Any Asperger/HFA college students?

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I would like to hear your stories of how you are/were surviving college. I am 25 years old and I am currently in college going for my AA transfer degree from Edmonds Community College so I could go to a four year university. I have a few credits left until I graduate with only one subject to be finished and that is the dreaded Mathematics/Social Science portion of my program. I am still in Math 60 which is the Pre-Algebra course. I might have to tough it out, but I might to another program that I am interested in and can help transition to be a much better job and career if I have the grades.

i loved university. the more freedom i had the more easy it was. so to study at university was actually easier than at high school. i graduated with distinction at the department of applied mathematics and mechanics and then went abroad to do phd. now i continue working in research which i think is a good job for aspies. i've been lucky every step of the way.

IF I have Asperger's...

Well, everyone is still telling me to be sociable and not hiding out in my room all the time.
It's not like I can help it. But college is okay.

I'm 52 years old and worked hard to get into a "career college"......9 months.....a little over $10 grand.....

the first two weeks I was left alone at a computer to teach myself through modules.....it was difficult to get used to for the first few days because I had just finished getting my high school diploma...(and the teachers were incredibly supportive, educated and helpful).....

to.............
being alone at a computer....with no instructor in sight.....
day two.....I found one....but had to wait for quite a while for any instruction....

when I finally got the hang of teaching myself....I started to love it.....sitting alone at a computer everyday.....bliss...

then - abruptly.....they changed the schedule....
from 1p.m. - 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. - 1 p.m.

and it was a classroom....with people....

(after a week - I adjusted - passed the course with a 94% even though I felt that I didn't gain competence....asked the instructor for help and questions about my exam....but the exam is nowhere to be found....and even though I couldn't balance the classified balance sheet....missed something....and didn't know what....the instructor looked at me like I was quite mad.....and said "you know what you're doing"....and that was the end of that.

Then.....without notice again....the schedule changed back to 1p.m. to 6 p.m. and you can read about the rest (if interested) in the school thread....

Long and the short of it.....I had a "melt-down".

There are no tutors to be found....even though.....the brochure said they existed....

and the latest instructor I had decided to take Friday off....and is going to mark the class as being in attendance tomorrow even though none of us will be....

this is making me feel very "off" and scared....and "wishing" that I would never have picked a "career college".....but I signed on the dotted line....

needless to say....

right now....where I am....it's 3:20 a.m. - and I can't get to sleep....

Well, I was one...graduated in 2006. College was easier for me than life is now, because it was so structured. I also had more of a support network of friends. I didn't have to take classes in things I'm horrible at, like math, so that helped, too. I wasn't the best in class by any means, but I was able to be successful at a few things.

Classified Balance sheets are a nuisance on the finals. They take up so much time to do and when you see 30 minutes left on the clock to finish the rest of the exam... not un. I still did really well though.

I like it. I'm on my second grad degree, so that sort of tells you something. And I have Ph.D. lust.

I found that I enjoyed the higher level stuff much more than the basic courses-- survey sort of courses tended to drive me crazy. Too shallow-- never enough detail on any one thing.

I have taken online courses, lectures, seminars, internship courses, etc. They are all good. My favorite sort of online courses are more interactive-- I like it when there is a real time chat session for class every week.

I do prefer smaller courses.

I also advise you to know and be honest with yourself about your weaknesses. I have a LD and it took a long time for me to really comprehend and accept jsut how much it limited me. I always really liked math and missed it after I hit a brick wall in calculus so I decided to take advanced stats. Now I did ask advice of others if I could handle it. But I should have known better. I managed to get a C, but a large part of that was getting an A on the final which I studied like crazy for and it wasn't nearly as difficult as it could have been. I got a tutor and worked my ass off for that class.

Even now it can be tempting to do "bad" things. Like right now I am taking a course load that is a little too heavy for me with my work schedule. But my classes are too good to drop and I know I can manage if I work like crazy and then take it easier next semester.

I am 28 and a senior in college. I graduate next year.

I would have graduated by now if I hadn't taken time off from college. I'll probably graduate in 2 years. I survive by purely focusing on my studies. I don't interact with anyone unless I see someone I'd want to talk to. That's why I don't have any friends up there.

That career college sounds horrible. The one I went to wasn't nearly that bad. The schedule did change every six weeks, however. The one I went to was extremely structured, they wanted to make sure we actually got our money's worth instead of just taking our money and abandoning us like some places do, which is good for aspies. All the young people-and I was studying IT so I was around a LOT of really young guys-were muttering about the slavedrivers at the school, but I loved it. I know that some career colleges will just take your money and then don't care about actually teaching you, I know a lot of the chain colleges are like that, but this place was a single campus family run type place of the sort that are really rare now.

The teachers had all been there for ages and ages, one of the IT teachers talked all the time about IBM minicomputers and how careful you had to be around them and how some kids were stupid and would screw them up. The hardware IT guy had cabinets full of ancient computer gear, old motherboards, tons of 3 1/2 floppy drives, old books, all sorts of crazy stuff that had dust on it. It was a fun experience, but the relics teaching had little clue about Windows XP, the hardware guy was teaching us on Win 98, only the applications people had the latest and greatest stuff. I ended up not knowing enough to get a job, and I'm aspie too which didn't help. Then Microsoft went and put out Vista which changed EVERYTHING, and I was at a loss. I was putting a PC together and it had a dual core processor which the old farts at the college said was still in development, so I put the heat sink on wrong and fried it. Sigh.

pezar wrote:

I am so relieved that someone out there understands what I am going through - the course has been a nightmare - right from the first day on orientation - when I found myself alone waiting for someone to orientate me....(after about 45 minutes past the time the orientation was supposed to start - a fellow student ambled up to me and announced that he would clue me in.....after about 10 minutes - a couple of other students showed up and we had our "orientation" in the hallway. (so strange!)

For the most part I have been given material to basically "teach myself" - a couple of ridiculous modules (classes) i.e. professional skills....(but so inane it was insane)

today - the "teacher" read an entire chapter straight from the textbook. (I could understand if it was English, or philosophy....this was accounting, corporations, and shares...all new material....with calculations, government regulations, stats, computations, etc..) The morning had been devoted to trying to retain and apply the information from the previous chapter. I finally had to hide behind the computer, put my head down and close my eyes....and my ears hurt so much - I had to cover them with my hands....(the sensation was horrible)

I'm not a stupid person - but the load of information and accelerated pace along with the expectation to learn and master information is even more than I can handle. I have had so many meltdowns....I even had a meltdown here and posted a few crazy venty threads...(much to my regret!!)

When I read what others are accomplishing....I am happy for you guys....but I also feel so sad, and let-down for myself....I wish I hadn't been so naive to enrol in this career college...because now they have my $$ and there's no turning back.

There's so much more....but this reply is "long-winded" as is....

I'm just relieved that there is someone out there that understands...(because I feel so alone in this college mess)

funny thing: One of the students in my class today....talked about how the college has changed it's name (yet again) and is not called a college anymore but an institution....

I made a joke: and said "I always knew that I'd end up in an institution".....they laughed...so did I...
but I also feel sad.

I would have loved to be in research or IT....
(sorry - maybe I'm just full of self-pity right now)

Just get your homework done no matter what. If you do that, the rest tends to fall into place at least somewhat.

Do not let a "relationship" deviate you from graduation unless literally unavoidable, either.

pezar wrote:

holy cr**p!.....there's no excuse for that! - I love XP....Vista....may end up in the trash bin with Millenium....

juliekitty wrote:

usually this works for me...
but the instruction at this career college is so non-existent that when it comes time to do any homework it's like being lost out at sea...

i.e. yesterday.....our study group (5 people) spend four hours.....(4 hours) trying to do the homework....and we still did not come to a solution....or figure out the homework....
(it's so hard to explain) - We were so frustrated....that we just packed it in and went home.

The next day the teacher did go through some of it....(because we insisted) and then she commented that she believed it's good to "sweat" it out....and that she thinks that's a good way to learn...
(we just felt miserable)

but I will not give up....
I'm too stubborn for that!

Hate to tell you, but she's right.

Suffering is part of the process of learning. That's why people procrastinate. If it was fun all the time, everybody would always get A's.

Teachers who don't put in their fair share can be part of the suffering.

Also, you didn't find the solution that night, but you did kick around the ideas with four other smart people for 4 hours... so you definitely understand the subject better than you did before.



Good for you. That's probably what got me through as well.

juliekitty wrote:

I agree with the logic that "anything worth having" is worth putting in "hard work" and perhaps suffering a little. I know the feeling of working hard and then experiencing the "eureka" feeling and the satisfaction of understanding.
I'm able to put in hours of homework - if I can comprehend what I am doing.....

(what's going on) in this school is different - but I'm almost at a loss to articulate it.

It might be that the classroom style - (overwhelms me in a sensory way) - I usually process things slowly - but once I see a picture of it - I do not require repetition - what's going on is that the instructor puts out information so fast (like a speeding bullet) and the expectation is to process it very quickly - and then repeat excercises on your own.
Because I process slowly - I end up with a feeling of being "lost" and everything becomes "garbled".
Then I have to begin the process of unravelling what has been said.
I have to do this: by breaking things down into logical order - organizing - and then I am able to process, retain and learn....(sorry - I'm not trying to be long-winded)

There's more - but enough said for now.

I hope that what I said doesn't sound too "nonsensical"....it's very difficult to explain what I am experiencing.