Positive people with Autism

My thanks to Hope for mentioning the loss of the ivory tower. The trouble is this dream is still being sold to young people with able aspergers who have gone to university. I worry that the dream will prove a disappointment to many who try, even though, for people with aspergers to achieve great things, first and post-graduate degrees are the gateway. After disasterous school years and lots of short term jobs I went back to education in my twenties; managed to get a PhD. But by that time Mrs T's war on the universities had drastically cut the posts so I spent the next twelve years in industry. I only got into academia again during the last recession. There is no ivory tower now. "Collegiate" expectations are as bad as school. Anyone not fitting in is seen as undermining the collegiate environment, and in some universities bullying and undermining "odd" staff is widespread.  Part of this is a fear that "different" staff will not pull their weight. Education is much more team work based now. After nearly 20 years teaching I've survived to retire, but it has been tough, not because of the teaching, which has been fantastic, but because of this absurd need to "fit in" with NT expectations, which should be irrelevant.  I think there is a danger that some potential geniuses nowadays may not make it because of modern attitudes to academic expectations. I hope I'm wrong. But it may take effort via the Autism Act to get improvements in the opportunities for people with aspergers to excel.

My thanks to Hope for mentioning the loss of the ivory tower. The trouble is this dream is still being sold to young people with able aspergers who have gone to university. I worry that the dream will prove a disappointment to many who try, even though, for people with aspergers to achieve great things, first and post-graduate degrees are the gateway. After disasterous school years and lots of short term jobs I went back to education in my twenties; managed to get a PhD. But by that time Mrs T's war on the universities had drastically cut the posts so I spent the next twelve years in industry. I only got into academia again during the last recession. There is no ivory tower now. "Collegiate" expectations are as bad as school. Anyone not fitting in is seen as undermining the collegiate environment, and in some universities bullying and undermining "odd" staff is widespread.  Part of this is a fear that "different" staff will not pull their weight. Education is much more team work based now. After nearly 20 years teaching I've survived to retire, but it has been tough, not because of the teaching, which has been fantastic, but because of this absurd need to "fit in" with NT expectations, which should be irrelevant.  I think there is a danger that some potential geniuses nowadays may not make it because of modern attitudes to academic expectations. I hope I'm wrong. But it may take effort via the Autism Act to get improvements in the opportunities for people with aspergers to excel.