignments or not finish them because it was so hard. Maybe held back and then I would have eventually quit thinking "ah screw Europe" and quit.

I dropped out during the last year. It was boring and depressing and I have never regretted it because when I wanted to go to university I just showed them my MENSA certificate and I got in. Mind you, as I have mentioned in the "what jobs have you done" thread, while waiting to start uni, i stayed with my mom for a few months and suffered a nervous breakdown due to noises and her being her, so anyway, I never ended up attending university. #justsaying

From what I notice here and the real world is that intelligence doesn't equal good grades and good grades doesn't equal intelligence.

Yes, I dropped out of high school. Why? Because I was going through an era of extreme stress; I was bulimic and anorexic, and overwhelmed by the clanging corridors and masses of humanity shoving through them every time the bell rang. I would get lost, distracted, was unable to keep up with the demands made, and finally dropped out. I was really supposed to be in middle school but testing dictated that I was ready for high school. So that was where I was sent. I later got my G.E.D and even later, went on to college. But I would not want to repeat that hell called high school, for anything on God's green earth.

My formal education doesn't extend beyond primary school. I became disengaged at age 12 due to extreme bullying which continued for the next two years, by which time I just couldn't take it anymore. People tell me I seem intelligent despite it, so I guess I'm doing okay. Reading a lot helps! Still, I can't help but feel I missed out on some really crucial social and emotional development, and being a dropout means I'll have to pull the autism card to have any chance of getting into university, which I hate drawing attention to.

I didn't drop out but I didn't finish.

I kept falling farther and farther behind. I was "reclassified" and told that even though I was entering my junior year in high school I was now considered a sophomore. During my senior year I was considered a junior based on the number of credits I had accumulated (or not accumulated). I did my four years and left.

I do not have a single regret. My only wish is I would have dropped out and not wasted the time staying all four years. Alas, I was homeless and at least school provided some refuge from the elements during the day. Of my six scheduled classes during the day I attended two of them and skipped the rest.

I've met brilliant people that posses no formal diplomas (even a high school diploma) and have met people with bachelor and master degrees that are dumb as a post.

I can't do basic math too well, algebra at all, but have no difficulty with mult-ivariable calculus. No college will take me due to my inability to pass a math course but the irony is I've lectured at the Junior College level on unrelated subjects.

The education system draws a large vacuum and is not suited or geared towards people with neuro wiring that is not standard as compared to "normal" people.

I probably should have, but no I graduated.

What I've learned from this thread, is that I'm in the majority..... I've never been in the majority in anything!! !

I think it's obvious that the whole special ed system in the USA (and some other countries mentioned herein), needs to be dismantled and built anew. One person posted that they went on to earn degrees after not finishing high school, and in fact I didn't mention it because it's not on paper, but I was involved in a project with UCLA when I was 19 or 20, in the engineering dept., where some friends of mine (UCLA alumni) and I wrote an IEEE paper on the history of broadcast technology. I was recognized by Chancellor C. E. Young for that effort, and honestly I think that a letter of recognition from the chancellor of UCLA is just as good as any degree.

So long story short: There is more than one way to find good education on the Spectrum!

Charles

Contrary to most, I graduated high school. However, I did drop out of my first university course, because I wasn't enjoying it and fell into severe depression. Also, my grades were poor and I was failing a few subjects. However, now I'm doing the course I wanted to do (I was talked out of it when I first graduated high school), and doing much better The lowest I've gotten is 60% overall, and the exam (worth 60% of the subject) was the day after one of my best friends died.