Getting a Life with Asperger's by Jesse A. Saperstein

Author:Jesse A. Saperstein
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2014-07-20T16:00:00+00:00

Address Problems Early On

If you do struggle or experience failure, do not simply give up. Accept reality and take action to improve your situation.

Find a tutor the moment you begin to struggle. This will be the only time in your life when this service is free of charge, and it is not a sign of weakness to seek some help. Most tutors are veterans of the same classes and may give you tips on how to study or what is expected by the professor.

Find a new spot for studying. Studying alone in your room can become an isolating experience, so it is worth making trips to the library. Regardless of our awkwardness and discomfort around new people, we are still social beings and will flourish around other souls simultaneously striving for academic success. Experiment with different settings (noise levels, number of people around, and so on). To make the process a little more bearable, I would study in the library basement where the archives were housed behind a cage-like fence. It was fun to pretend that a friendly and intelligent monster slept there during the day, only to be released by the library caretakers upon nightfall to read literature and not disturb students with its hideous appearance.

Don’t compound your problems with shame and anger. You may be placed on “academic probation” if you have a disastrous first semester. It is a friendly warning that if you do not show some significant improvement, then you could be asked to leave campus. This may feel like someone has superglued a dunce cap to your head, but it is actually a chance to rise to the occasion. Most of us become stronger when we falter as opposed to experiencing the fleeting exhilaration of winning. This is one area where some demons of Asperger’s can actually double as a strength, like in the second Terminator movie when Arnold Schwarzenegger returns as a benevolent savior instead of a mechanical murderer. College should be a chance to stop thinking of failure as the boogeyman and more like a catalyst for consistent success.

Always remember that you are in extremely good company if you have an academic setback.

Steven Spielberg was rejected by his dream school, the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts, three times.

Walt Disney was fired by a newspaper editor for lacking innovation and vision. His subsequent businesses failed before the 1938 premiere of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs finally turned things around.

Albert Einstein (who many speculate had Asperger’s) did not speak until four years old or start reading until age seven. His teachers insisted that he would never amount to anything. As a young adult, he worked as a lowly assistant in the Swiss Patent Office.

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