asobi_seksu
Snowy Owl
Joined: 17 Aug 2009
Age: 32
Gender: Female
Posts: 129
Location: stationary village,scotland
17 Apr 2010, 10:14 pm
18 Apr 2010, 2:28 am
18 Apr 2010, 5:34 am
Even without a diagnosis for ADHD, many people with Asperger's (or any ASD) have attention deficit problems which interfere with studying.
All the way through university I had problems starting assignments. Each day it took me ages (hours) to get started on work, only to go through the whole process again the next day. No matter how hard I tried to apply myself, I procrastinated until the last moment and did my assignments in a last-minute rush. I got by on sheer intelligence, not by planning ahead. I also spent a lot of time researching things that I was interested in that were not on the curriculum - that weren't even subjects that I was studying (my parents pointed this out one year when I failed most of my subjects 
).
Even at work, I have difficulty starting work each day, difficulty switching tasks, and difficulty planning ahead.
It is all executive dysfunction: try these links for more (and google phrases like "executive dysfunction" and "executive function")
http://chaoticidealism.livejournal.com/56326.html
http://thiswayoflife.org/ef.html (this is not about study, but about general living - but the suggestions apply to studying as well)
Basically, your brain is working like the brain of an ADHD person (especially the ADHD - inattentive type). You may need to make lists, and set yourself small - even extremely easy - tasks, and then reward yourself when you complete them. If you can get someone to be your coach - someone who can help you break up your assignments into tiny, simple tasks that you can knock off one by one - that is also worth trying.
18 Apr 2010, 5:42 am
18 Apr 2010, 8:29 am
What you described does sound a LOT like inattentive ADD, but there are all sorts of reasons why people have trouble studying. It sounds like you're trying to understand WHY you're having these problems, as well as how to fix them, so I'm going to ask you some questions about it.
What's going on when you have trouble studying? Is there a particular subject? Are essays particularly hard? Memorizing lots of information? Reading a textbook? Do you have more trouble when it's easy or when it's hard for you? Most importantly, how interested are you in it? If it doesn't tie in in some way to your special interests, it probably won't get done no matter how much you want it to.
What about work habits? Does having music on help you or hurt you? Do you need other people around to keep you on task, or do you find them distracting? How much lighting do you need? How cluttered a space can you stand to work in? These things sound really banal, but they do make a difference.
What happens when you have trouble studying? Do you just feel too tired and low energy to do it? Do you concentrate, but read the same thing over and over and not understand it? Does your attention wander to more interesting things? If so, are you bringing your attention back to your work? Do thoughts enter your mind like "I can't do this" or reasons why you're not going to do it (and then you feel depressed and have trouble working)? Do you have life problems that are distracting you? Do you have a vision of what you want to do with the assignment that you don't think you can actually produce? Perfectionism can contribute a lot to procrastinating.
When are you most alert? When you have multiple tasks, do you work better by building up momentum (starting with the easy stuff first, then moving onto the harder stuff)? Or do you prefer to allot limited mental energy by getting the hardest stuff out of the way first when you're most alert? It might be hard to figure out how to order things on your to-do list. I've thought about it for years, and it's still a problem for me.
For me, it really helps to make lists--multiple lists. And have a place to put them (I used to lose my lists all the time). I need a list of all the tasks that need to be done over a longer-term period of time (i.e., this week and/or this month). From that, I need to assemble a list of things to do today, including classes, meals, walking time, etc. Usually I like to look at a whole week at a time and plan what work I need to do for each day of the week. That way if I'm done with something early, I know what to do with myself and I don't just go surf the web. Or, since it takes me a week to write an essay, I've made sure I get other work out of the way so I can do that. Of course, I'm not always self-disciplined enough to make lists, but when I am, they help.
A stimulant could help too, if it turns out you have ADD. There's not just Ritalin, there are many of them that last for different numbers of hours and have slightly different effects and side effects. I would go to someone who has some experience prescribing stimulants, especially since you sound a little dubious about the whole thing.
There's some interesting ideas here: http://adultaddstrengths.com/2009/11/12 ... adult-add/ I had more links on one of my blogs but I forgot the password, so I'll have to add them later once I figure it out. Also there are certain types of coaching that might help: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE62U4X020100331
Good luck!
