Pharmacy student with Aspergers Syndrome

[quartel]

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There's this guy in my class, let's just call him Mr. X

Would like to hear your opinion on this:

Mr.X clearly has Aspergers syndrome. I always thought he was socially inept but it turns out he admitted to a friend of mine he has AS. The symptoms were there and although I initially didn't believe it was a real disease (just bad manners). Now I'm more convinced that this guy has a serious problems. He's insensitive to the point that he frequently bullies others, cannot read body language, cannot understand figurative language (everything you say is taken literally) and criticizes everything you do. He's making everyone in my class resent him and now I'm thinking about his future.

Does this guy have hope in the pharmacy profession? If he works in the hospital he is definitely going to test the patience of physicians and nurses. If he works in community he is going to cause problems with physicians and co-workers in the pharmacy.

Anyone know any pharmacists with AS?

 

[aboveliquidice]

I'm not familiar with any, but everyone should have the right to make their own life. Without disclosure, he may be discriminated against, but that is his choice. There are jobs for people with no/horrible social skills.

I wouldn't concern yourself with it... It's not your burden to carry.

 

[rph3664]

I can think of one man in my class who I'm pretty sure is on the autistic spectrum, although unlike the man described in the OP, he's one of the nicest people you could ever meet. I've met a few other pharmacists about which I think the same thing.

Truthfully, I'd rather work with any of them than the guy in our class who paid girls to do certain kinky sexual things that his wife wouldn't do, or the woman in my class who would openly hit on professors, or the classmate who was also one of my sister's best friends in high school who, upon being offered a job, took a yo-yo out and started playing with it, or the pharmacists I've known over the years who stole drugs, etc.

 

[Quiksilver]

There's this guy in my class, let's just call him Mr. X

Would like to hear your opinion on this:

Mr.X clearly has Aspergers syndrome. I always thought he was socially inept but it turns out he admitted to a friend of mine he has AS. The symptoms were there and although I initially didn't believe it was a real disease (just bad manners). Now I'm more convinced that this guy has a serious problems. He's insensitive to the point that he frequently bullies others, cannot read body language, cannot understand figurative language (everything you say is taken literally) and criticizes everything you do. He's making everyone in my class resent him and now I'm thinking about his future.

Does this guy have hope in the pharmacy profession? If he works in the hospital he is definitely going to test the patience of physicians and nurses. If he works in community he is going to cause problems with physicians and co-workers in the pharmacy.

Anyone know any pharmacists with AS?

Why does this matter? The dude has made it this far. Its more of a realization then you are willing to accept. If it bothers you, separate yourself from him.

 

[adma826]

Mail order.

Yeah I was thinking that too.

Or maybe academia.

I cannot see a person with AS being drawn to a community setting anyway.

My kid, while he does not have AS, we call him Sheldon Cooper b/c he sometimes acts like he does. He wants to work in academia when he grows up b/c he has the impression he will be able to associate only with smart people. (yeah, we're working on that - he's going to hate TA-ing freshman physics when he's a grad student LOL).

And people with AS can develop coping measures/social skills to deal with people - its just not a natural development and they will probably never be glib nor will they end up social butterflies, but they can usually learn to get by in an appropriate work setting.

 

[297point1]

I'm not familiar with any, but everyone should have the right to make their own life. Without disclosure, he may be discriminated against, but that is his choice. There are jobs for people with no/horrible social skills.

I wouldn't concern yourself with it... It's not your burden to carry.

You hit the nail on the head- this should not be the concern of a student.

This is the concern of:
- The Dean of Student Affairs/Director of Admissions (whether or not they can get through the program)
- The Dean/Director of Experiential Affairs (whether or not they can make it through rotations)

 

[ForgetMeNot]

Mail order.

🙄
Working mail order is not like working in a cave all by yourself. You still have some contact with patients and physician offices.

 

[streetpreacher]

He sounds like someone who got in pharmacy school based merely on PCAT/GPA and probably shouldn't be there.

I'm not sure when/how it started, but I do find it a little ridiculous that we have all of these diagnoses for people who may be a little "different" as far as their personalities. I guess we have to have a classification for everything.

I wonder how we are going to treat DA disorder... Although I guess that's slightly off-topic.

 

[eeyore spice]

Didn't your school require an interview? If he's as bad as you say, how'd he make it past that?

...Actually, I find myself asking that about a lot of students....

 

[rph3664]

I also once worked with a pharmacist who had a child who had been diagnosed with Asperger's, and it was really obvious from briefly meeting him that he wasn't normal. He'd be grown now; I wonder how he's doing, especially because the family also had no rules. 🙄

She was peculiar in her own way, because she didn't look at people. It went way beyond no eye contact; this woman DID NOT LOOK AT PEOPLE. It was really interesting to see her in the cafeteria; she would practically bury her head in her cafeteria tray but never bumped into anything. I know I wasn't the only one who wondered how her husband managed to impregnate her twice.

ETA: She was also the first example I saw of a woman who thinks her poop don't stink because she has an autistic child. Other special needs parents don't seem to adopt this attitude.

 

[firework]

Since you know his trouble, you should try your best to be nice and forgiving to him, at least don't make his life harder.

 

[BelleMD2B]

Not your issue. Focus on your studies, and when you come into contact with him, have enough compassion/understanding for his diagnosis to know that everything is very literal for him.

After that, keep it moving.

 

[quartel]

Not your issue. Focus on your studies, and when you come into contact with him, have enough compassion/understanding for his diagnosis to know that everything is very literal for him.

After that, keep it moving.

actually it is my issue. he annoys my friends and i and he invites himself to their houses. The fact that he has AS makes it politically incorrect for any of us to tell him off on how much we dont value his company.

 

[BelleMD2B]

actually it is my issue. he annoys my friends and i and he invites himself to their houses. The fact that he has AS makes it politically incorrect for any of us to tell him off on how much we dont value his company.

Interesting. This is a different issue from your original post where you were simply expounding on the general behaviors of someone with AS.

Well then, can you give him dead pan answers? A straight forward
'no', for example. With AS, you may not need to explain yourself as you feel you might with others. You recognize yourself the degree to which things are literal with him.

 

[charfdorn]

Interesting. This is a different issue from your original post where you were simply expounding on the general behaviors of someone with AS.

Well then, can you give him dead pan answers? A straight forward
'no', for example. With AS, you may not need to explain yourself as you feel you might with others. You recognize yourself the degree to which things are literal with him.

Yeah, just tell him he can't hang out with you. Maybe go a step further and let him know that it's rude to intrude like that, but you don't have to. Let him know that you don't like him coming around uninvited. Simple solution. That's a lot better than trying to get him expelled from school.