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Hey all. I'm 18, and I am very new to Wrong Planet. A site like this is what I have been looking for all of my life. I have "self-diagnosed" AS....I'm positive I have it, but I have never been diagnosed.

Anyways, this is the first thing I wanted to post about when I set up my account. When I grow up, I wanna be a lawyer...at least, as of a couple months ago I want to be a lawyer, and I know I need years and years of school in order to do that.

However, I am having trouble even finishing high school at this point, which I am doing online. It isn't because I don't want to finish, it's that I can't focus, and I seem to just not care about my schooling, even though I really do. My other interests take precedence over my schooling it seems, no matter how much I don't want that to be so. Is this normal? That you can't even <b>force</b> yourself to do your schoolwork. People don't seem to understand me when I tell them this.

Another thing I'm concerned about is that my interests/obsessions change sporadically. I once wanted to be a software engineer, doctor, dentist, police officer, scientist, business owner, heck, even retail store manager. I read online that interests may shift all of the sudden with people with AS. Is it normal for them to switch this much though? I'm worried about spending thousands on schooling, then waking up one day and no longer caring about what I'm in school for. I don't exactly have thousands to throw away on schooling if I'm just going to drop out.

What kind of recommendations does everyone have for someone like me? Anyone ever experienced what I'm describing? I'm 18 by the way.

Take at least the basic classes when you get to college. State your major in something like communications or Information Technology. This way you can at least get your basics done and decide if it's what you want to do. If you have community colleges in your area, start there. In Texas, you can get take a 9-hour (part time) semester for $400 or less.

As I've gotten older (I'm 25), my interests have not been changing quite as frequently. I only have a few big interests now. This may happen to you. I also have a job that goes with a strength (and only a minor interest to me) that I have.

Consider looking at Graphic Design, computer programming, or help desk kind of work. These are extremely marketable right now and are usually geared toward an Aspie mind.

When I was in high school, I hated doing homework. It was like, great, more of the same crap that I don't want to do during the day anyway. I alwyas did the minimum because I just didn't care. I managed to pass, but not with flying colors.

Just keep enjoying what you're interest is in. I found I could control my interests if I scheduled my whole day in advance and set a specific start and stop time for every event, including the interest of my affection.

Thanks for the information. I'll have to look into the options available at the college here in town. I tried out the new Google Calendar, and it works pretty good for keeping me more organized lately.