Autism & University - My Experience As An AUTISTIC Law School Drop Out

[@Eccentric_Villain]

I went to TAFE for Art (design fundamentals Cert. III) and kinda flaked out after 1 semester (which I technically failed) because it was insanely hard to deal with the pressure. I learnt 14 years later I’m diagnosed Autistic after my kids were all diagnosed. I wish I had known sooner, it has helped me realise that I too need help like my kiddies now have. The amount of help my kiddies have in school and how far they have come now their just starting high school is crazy Amazing. Im so happy they don’t have to go through what I did in school.

[@rkgomes3875]

Thank you for sharing. I’m 41, and JUST diagnosed. I really suffered at Uni, and never made it thru on the first go. Had I had known what I know now, I think it would’ve made a difference. Anyway, that was then; I am good now. 😁👍🏽

[@joemacy2776]

I am a college-educated autistic adult myself although I am American. I got some accommodations in college like extended test time and a special room for testing. However, I still wasn't able to get things like extended deadlines or modify the pace of learning. I went part time and took eight years to slog through a four year degree program. It definitely wasn't easy, but I did it, and I am very proud of myself for making it through. I understand that not all autistic people will earn a college degree, but it's important to keep in mind that it is possible. I ended up with a BS in mathematics.

[@daphniefarkas5703]

I'm right there with you. I took 10 years to get a 4 year degree because I could only handle 1 class a semester.

[@joemacy2776]

@@daphniefarkas5703 At least you finished. I generally took two classes per quarter because that was basically all I could handle. I went full time for one quarter, but that was it. I wasn't working my entire time in college, but I was probably working for at least half of it. Even so, I was working less than 20 hours per week, so it's not like I was working very much. It was still a lot for me to handle, and I remember being very burnt out towards the end.

[@camellia8625]

This is extremely helpful. Given that they are charging so much for university level education; it is basic that the curriculum is accessible to ALL students - not just neurotypical students.

[@TheGobbleWobble]

I'm a law student and autistic. This really resonated with me. I am not ready to give up yet and you articulated so beautifully what I knew already but have had issues putting into words. Thank you!

[@orionkelly]

I hope you can hang in there and finish your degree. Thanks for sharing your thoughts I really appreciate it.

[@christopherbillington8965]

I'm autistic. I went to a very small private law school and completed my JD, but the bar exam has been a living nightmare. the arrogant bastards who are grading these exams claim they are looking for understanding, but what they really want is for someone to regurgitate a linear neurotypical narrative that lacks any true substantive comprehension and use of the law. They only care about organization, rather than analysis and use of the applicable rule as applied to the facts.

[@barefootjakejake7765]

Right, because the bar exam is the real end to law school, not the diploma. Once you get to practice then you can do all thay fancy shit.

[@Daniel-vl8mx]

I guess we are all different. I had some of the same difficulties with coping with the environment, and the way you are expected to organise yourself and work. I did struggle pretty mightily with my first degree, at least at first. I very nearly got the push in fact, and had to show cause why I should be allowed to stay. I then worked out that I was going about it all wrong - trying to do it like the others. The whole going to lectures thing, and study groups, and tutorials, just was all wrong for me. Instead I focused on what I do well, and that is researching and getting on top of a subject by myself. It may sound intensely arrogant, but I found it actually worked better if I didn't go to classes, and focused on getting the assignments in, getting my head around the topic and prepping for exams. The part I had greatest difficulty with was stuff that I just had to be there for, such as practical classes. Group work too - while I like my fellow humans I found this just about impossible. For some odd reason people don't seem keen on having someone take their work and comprehensively rewrite it, to the extent that it really isn't recognisable anymore, and of course the social skills of a rather insensitive Vulcan don't help here. Speaking of exams, call me weird, but I enjoy them. I love the whole experience of packing massive slabs of knowledge into my head and then pulling it together and dumping it on the page in an intense adrenaline-fuelled hyperfocused stream. I would come out of an exam dancing on air.

[@Peter-mj6lz]

Thanks for this comment. I went to a study group and didn’t feel welcomed. But then it was the wrong thing for me.

[@godof-theft]

This comment hit me like a truck. I’m a senior in undergrad and several of my classes right now grade on attendance or daily in-class tasks meaning I have to be there, but the accumulation of that + my work-study + extracurriculars means I get home every day exhausted. The classes I’ve struggled most with in the past have functioned similarly in regards to attendance, but if I put all that aside I find I genuinely don’t reap very much (or any) benefit from attending lectures, yet am still frequently required to do so. It’s midterm now and I’m already at such an intense stage of burnout I don’t know how I’ll be able to finish out, hence why I’m in a rabbit hole to try to understand my autism & how to work with it more intuitively to be able to succeed or at least survive.

[@user-iz8rr1kt5w]

I’m autistic and studying international relations in a course of over 500 people, and I’m really worried I’ll have to drop out. I have my final assignment for my first semester due today and three exams next week, but I’m so burnt out and I’m really struggling to cope with life and actually get studying. I’m luckily in the process of getting a social worker to help with my autism and I’m trying to get more accommodations from my university, but I really hope I don’t have to drop out.

[@barefootjakejake7765]

"I wouldn't have picked you for being a moron, but at least I know what one looks like now" 😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣

[@BlacksheepOracle]

😂😂😂😂

[@nolanwillis1131]

That sounds like my sentiments exactly.

[@peterdalton200]

I went to La Trobe University as a Gough Whitlam legatee. I studied a Bachelor of Arts (Pass Degree), a Graduate Diploma in the Humanities, and a Diploma in Computer Science. I had no support from the university although I did disclose my ADHD disability. I found the experience daunting and overwhelming. A lonely experience where the only thing that mattered was the taxpayer money. I was clearly a Guinea pig in the corporate education sector. Many of the academics were acerbic, lacked people skills, and empathy for the students.

[@amandamandamands]

I feel you, I tried uni and discovered that I don't learn in the style that they teach, well that and that I suck at essay writing and that to me it was crap that the difference between plagiarism and a good essay could come down to how good you are at doing your citations. It also comes across to me as extreme elitism that when you are at the bottom of the totem pole you are asked to give your option on things but you aren't considered knowledgeable enough so you have to put in quotes from people that are published to support your viewpoint (and if you look you can usually find someone has published to support any viewpoint) - but again better make sure you have your citations correct so that you don't plagiarise. I did discover that I do OK at TAFE though with it being more practical and the subjects you can see a direct correlation to what you are studying for. One thing that was a game changer for me was finding out that I could have my exams in a separate room with my own proctor (this was under mental health pre diagnosis)- I did best with the ones that talked to me casually beforehand rather than the ones that were being formal and standoffish. One reason I did better was that I could get up and walk around the room whenever I needed to though usually I would walk around during the reading time and by the time that was up I was settled enough to get in and do the exam.

[@orionkelly]

Yep, agree. I found the assessment based supports weren’t enough if I couldn’t learn the stuff.

[@retnav0753]

Orion, you are an awesome teacher and presenter and I am pretty sure a wonderful person. That is all I want to say. I'm a retired Navy psychiatrist in the USA, I've watched many of your KZbin videos and I have an adult son with ASD. Most likely I myself am an undiagnosed Old Guy 'Aspi'. Stay the Course bud!

[@nataliamartinez6834]

lol you sound just like I do when I get mad and can’t control my verbiage. I’ve also been struggling for years to finish college 😭 I had no idea I was autistic until recently so a lot of stuff painfully makes sense now. Thank you so much for sharing! It’s very helpful to hear your relatable experiences ❤❤❤❤

[@nolanwillis1131]

Somehow, I survived engineering school and did pretty well, all things considered. I totally understand the situation he described because college was a pretty hellish and nightmarish experience for me. I was just too stubborn to quit. I figured I could quit after I finished, so I got my engineering degree after five years of grinding away. I actually ended up doing way better than I thought I was doing and skipped out on the University awards banquet because I was too exhausted and overwhelmed to show up. That’s when the faculty announced I made Magna cum Laude, and everyone was wondering why I wasn’t there. I didn’t know that I had made Magna cum Laude because I didn’t think that was even possible for me. Now that I am an engineer, I have to deal with the reality that success in the workplace in the form of promotions or positions is for anyone else but not for me.

[@redtree732]

I’ve been in Uni for 3 years and am struggling really hard with this right now. I’m great at self-teaching (autodidact), but simply cannot make myself fit into the neurotypical class/learning system. And don’t even get me started about the social aspect. It’s Hell. I just want to learn my topics of interest and be socially/societally/formally accredited for it.

[@markshaw6991]

A bit late to hear this now - but insightful

[@daphniefarkas5703]

I was pre law at one point. The books were large and so was the debt. A year in I realized that it wasn't for me.

[@WingZeroSymphonics]

Gosh being a lawyer can suck lol. Luckily, with the rise of AI automation, disability accessibility will help with the challenges autistic people may face acting as lawyers.

[@blessed7927]

I struggled with noise during tests and tapping pencils or dog forbid 🐶 if someone shook my chair - i literally as a pretty girl would grit my teeth and turn around and and say in ancontrolled grit-teeth manner “stop shaking my chair” lol 😂 It made me the kind of mad that made me want to jump out of my skin. That and anyone clicking saliva while eating- Id leave the table! Haha! 🤣 I was terrible at math because the teachers were from other countries and plus…. i hated math. But it is also dyscalculia probably also. But great in music!

[@epic_rshutterbug9226]

Please can you describe your signs as a 3 year old, and when did you start talking. I need help understanding my toddler

[@turtleanton6539]

Very interesting

[@louise2091]

I do my studies online. Even exams amd tests. I go to on line tutorials and watch lecture recordings. Just saying, its easier today. I only need 20 contact days per year. All my readings are online also.

[@orionkelly]

Wow! What country do you study in?

[@louise2091]

In South Australia. It is available to everyone. .

[@orionkelly]

@@louise2091 that was definitely not available in Victoria just a few years ago.

[@louise2091]

Flinders University online studying. I am in my second year of a bachelor degree.

[@joasia1228]

The music is very annoying .

[@pep1679]

It triggered me

[@legsio]

I'm not sure calling someone a MORON because they don't understand Autism will help anyone's cause. You'd be better off educating them. As you say "acceptance and understanding before awareness"

[@orionkelly]

Absolutely understand where you’re coming from and I do that in every video. I just use a mix of humour (my rants) and education in the body of the video.

[@barefootjakejake7765]

Really? I was thinking about this earlier today, ironically. I don't want an autism awareness month. I don't want an autism acceptance month either. What I think we should have is an autism appreciation month, considering none of the modern conveniences that neurotypicals depend on would exist if not for autistic people discovering or inventing them -- smartphones/devices, the internet, satellites, electricity. Hell, pretty much all of the conveniences of modern civilization would not exist if not for the things that do exist, thanks to autistic people. As an aside, it would be great if neurotypicals would recognize and remember that "typical" and "average" are synonyms while they are judging autistic people as somehow inferior to them.

[@klara5127]

Jesus, we get called worse things than that! They are morons for speaking like that just the same as if someone would say something racist they are too, a moron