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I was diagnosed with ASD trying to decide what to do as career-wise

Alexrat1996

Alexrat1996

macrumors 601
Original poster
Mar 29, 2015
4,354
764
Lehigh valley PA
Hello everyone I was diagnosed with ASD after my hospital did neuropsychological testing I'm 25.

Im stressed out and depressed I hope you guys can help me I'm confused about what to do as career wise since the doctor is telling me specific things I won't be good at.

I want to go to medical school because I want to help people and help the community.

The doctor who did the testing told me I won't be good in anatomy or math.

I'm currently finished with associates in general eds since I didn't know what to major in.

I want to major in health science /biology when I transfer with a minor in computer science but the doctor told me I won't succeed in medical school.

the only thing I like is legos.

IDK if to do a bachelor's in health science because what putting me down is what the doctor told me is depressing.

Or should I pick something else?

I suck at math any major like computer science or engineering would be a challenge since I'm not good at math can you guys please help me out.


when I transfer from Community college to university can I declare my new major?
 
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You have some wonderful goals to help people and the community. Don't let go of that because a doctor said some discouraging things. A new diagnosis means redrawing your map. You're going to figure this out.

And there are people in medical professions with ASD. You can search for those sites and stories.

As stressful and depressing as this feels to you now, it's worth finding out what you're good at and can handle, however you choose to do that. I wonder if you might be able to connect with others who have the same diagnosis who might share their accomplishments, challenges and strategies.

You have options and possibilities. There are people who can help guide you to figure out what science and computer science path to take to help you toward a medical field that interests you that's maybe not math heavy. Those people might include your family, your friends, people at your school, and people in your community.

There are so many stories about doctors telling patients they'll never be to walk again, as an example, and then through sheer determination and a lot of hard work (and good family/friend and physical therapy support), the patient one day walks again. Sometimes doctors get it wrong.

To your question about declaring a new major, generally yes that's possible. You'll want to talk with the admissions team at the university about your goals.
 
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WildSky said:
You have some wonderful goals to help people and the community. Don't let go of that because a doctor said some discouraging things. A new diagnosis means redrawing your map. You're going to figure this out.

And there are people in medical professions with ASD. You can search for those sites and stories.

As stressful and depressing as this feels to you now, it's worth finding out what you're good at and can handle, however you choose to do that. I wonder if you might be able to connect with others who have the same diagnosis who might share their accomplishments, challenges and strategies.

You have options and possibilities. There are people who can help guide you to figure out what science and computer science path to take to help you toward a medical field that interests you that's maybe not math heavy. Those people might include your family, your friends, people at your school, and people in your community.

There are so many stories about doctors telling patients they'll never be to walk again, as an example, and then through sheer determination and a lot of hard work (and good family/friend and physical therapy support), the patient one day walks again. Sometimes doctors get it wrong.

To your question about declaring a new major, generally yes that's possible. You'll want to talk with the admissions team at the university about your goals.
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right I will look into it.

I just want to see what right for me since I want to go to medical school.

I will ask them.

everything seems hard after getting that results from doctor but I think I can do it.
 
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You wrote, "the only thing I like is Legos."

OK, now take a little time to think about this and to see if you can pinpoint what it is about Legos that you enjoy.... Maybe sit down with them and spend some time working with them and during that process you might recognize that you like this or that in particular, it pleases you, it is fun, you do it well, whatever.....make a mental note of that.

Unfortunately, sometimes what we'd really love to do in life we just cannot for whatever reason. Even with accommodations, there still may be major obstacles in the way and in that case it's time to be realistic. When I was younger and thinking about what I wanted to do as a career, I ruled out certain occupations right off the bat because either I was not physically going to be able to do them, or I just didn't like some of the things that came along with them, or I simply was not good at some of the things which would be required on a daily basis.

I'm lousy at math, I dislike math and there was no way I was going to go into any career involving math, either during the career-education process or later on the actual working day itself. I have a hearing impairment, so for me that pretty much ruled out any sort of career which requires extremely good hearing or even normal hearing. Because of early childhood experiences involving a lot of medical care I was fascinated by the field of medicine and healthcare, but by the time I was in high school realized that in many ways I was just not suited to that as a career, even though I was interested in it, and my grades in biology, chemistry and algebra pretty much proved that. I definitely was more geared towards the arts than I was the sciences.....

Take some time to think about what you like, what you don't like, what you're good at and what really interests you -- and, yes, this can take a while and sometimes a few false starts here-and-there as well. College is good for that as it gives you the opportunity to try out different things and take various courses and see how you do and if you flourish or if you'd just as soon walk away from a particular subject or course and go in a different direction.

A lot of being a young adult is figuring yourself out and what you want to do with your life, and, yes, that's challenging!
 
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If you determine that medical school isn’t the right fit - is there something medical related that you feel you would be good at? Does the college you are looking at have an Intro to Health Sciences course that would provide you some info on a lot of different jobs surrounding healthcare that would be a better fit?

There are ASD folks in most every career path. You have to figure out what is right for you and also matches with your areas of strength.
 
kanga1622 said:
If you determine that medical school isn’t the right fit - is there something medical related that you feel you would be good at? Does the college you are looking at have an Intro to Health Sciences course that would provide you some info on a lot of different jobs surrounding healthcare that would be a better fit?

There are ASD folks in most every career path. You have to figure out what is right for you and also matches with your areas of strength.
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I'm sold for medical school but the doctor who gave me the news I won't make it alive is sad.

I'm currently taking classes now to see how it goes for me by my end goal is medical school since that is all I want to do.

I tried call computer careers but didn't like it.
 
ASD is...?
I hate to keep asking this (fourth time today for different acronyms) but from this forum I get "Apple Studio Display", and urbandictionary.com I get nothing.
 
Clix Pix said:
You wrote, "the only thing I like is Legos."

OK, now take a little time to think about this and to see if you can pinpoint what it is about Legos that you enjoy.... Maybe sit down with them and spend some time working with them and during that process you might recognize that you like this or that in particular, it pleases you, it is fun, you do it well, whatever.....make a mental note of that.

Unfortunately, sometimes what we'd really love to do in life we just cannot for whatever reason. Even with accommodations, there still may be major obstacles in the way and in that case it's time to be realistic. When I was younger and thinking about what I wanted to do as a career, I ruled out certain occupations right off the bat because either I was not physically going to be able to do them, or I just didn't like some of the things that came along with them, or I simply was not good at some of the things which would be required on a daily basis.

I'm lousy at math, I dislike math and there was no way I was going to go into any career involving math, either during the career-education process or later on the actual working day itself. I have a hearing impairment, so for me that pretty much ruled out any sort of career which requires extremely good hearing or even normal hearing. Because of early childhood experiences involving a lot of medical care I was fascinated by the field of medicine and healthcare, but by the time I was in high school realized that in many ways I was just not suited to that as a career, even though I was interested in it, and my grades in biology, chemistry and algebra pretty much proved that. I definitely was more geared towards the arts than I was the sciences.....

Take some time to think about what you like, what you don't like, what you're good at and what really interests you -- and, yes, this can take a while and sometimes a few false starts here-and-there as well. College is good for that as it gives you the opportunity to try out different things and take various courses and see how you do and if you flourish or if you'd just as soon walk away from a particular subject or course and go in a different direction.

A lot of being a young adult is figuring yourself out and what you want to do with your life, and, yes, that's challenging!
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true
 
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Arnold made some mistakes in his life, but the also had amazing success. He was told over and over again what he could not do. But, he did it anyway. Here is am interesting talk that he did about setting goals and not listening to the naysayers.

 
LOL, welcome to the spectrum :cool:

You sound a lot like myself. I was always considered some "genius", but they confuse knowing the top speed of a WWII battleship and etymology of words which are now archaic with Eddie Deezen as the computer programmer in War Games.

I dislike math and things which are too technical. I like to tackle things which come naturally and I practically perfect it. I can understand how you might think you want something rather badly, and I'm not telling you to give up, but you've also got to find something that really comes naturally. I never cared about motors or cars but from the very first day of learning how to be a mechanic, it turns out I would devour the data and always be hungry for more. If I told my thirteen-year-old self that I'd be a renowned master mechanic, I'd have either laughed or cried.

I'd say stick your finger in a bunch of pies. You will be surprised when you realize your purpose. I mean to say you'll be surprised as well as possibly disappointed. I really did want to be able to program computers but now I excel in just about every single other hobby and skill I try except programming, sadly.

It has been over a decade since I read "The Art of the Deal" by Donald Trump, but I remember a quote that went something like, "You may be the best innate golfer ever, but how will you know if you don't pick up a club?" Sorry, it's been so long I'm certain I've mangled the line, but you get the idea. Go pick up some clubs.

As for being "labeled": you should really just focus on how the diagnosis can make life easier. Importantly, you should learn what "social masking" is and learn to break the behavior. You will be so much happier not being awkward because you feel "unnatural" and will feel free to be different.
 
MrCheeto said:
LOL, welcome to the spectrum :cool:

You sound a lot like myself. I was always considered some "genius", but they confuse knowing the top speed of a WWII battleship and etymology of words which are now archaic with Eddie Deezen as the computer programmer in War Games.

I dislike math and things which are too technical. I like to tackle things which come naturally and I practically perfect it. I can understand how you might think you want something rather badly, and I'm not telling you to give up, but you've also got to find something that really comes naturally. I never cared about motors or cars but from the very first day of learning how to be a mechanic, it turns out I would devour the data and always be hungry for more. If I told my thirteen-year-old self that I'd be a renowned master mechanic, I'd have either laughed or cried.

I'd say stick your finger in a bunch of pies. You will be surprised when you realize your purpose. I mean to say you'll be surprised as well as possibly disappointed. I really did want to be able to program computers but now I excel in just about every single other hobby and skill I try except programming, sadly.

It has been over a decade since I read "The Art of the Deal" by Donald Trump, but I remember a quote that went something like, "You may be the best innate golfer ever, but how will you know if you don't pick up a club?" Sorry, it's been so long I'm certain I've mangled the line, but you get the idea. Go pick up some clubs.

As for being "labeled": you should really just focus on how the diagnosis can make life easier. Importantly, you should learn what "social masking" is and learn to break the behavior. You will be so much happier not being awkward because you feel "unnatural" and will feel free to be different.
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I see
 
If you can go though the schooling and you want it, don’t let anyone tell you what you can or can’t do.
 
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Just find something you love to do and turn that into a career. Don't use ASD as an excuse for not trying. There are many people out there that try to use ASD (or really, any other condition) as a pass that lets them just shrug their shoulders and say that it's not their fault that they're not doing anything and are a leech on society. Don't be like them.
 
I was finally diagnosed with clinical depression. Before I was terrified and confused. The diagnosis gave me a name for what was going on and changed everything. “It‘s just my old pal depression again. Been through it before, I’ll make it again.“

Depression means I don’t see the world quite like others, and that’s my superpower. I’ve learned what I’m good at and how to leverage it. You can do the same.
 
Don’t rule out the value of taking a solid research backed interest/aptitude inventory to help you select potential job or career paths . . . . you can get a lot of great feedback about yourself and where you might best apply your energy. I took the following inventory in my 20’s and it was super helpful in guiding me towards fulfilling work that I had skills and interest in. I’m not sure but I think most 2 and 4 year college counseling departments can administer it (where I took mine). And there’s likely other inventories besides this one:


Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory

The Strong Interest Inventory (SII) is an interest inventory used in career assessment. The goal of this assessment is to give insight into a person's interests, so that they may have less difficulty in deciding on an appropriate career choice for themselves. It is also frequently used for educational guidance as one of the most popular career assessment tools. The test was developed in 1927 by psychologist E.K. Strong, Jr. to help people exiting the military find suitable jobs. It was revised later by Jo-Ida Hansen, and David Campbell. The modern version (2004) is based on the typology (Holland Codes) of psychologist John L. Holland. The Strong is designed for high school students, college students, and adults, and was found to be at about the ninth-grade reading level (Blackwell and Case, 2008, p. 122). Unfortunately the newly revised Strong is available only in English, unlike the previous version.
 
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