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[ejb_123]

It doesn't look like you've read what the OP and others have posted, ejb_123. The OP doesn't want to teach at the high school level.

Yes, I noticed that the OP didn't want to teach at a high school after reading through all four pages of posts. Unfortunately, it was too late for me to edit my post, and deleting a post seems to not be an option on this fora. I will have to make sure I read more than just the opening post in future before I get involved in a discussion so I don't look like an ass.

[2clueless]

I call troll.

Without commenting on the substance of this thread, I disagree; the understanding of the world advanced by ega110 fits the profile of a high-functioning individual on the Aspergers' spectrum. While I can follow ega110's thought process as a result of working with a group of individuals with Aspergers who were of a similar age, I think it would be essentially impossible for a neuro-typical individual to reproduce the thought process as consistently and accurately as ega110 has done - plus, the repeated polite responses are not typical troll behavior.

[ega110]

You are probably right that it is not a good idea to rely on message boards for human interaction. I would like to be better at talking to people offline. I get a lot of practice talking to teachers in the schools in which I substitute. One factor that limits my success is that much of the interaction between teachers in the break room revolves around talking about their families. I do not have children nor am I involved in a romantic relationship so I can't talk about these things.

One tactic I use is to talk to people about the books that I am reading. Sometimes this works great, sometimes it fails. For example, everyone likes hearing about renewable energy, so I talk a lot about things like the smart grid. Everyone smiles when I tell them in a few years they will not only have cheaper energy bills but will be able to sell energy back to the grid and maybe even make a profit.

 Unfortunately, this does not work with everyone. Some people have a hard time looking at topics from new angles. Many people here have talked about the virtues of looking at the world from different viewpoints and making connections between disparate topics. This is something I have to work extra hard at because compartmentalization is something I easily fall into.

I make a point to read authors who are good at making these connections. For example, one author I follow is Naomi Klein. She is an award winning journalist with a degree in economics. I was in the break room one day reading her book The Shock Doctrine when a teacher asked me about what I was reading. The section I was reading was on the war on terror and examined it from an economic perspective. Klein argued that the war or terror did not make sense from a military standpoint. She said that you cannot fight an endless war against an undefined enemy for an unlimited timeframe. She said that it made much more sense to look at it as an emerging market. She explained how governments pay billions in national security contracts to private industry. In fact, she explained how there is one country, Israel, whose entire economy would collapse without the benefit of all of the homeland security contracts. It is a pretty amazing idea that we could be involved in a global war simply because it is profitable. Unfortunately, the teacher got up and walked away.

It might just be that people don't like to talk about economics. Another time I was talking to a history teacher who said that he was angry that so many of our jobs had been outsourced. I told him that Thomas Freidman said that the only reason to fear globalization is because you don't think Americans are capable of innovation. He also got up and left.

Talking to people is very complicated. There is so much nuance you have to learn. 

[snowbound]

Marlborough's post made me realize that my last post--which (unlike my earlier ones) was decidedly snippy and exasperated--was a standard neurotypical response to autistic traits.  Your patient response to my impatience with you also helped me see that. While the substance of my post still stands, I do wish I could amend the tone. I apologize.

On talking to people . . .  Most folks only want a few sentences in response to "What are you reading?" They are making a friendly overture, rather than asking for a book report.  After a brief answer, try asking them what they are reading (if they're holding a book) or ask them how their class went or whether they heard the thunderstorm last night.  In other words, express interest (and try to be moderately interested) in their thoughts.     

[academic_cog]

As you can see, I do have the ability to think complex and original thoughts. What I meant by logical rules is that college life in general is more structured than life in the real world. I was in a college classroom where the professor passed out hot cholocate to the students. The students went up single file and took their drink and returned to their seats. When I was a student in high school, a teacher gave out hot chocolate and the first kid to pick his up immediatey turned around and threw it in the face of the kid behind him. It was not personal. They did not know each other . He simply hurt the kid behind him because he could. That I was I mean by college being more structured than he real world.

This is not the difference between college and the real world; this is the difference between college and high school.

There are many many jobs that are not in the field of education where you will not see this sort of behavior, because they are professional work environments and employees who do not behave politely and professionally will be fired. The students you saw --- and those you interact with as a substitute teacher --- have to be there and cannot be "fired" (suspended) unless they do something truly egregious. They are also immature and have not yet been taught professional work behavior. If you want to avoid this sort of behavior, I would suggest moving into an office or professional environment rather than teaching at the community college level (where you will still see plenty of this sort of behavior unless you are experienced in discipline and classroom management --- and even then, you will still see some).

Tenacity in figuring out logic and checking things for accuracy, which you seem to say you have, is a valuable skill in many office/business/professional jobs, although usually this is in more demand around accounts or computer code.

Have you read through _What Color is Your Parachute?_ and done the exercises in it? I would suggest you go all the way back to the drawing board and discover what your own strengths and weaknesses are and what jobs are out there. Go look at the series of _Great Jobs for _____ Majors_ and _Career Opportunities for _____ Majors_ and read through several of those as well. (Don't just look at the _Great Jobs for English Majors_ book but read several others for other majors also. Cast your net widely.) Your counseling and career center should have copies of these books you could borrow or read right there in the center.

Then, if you decide you are still tailor-made for a teaching career, you can come back and ask the fora again. But it seems as if you are choosing teaching as a career more because you know it exists and are comfortable with it than your heart is set on it in distinction from all the other jobs that are out there. This is something I, and my students, have all struggled with as well. It is not self-evident how to go from a structured school environment to the unstructured job search, which operates under a completely different set of rules that are not what was taught in the classroom.

[oldadjunct]

I am not a troll.

I apologize.  I lost sight of the fact that you were referring to your experience in MS/HS, where this silliness certainly happens.  My error entirely.

Interestingly, I heard this documentary today on NPR.  It seems apropos of your interests and questions. 

http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/tomorrows-college/lectures/

[polly_mer]

Talking to people is very complicated. There is so much nuance you have to learn. 

Yes, you are right.  However, you can learn rules about how to interact with other people if you put your mind to it and read the right books.  I have not been officially diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, but I have gotten good results by applying some of the techniques that I've read about regarding how to deal with people who seem so different from me, particularly for things like small talk and casual conversation.  I agree with you that lots of books are fascinating, but, as others have mentioned, for some unfathomable reason even other well-educated people generally only want a two-sentence synopsis before turning the conversation to something like family, boring television shows, or some other experience that I likely don't share or don't want to discuss at length.  After all, I was reading my book for a reason.  Either let me go back to my book or let's have an interesting conversation on books and such to share information and learn.

Because I have that self-awareness of my preferred behavior and how difficult some things are for me, I have made concerted efforts to find places where I fit (as was described upthread by someone) and what I like to do is exactly what the job wants while my minor quirks are accepted as me being me.  Definitely follow the advice to examine a range of possible careers and working conditions to find something that fits your desire for rules with rewards for following the rules.  Such jobs exist (for example, you may want to try looking into city and county government clerk-level jobs) and you could be great in those jobs.  With your master's degree, you would be paid far more than you will make as an adjunct.   We haven't yet discussed the problems of finding and keeping adjunct positions for a person who loves the security of rules, but that process, aside from any classroom considerations, is not for people who want a clear-cut set of things to do.

[voxprincipalis]

I call troll.

Without commenting on the substance of this thread, I disagree; the understanding of the world advanced by ega110 fits the profile of a high-functioning individual on the Aspergers' spectrum.

Agreed, x1000.

For the same reason, I do not think a discussion here on this forum is ultimately likely to be fruitful rather than frustrating. Based on what's been posted here, there is still a long road ahead of you, ega110, before what's being said here is likely to make sense to you. I'd advise you to seek out professionals trained in working with and mentoring people with Asperger's, and the related resources available both on- and off-line, before trying to tackle this question again.

Good luck,

VP

[marlborough]

And just as a suggestion, please seek out someone who can mentor you about academia.  The typical "interpersonal and job skills training" available to ASD spectrum people will be about having a firm handshake and looking people in the eye, not about the intricacies of how the system works for the people inside of it.