- #1
CosmicKitten
- 132
- 0
The other day I started a thread on advice for self studying, and in it I discussed my learning differences and why normal methods do not work for me. All I got in response was being told that I'm wrong and egotistical and told how to do the right way to do it and it became one big argument that, being ADHD and very argumentative to boot, I naturally got caught up in.
Anyway, to start... I am ADHD as I have mentioned, I take Adderall 5 mg in the morning once a day but it only helps a little bit, mostly moodwise - I had frequent mood swings and bouts of depression and hysterical crying before I started it half a year ago, it works better than the antidepressants I tried which stopped working after a while and made me too lazy and unmotivated to focus. But my mind still wanders, perhaps more than before since it makes my thoughts more active, which is why I don't think a higher dose would work, that and the side effects I have on this small dose sometimes make me wonder if even 5 mg is too much. It's great if I can focus all those active thoughts on what needs to be focused on though but medicine can't help with that; and thus I can get too focused on something unimportant.
Also, I have Asperger's/high functioning autism of some sort, the main troubling symptom of that, I think, is that I can only focus on one thing at a time. If I attempt to multitask, I will either be stuck doing one of the two things and forget about the other, or wind up doing neither at al, usually retreating from reality to concentrate on something in my own head.
This makes lectures difficult. That, and the social element behind it; recognizing the subtext that requires one to read what the professor is really intimating that you need to pick up. I am poor with social skills not because I don't understand them, but again because it requires concentratiom and focus away from other stuff. I would in fact prefer to stay at home and study it all out of the book instead of get too tired out to concentrate from the lecture.
I also have trouble understanding things if they are written at too low a level. I will forget if the higher math used to explain it is omitted. I actually pick up how to understand it so quickly that I forget it just as quickly, though it will often be after an hour of fighting against wandering thoughts (a losing war, like trying to fight a burglar in your house while fast asleep, because your mind is just so out of it) that a sudden epiphany will happen.
I have no short term memory. Everything has to go into long term memory. If I try to work out a math problem while the know-how is still in short term memory, I get confused. I need to read the book and run through the procedures in my head so I at least remember the order and consolidate it into long term memory where more connections can be made without burdening my conscious focus and then I can do the problems very easily.
And there are other things that need to be explained but I can't remember them right now, again with the nonexistent short term memory. If anyone can relate or help...?
Anyway, to start... I am ADHD as I have mentioned, I take Adderall 5 mg in the morning once a day but it only helps a little bit, mostly moodwise - I had frequent mood swings and bouts of depression and hysterical crying before I started it half a year ago, it works better than the antidepressants I tried which stopped working after a while and made me too lazy and unmotivated to focus. But my mind still wanders, perhaps more than before since it makes my thoughts more active, which is why I don't think a higher dose would work, that and the side effects I have on this small dose sometimes make me wonder if even 5 mg is too much. It's great if I can focus all those active thoughts on what needs to be focused on though but medicine can't help with that; and thus I can get too focused on something unimportant.
Also, I have Asperger's/high functioning autism of some sort, the main troubling symptom of that, I think, is that I can only focus on one thing at a time. If I attempt to multitask, I will either be stuck doing one of the two things and forget about the other, or wind up doing neither at al, usually retreating from reality to concentrate on something in my own head.
This makes lectures difficult. That, and the social element behind it; recognizing the subtext that requires one to read what the professor is really intimating that you need to pick up. I am poor with social skills not because I don't understand them, but again because it requires concentratiom and focus away from other stuff. I would in fact prefer to stay at home and study it all out of the book instead of get too tired out to concentrate from the lecture.
I also have trouble understanding things if they are written at too low a level. I will forget if the higher math used to explain it is omitted. I actually pick up how to understand it so quickly that I forget it just as quickly, though it will often be after an hour of fighting against wandering thoughts (a losing war, like trying to fight a burglar in your house while fast asleep, because your mind is just so out of it) that a sudden epiphany will happen.
I have no short term memory. Everything has to go into long term memory. If I try to work out a math problem while the know-how is still in short term memory, I get confused. I need to read the book and run through the procedures in my head so I at least remember the order and consolidate it into long term memory where more connections can be made without burdening my conscious focus and then I can do the problems very easily.
And there are other things that need to be explained but I can't remember them right now, again with the nonexistent short term memory. If anyone can relate or help...?