College Aspies + Anyone Go to Alternative Schools?

[Carnelian]

Anyone here in college? How is that going for you?

I'm entering my second year, but I'm only taking one class at a community college. The first semester I took four classes but dropped out of two and then dropped out of one of the two I took the second semester.

The reason was because I was so underprepared. I went to three alternative schools of varying degrees of suck. All of them were abusive in certain ways, none of them knew what was "wrong" with me, and most of the time I was treated like **** by the staff or other students. Many of the kids had really bad behavioral issues so I ended up being bullied a lot, etc.

The problem was I was really smart. (I was smarter than a lot of the teachers which was one of the reasons they didn't like me, so said my therapist when I asked why the teachers hated me.) Granted, it wasn't that hard to be smarter than the teachers. And the education was like, well, to put it this way, I don't even know basic algebra. So everything I learned was self-taught.

But now going to college I have a mix of issues being

A. I don't know most basic underlying education but I can excel in specialized classes (like sociology/psychology/etc.)

B. I am even more socially retarded than normal because I was in three schools where people had to watch me pee and locked me in a padded room and monitored my behavior the whole day and decided what I could and couldn't do.

C. Have PTSD from the treatment the other students/staff gave me.

D. Have no clue how to socialize with people who don't want to stab me with a shiv or sexually assault me.

___

Is anyone here in college? How are you doing? Do you have any tips? Especially if you went to a school (schools) like I did above? I'm finding it so hard to unlearn everything and I still have the mindset where everyone around me might just be a criminal or sociopath, because that's what I was around with.

 

[cherryq]

Hi Carnelian. I did not have an alternative school experience like you did, but perhaps I can offer a little advice anyway if you are planning to take a class or two in the spring. One of my biggest issues going into college (university) was that it was away from everything that me made me feel comfortable and safe (family, my bedroom, the couple of friends that I had from high school back home). Finding friends was really difficult for me because I don't know how to reach out to people, even if I want to be friends with them. Eventually I made one friend, though, during my freshman year, and everyone else that I met and talked to on a semi-frequent basis was met through this one friend. She helped me through that hurdle. Actually, she has turned into my best friend and we are almost like sisters now. Not all people are bad, I promise.

From your post, it sounds like this may be one of the most difficult areas for you (making friends with someone/meeting others/socializing). One of the best ways to meet people in college is through clubs. Perhaps there is a club on your campus with other students studying sociology/psychology (if that is something you are interested in). For me, I joined the band because I play clarinet. That helped me meet more people and learn how to socialize with people in a semi-meaningful way. Another great resource is that if you play an instrument or enjoy a particular activity (such as fitness, rock climbing, book club, etc.), you could find others with similar activities as you. This way, you can do something with someone and don't have to socialize with them on the same level as just sitting down to talk. I enjoy rock climbing with people or hiking, as a way to interact with people, yet not have to talk very much. Also, there's a website and phone app called Meetup for people looking to do things with other people of similar interests.

The other thing that I would like to recommend is Khan Academy for those "basic underlying education" topics. They have a lot of different subjects (with some reading and some videos) that you can go through. Best of all, it's free! This may be something helpful to look into over winter break. https://www.khanacademy.org/

I hope this helps, and best of luck as you end this semester and prepare for the next!