Study Nightmare

[darkshine]

I do courses with the open university (OU), have been doing them for a while now, and every time I do one, there will be times where I want to quit. I'm so predictable (sigh).

So as time goes by I come to expect "these moments" (the moments can last several weeks)...

 

Here's my problem - hinted at by the topic title - I can't concentrate at all!!!!!

 

I'm trapped financially into doing this because of financial support given previously and many other very complicated reasons the OU basically struck a deal with me saying I had to do this course and the one I finished in January or I won't get support next year (and the course next year is very expensive - in my subjective experience).

 

I'm not allowed a break or to defer it. I have the choice of do it - or don't.

 

Now, I cannot afford to lose the deal, I can't afford to quit now and pay for this one to be done again AND the one I can't really afford next year either, they've given me a really good deal, but there's no support, no lee-way, and I feel like I'm drowning in it.

 

My tutor is as helpful as she can be by email.

 

So.....

 

Has anyone got any concentration tips cuz right now its like someone has thrown 30 pieces of a 100 piece jigsaw puzzle at me and is saying - understand that! Everything is so fragmented, I just can't pull it together - this is probably representative of daily life as this is static and falling apart also.

 

Please please please no food or tablet tips (vitamins or whatever) - I really don't like either and am already battling eating, and taking prescription meds as it is - thanks in advance

 

[darkshine]

I know I'm so impatient and its only been around 14 hours but.... Is this hopeless?

[Tanya52]

Hi Darkshine,

 

Nice meeting you.

 

I read you message twice and even drafted my answer but, you see, I presume you have had some kind of negative experience by saying:

 

‘Please please please no food or tablet tips (vitamins or whatever) - I really don't like either and am already battling eating, and taking prescription meds as it is - thanks in advance’

 

So, I thought …

 

On the positive side I think you are great because you are brave. I know that I could never manage my degree if I choose an OU’s course. My uni academic staff and disability services gave me so much help and support, that I pull it through by using my emotional attachment to all these good people to enhance my self-motivation. My luck of concentration and poor memory on the other hand was much easy to sort out. I realised that I need to improve right after this Xmas, after having flu twice and began taking Vogel’s solution of Ginkgo Biloba. It helped and I finished my studies.

[darkshine]

I read you message twice and even drafted my answer but, you see, I presume you have had some kind of negative experience by saying:

 

‘Please please please no food or tablet tips (vitamins or whatever) - I really don't like either and am already battling eating, and taking prescription meds as it is - thanks in advance’

 

So, I thought …

 

Nice to meet you to - I'm just glad the someone said something

 

The reason I said about food and pills is:

 

Food - I am aware that there are foods out there that are supposed to aid people in terms of things like concentration and stuff but my stumbling block on this is that unless that food is chocolate or kfc there isn't much hope..

 

However, I do eat and could attempt to see if anything can be implemented in my diet - the main other reason I made the request for no food comments is because I my limited taste I don't want to have to keep saying thanks but I couldn't eat that even if i was going to die if I didn't

 

Pills.... hmmm, I have tried a couple of health shop herbal remedy type things before but I'm just not keen on increasing tablet intake. I take prescription meds (sometimes) and have problems swallowing them ,also I have a lot of neck and back pain so painkillers take up any extra leeway there would be.

 

Guess I was just hoping for a miracle

[Tanya52]

Pills.... hmmm, I have tried a couple of health shop herbal remedy type things before but I'm just not keen on increasing tablet intake. I take prescription meds (sometimes) and have problems swallowing them ,also I have a lot of neck and back pain so painkillers take up any extra leeway there would be.

 

Guess I was just hoping for a miracle

 

I really hate to annoy you but I had a lot of problems with my back and neck too. All is a history now. I made it my habit to go to the local sport centre to do Pilates + 45 min swimming twice a week. I only take sleeping pills when I overwhelmed with anxiety and it’s always related to communication at my work place. I have no any other pills – I try to compensate my endorphins by exercising and it does the trick.

[Kazzen161]

Can you concentrate on other things? eg: games.

 

Most people have times when they can concentrate better than other times eg: first thing in the morning or late at night. You need to have your basic needs met before you can concentrate (so not hungry, thirsty, cold/hot, etc). No-one can concentrate for hours on end - what is your optimum time span - 10 minutes? 20 minutes? Have short breaks in between, doing something that demands little thought. Some people like to work with music playing in the background, some people like to work in silence. You may work better if you have a designated study area that you use only for study or you may work better curled up on your bed.

 

If you google study skills you will get the usual suggestions - try to find the things that work for you. Mind maps? Spider diagrams? bullet points?

[Kathryn]

I didn't respond because I'm not the world's best at this either, I dither and procrastinate and then end up having to do everything under pressure - nothing like an imminent deadline for forcing you to work!

 

Breaking tasks up into manageable chunks and pinning a list of them on your wall might help. A visual reminder of the tasks may make them appear less large and diffuse and more contained and manageable - works for me! Ticking them or crossing them off as you do them is also a morale booster.

 

At the end of a chunk of work, before you take a break, make a small start on the next thing, even if it's just writing the title of an essay and the opening sentence. This may make it easier to resume because it makes the next task slightly less daunting.

 

These things work for me anyway, but everyone's different.

 

K x

[darkshine]

I really hate to annoy you but I had a lot of problems with my back and neck too. All is a history now. I made it my habit to go to the local sport centre to do Pilates + 45 min swimming twice a week. I only take sleeping pills when I overwhelmed with anxiety and it’s always related to communication at my work place. I have no any other pills – I try to compensate my endorphins by exercising and it does the trick.

 

not at all - exercise does help but having major probs going out and house very small. to be honest i'm struggling with motivation too..... I am grateful for your opinion

[darkshine]

Can you concentrate on other things? eg: games.

 

Most people have times when they can concentrate better than other times eg: first thing in the morning or late at night. You need to have your basic needs met before you can concentrate (so not hungry, thirsty, cold/hot, etc). No-one can concentrate for hours on end - what is your optimum time span - 10 minutes? 20 minutes? Have short breaks in between, doing something that demands little thought. Some people like to work with music playing in the background, some people like to work in silence. You may work better if you have a designated study area that you use only for study or you may work better curled up on your bed.

 

If you google study skills you will get the usual suggestions - try to find the things that work for you. Mind maps? Spider diagrams? bullet points?

 

nope to games - used to but not currently

 

will try google idea thanks

[darkshine]

I didn't respond because I'm not the world's best at this either, I dither and procrastinate and then end up having to do everything under pressure - nothing like an imminent deadline for forcing you to work!

 

Breaking tasks up into manageable chunks and pinning a list of them on your wall might help. A visual reminder of the tasks may make them appear less large and diffuse and more contained and manageable - works for me! Ticking them or crossing them off as you do them is also a morale booster.

 

At the end of a chunk of work, before you take a break, make a small start on the next thing, even if it's just writing the title of an essay and the opening sentence. This may make it easier to resume because it makes the next task slightly less daunting.

 

These things work for me anyway, but everyone's different.

 

K x

 

thank you i will try this too

[hsmum]

thank you i will try this too

 

Hi,

 

I am really sorry to hear of your problems and I am quite surprised by the stance that the OU have taken.

 

I am a tutor with the OU and because you have AS and concentration problems I would have expected you to have a study mentor and provisions for extra time at the least. Personally, I would try to wrk in short bursts, perhaps with a reward at the end of each work session. I would also make use of postit notes and flash cards so that you do not have to plough through material to find the quote or fact that you need. The spidergrams, mind maps and visual aids suggested in other post will be helpful, as would software such as Inspiration and Mind genius if you have access to these. Be aware of sensory issues: is the place in which you study too hot, cold, is there too much noise or is it too quiet? Have you tried the student forum for your module? Some advice and support may be available there?

 

Your best resource, however, is your tutor. Is she aware of the extent of your disability? Is she willing to break down questions and concepts for you and so on?

 

I do hope you manage to get through this course. You really need a positive experience.

 

However, I remain very surprised that you are not receiving some kind of support. Could you contact the Student Support services at your regional centre to see if any help can be given?

 

best wishes,

 

J

Edited June 2, 2011 by hsmum

[darkshine]

Hi,

 

I am really sorry to hear of your problems and I am quite surprised by the stance that the OU have taken.

 

I am a tutor with the OU and because you have AS and concentration problems I would have expected you to have a study mentor and provisions for extra time at the least.

 

 

Hello and thank you for getting back to me, I am trapped in a vicious circle and don't know how to get out of it - I am struggling to talk so things are getting on top of me and then I feel worse and so on....

 

I used to have a mental health liaison worker but after she left (she was brilliant) and I got assigned a new one the contact number she gave me didn't work and I received no reply to my emails (Three - 2 within a month and another a couple of months later)

 

I contacted the OU about this - (this was in 2009) and for various reasons haven't got anywhere with this (the reasons are: the guy I needed to talk to was away a lot, a lot of holding and listening to greensleeves and to be honest I have given up before due to feeling like i wasn't getting anywhere)

 

I also got a DSA for a mentor but didn't have the first clue how to find one - I'm a bit thick when it comes to finding things (I don't mind, its just not my strongest area) - I didn't get the forms last year and emailed them about this and now i have to start that whole process again too.

 

I have extra time allowed for the exam (an hour and a half) - however I am about a month behind now and am really worried that the exam date cannot move, which will leave me very short on time for the final assignment.

 

 

Your best resource, however, is your tutor. Is she aware of the extent of your disability? Is she willing to break down questions and concepts for you and so on?

 

However, I remain very surprised that you are not receiving some kind of support. Could you contact the Student Support services at your regional centre to see if any help can be given?

 

best wishes,

 

J

 

Thankfully my tutor is supportive - it has been hard for me to discuss things with her but I am trying... She said she will call on saturday to see if we can work out a study time-table for the rest of the course. I hadn't thought about asking if she would be willing to break down questions/concepts - I will run it by her when she rings.

 

Student support services told me to download and send a form in - special circumstances - which I have been searching for and still haven't found - its been 45 minutes - it really shouldn't be this hard as it should be on my home page but isn't!

 

It is really frustrating because I hate asking for things - it makes me feel like a sponger or that I'm wasting people's time... As you can see I did set up some things a few years ago but it seems to have gone a little astray, but I don't know what else to do other than ask because things aren't getting any better. Its just so isolating sometimes - and then with health matters now too which are also currently isolating - I am feeling very lost and alone about it - at least now I have some proactive things to try to help improve the situation.

 

Thank you again for your thoughts, I will see if some of this can help me move forward - and even though I haven't quoted them - I really appreciate the tips

 

Best

darkshine

[Tanya52]

Hello,

Two days ago I posted this message but I can’t find it now for some reason. Perhaps I made a mistake and pressed the wrong button, for which I apologize.

I promised to post a tip. I don’t claim the ownership – someone from an autistic network shared it with others. It works for me and hope it will help you too.

 

As soon as you feel emotions coming up you separate them from the external circumstance and just concentrate on the emotion, same with uncontrollable thoughts, and then you make decisions about how you want to do deal with them, if they are overwhelming then you may decide just to do them for a while so you may tell them ‘I'm going to do you for an hour or a day or what ever and a then you are going to tell me some thing about yourself’, you should try to stay conscious of them and a bit separate.

 

At the end of the allocated time you might ask them if they've got some information for you and if they haven't you may tell them to go away or you might just tell them you'll give them the time but then you expect them to stop or you may ask them if they've got some thing to tell you or you might tell them; 'I'm not doing you now but I'll let you act out later when we've got time alone so I can find out more about you.'.. The idea is in the recognition that these are your thoughts and emotions. With this technique you should be able to get some mastery and learn how to make choices about how you want to think and feel, eg: I don't think I want to feel sad at the moment so I'll do happy what can I do at this moment to feel happy, it not about suppressing or denying the thoughts/emotions it about owning and controlling them ... this is recognition that you created them and its your responsibility to control or master them instead of the other way around.

 

First you have to take responsibility for your emotions, and separate them from the outside triggers, when you have started to control and understand your reactions (emotion/thought) you can go back to the external circumstance or situation with clarity and strength. The idea is to validate and own these emotions and thought, not judge them it’s; "Ok now I'm doing sad, do I want to do sad? Yep, I don't mind, I’m going to sit here and do sad for while and comfort myself or no not just now I don't choose to feel sad, I choose happy, if its over whelming its ok I'll do you for half an hour and then you can nick off... creating an internal dialogue help you recognize yourself as separate from and the creator rather than the victim.

[darkshine]

Hello,

Two days ago I posted this message but I can’t find it now for some reason. Perhaps I made a mistake and pressed the wrong button, for which I apologize.

 

Not only is this moderately weird Tanya - but I've already read this AND responded to it and that has disappeared too.... Hmmmm glitch springs to mind, spooky eh?

 

Well, I'd better say it again then

 

Thank you for you tip - I think I came across something very similar to this a while ago and to be honest I had completely forgot about it!!! I struggle with this technique but have to admit that it did work for some things - I'll have to look into it again, ta for reminding me

 

best

darkshine

[Tally]

It's not disappeared, it's here: http://www.asd-forum.org.uk/forum/index.php?/topic/26704-what-should-i-do-study-nightmare/

[darkshine]

Well!!! How silly are we?!?! Thanks Tally Although saying that..... we might have lived in ignorant bliss of our silliness.... Hmmmm.... Nah, I'd rather know.