Adult with Aspergers, help required with effective learning.

[RudeBoy]

Hi Everyone,

 

Please go easy as this is a first post

 

For a while people joked with me about my aspergic tendencies. It only really hit home, when my girlfriend, a Learning Disability nurse, came back from her Aspergers course and told me she recognised about 85% of the "classic" behaviors. On top of this, I got told by a specialist in autism that I was more than likely on the spectrum because she gave me a test (Myers Brigs) and it was off the scale and at the extremes on everything more or less. Although I have no formal diagnosis (don't want one, because I would have to declare it in future interviews etc) it explains a lot of issues. It explains the lack lustre mark in my FE.

 

So making a good fist of it (as in moving onwards and upwards) I am now doing a course in my chosen field that will allow me to get on and start learning again.

 

The problem is I learn best with visual displays, hands on and such. How can I apply this to dry book learning. If I see pages of text, I try and skip ahead and end up re reading the page several times and only taking in 10% of it. I get impatient and cannot take in the written text, especially big pages of switches (My chosen field is data networks)

 

What I guess I am asking is can anyone point me in the right direction to learn and retain this stuff.

 

Ta

 

RudeBoy

[justine1]

Hi Everyone,

 

Please go easy as this is a first post

 

For a while people joked with me about my aspergic tendencies. It only really hit home, when my girlfriend, a Learning Disability nurse, came back from her Aspergers course and told me she recognised about 85% of the "classic" behaviors. On top of this, I got told by a specialist in autism that I was more than likely on the spectrum because she gave me a test (Myers Brigs) and it was off the scale and at the extremes on everything more or less. Although I have no formal diagnosis (don't want one, because I would have to declare it in future interviews etc) it explains a lot of issues. It explains the lack lustre mark in my FE.

 

So making a good fist of it (as in moving onwards and upwards) I am now doing a course in my chosen field that will allow me to get on and start learning again.

 

The problem is I learn best with visual displays, hands on and such. How can I apply this to dry book learning. If I see pages of text, I try and skip ahead and end up re reading the page several times and only taking in 10% of it. I get impatient and cannot take in the written text, especially big pages of switches (My chosen field is data networks)

 

What I guess I am asking is can anyone point me in the right direction to learn and retain this stuff.

 

Ta

 

RudeBoy

Hi I have the same problem I in fact can remember things better if someone talks/lectures me about the topic,I hate reading,the words seem to jump all over and lose my place.I am studying at the moment to and I just use lots of different highlighters to highlight important facts,I probably take longer than the average person but I get there in the end.I also love mind maps again using lots of different coloured pens,I associate each colour with a fact.I also come back to add things if I remember something I have read this can be out of the blue when I am washing dishes,walking etc.If I dont have a pen nearby I store it on my phone.I also read things aloud when I dont understand feel it helps more.The thing is everyone learns in different ways AS or not I dont know if there are any organisations which can help with this sure someone else can help.Good luck with your work.

[KezT]

The best I can advise is to speak to your tutor about your learning style!

 

We do have a duty to teach using a variety of learning methods, so whatever the subject, they should NOT just be giving out reams of reading. All FE college tutors must be qualified to at least PTTLL level by now, which includes writing lesson plans in your subject showing a vaiety of teaching styles.

 

At the very least, they should be able to point you towards websites/videos etc that complement the reading when that is necessary, but any good tutor should be able to skew their teaching style to their learners needs when they are informed of those needs!

 

When I teach tutors, I insist that they do one lesson to "blind" students (ie: no visuals), one to "deaf" ones (ie: no verbals), and one to "illiterate" ones (ie: no reading/wrting). It certainly makes them think about how they teach LOL.

 

 

[Tally]

Although I have no formal diagnosis (don't want one, because I would have to declare it in future interviews etc) it explains a lot of issues.

There are very few careers where you need to declare your medical history. A formal diagnosis would bar you from joining the armed forces and may restrict the types of role you could hold within the police service. Even though you don't have a formal diagnosis, you need to bear in mind that you probably have the same impairments as someone who does.

 

A formal diagnosis may give you access to the kind of support that you need.

[KezT]

There are very few careers where you need to declare your medical history. A formal diagnosis would bar you from joining the armed forces and may restrict the types of role you could hold within the police service. Even though you don't have a formal diagnosis, you need to bear in mind that you probably have the same impairments as someone who does.

 

A formal diagnosis may give you access to the kind of support that you need.

 

I beg to differ - many employers ask for a medical history/declaration before you start work. It is illegal to discriminate on those grounds, but bl**dy hard to prove too> A Dx in adulthood is a matter of personal choice, and IMHO depends on your ability to get by in the NT world.

 

You do not need a Dx to access services, request special considerations or be covered by the DDA -although obviously having a Dx and a word does help others understand what you're talking about!

[RudeBoy]

Hi Everyone.

 

Thanks for that. I will try and do as suggested re: lots of colour etc. It's a professional course, rather than academic. all the same stuff still applies though. Just thinking it would be amazing if I could re write the material (copyrights and that aside) for people like us, or to make it easier to understand/recall. It's awful dry and full of TLAs

 

As for diagnosis. I really think I want to keep it to myself because there is still a stigma attached (in my opinion anyhow)

 

Anyhow, when the exam is passed I shall come here and let you all know. Aspergers explains so much as to why I was shockingly poor at "institutional learning" but give me a PC and I am loving it (Well did, when you fix them everyday all day it gets a bit teadious but hey its a means to an end.