Back when the term Asperger’s Disorder was commonly used to refer to those of us with high-functioning Autism, it was sometimes half-jokingly referred to as the “engineer’s disease”. My approach? Enjoy the humorous side of the observation and embrace the serious part as a badge of honor!
Even if the term Asperger’s is no longer in formal use (ca. 2013 it was subsumed into the broader category of of “DSM-5”), the point is well taken.
In fact, engineering and the autism spectrum is more closely linked than many of us might have earlier considered. A study from 1997 first linked the two, genetically, in fact. Researchers from Cambridge University found that fathers and grandfathers of children with autism were found more than twice as often compared to fathers and grandfathers of neurotypical children.
I myself can anecdotally attest to this validity. My maternal grandfather was a chemical engineer for Standard Oil, and his father taught mechanical drawing at Georgia Tech.
In any case, it is natural for those of us on the autism spectrum to gravitate towards engineering or something else technical. Why? Because anybody aware of his/her condition of being “on the spectrum” has likely figured out that we thrive within an established set of rules, or “laws”.
We thus tend to thrive in “lawful” situations and struggle in “unlawful” ones. As it happens, engineering is all about “lawful” situations.
Let me briefly explain. Nature, specifically physics and chemistry, is governed by laws. For example, there are laws that govern the relationships between volumes and pressures of gases. Same thing goes for a vehicle’s speed and its engine’s rate of fuel consumption. All these, and other situations, such as the established strengths of materials, are considered very “lawful”.
Conversely, those of us on the autism spectrum likely struggle in social interactions (some of us more than others, to be sure), which are considered “unlawful” transactions. There, we have to deal with many visual and social cues that can push things in any number of unpredictable directions. Very few specific “laws” govern these types of interchange.
Another way of understanding autistics’ gravitation toward engineering is that we tend to have what the same Cambridge researchers referred to as a “systems thinking mind”. Systems always have a process, and engineering is always about process.
All this should be considered good news. Engineering jobs tend to pay well, after all.
So, given that there are a number of different types of engineering, which one is right for you? As always, it depends. If you are a visual thinker, then mechanical engineering might be the best fit for you. If you consider yourself either a verbal/logic or a math/pattern thinker, then electrical or chemical engineering could be the way to go.
At this point, barring further research, systems engineering could be viable for either visual thinkers or for the other two categories. Moreover, none of this is to say that visual thinkers should dismiss the idea of, say, electrical engineering out of hand, either.
Whichever type of engineering you choose, the smartest way to go about it is to earn a bachelors of science in an engineering discipline. BSME is short for bachelors of science in mechanical engineering, for example. BSEE is short for a bachelors in electrical engineering; BSChE for chemical engineering, and so forth.
Where you go to pursue your degree matters to an extent. You might think you have earned your way into a great college program for engineers, only to find out on the back end that the school has few ties to hiring companies. Meanwhile, a school with lower tuition and a slightly less prestigious engineering program could have all sorts of ties to potential employers just waiting to snap you up.
Translation: research the engineering programs beforehand, not for how “prestigious” they are, but for what their track record is in sending graduates into the workforce. Oftentimes, a program’s prestige has to do with the kind of research its professors crank out. That means little to you, though, when it comes to finding a job. Therefore, find out what the hiring rate is for new grads, and where they tend to go to get “launched” in their careers.
Here’s the rub: though engineering is indeed a marketable skill, hiring companies want at least some experience. Therefore, what you need to do while earning your BSME (or EE or ChE or whichever) is devote as much energy as you can to land an internship or a co-op somewhere, preferably the latter. That will give you the extra viability in the job market that you will definitely need.
True, not all companies have engineering departments. That unfortunately means there are slightly fewer opportunities for this fascinating and engaging line of work than, say, accounting/finance or computer programming.
Nevertheless, it’s a skill that is still in-demand, and one that can set you up to earn a very good living if you put in the work for the necessary education and experience. Such efforts are necessary, and indeed, part of the very foundation of enabling all of us to learn and grow together.