What Helped You Learn in School?

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What learning issues did you have in school, and how did you work through them? I want to give more info to other teachers about ND learners because right now they really only use color coding, smaller groups, and added visuals. Neither of these would have helped me. Since autism and other ND ways of thinking are so individual, could you share issues you had and ways you dealt with it, or interventions from teachers that helped?

For example, I am very much a bottom up learner. If I learned something new in class and then had to do an exit ticket (or really worse, verbal response) in the same class, I would panic. I wish teachers would give students the option to give those answers as homework so that people like me could have time enough to process.

I can't give you much advice because school was a horrible struggle for me. It seems like the teachers like to bully any student that can't adapt to their style of teaching, special ed. or not.

Being left alone by the teachers and assistant to learn things my way.

I've been fortunate enough to have been put in a couple of really good schools for autistics. All I can say is the teachers were trained well had experience and were good at individualized teaching. So I've been given workloads I can handle. Sometimes I end up basically teaching myself, like finally learning to read. Work I'm given is on the remedial side, go it kinda feels more like the whole thing is just going through the motions.

Yeah exactly. A lot of the time they get me started and then let me finish it on my own, in my own way.

You probably do well in social studies-type subjects.

That's exactly why I'm asking this question. I'm in a position to advocate and help, but I only know what helped me learn.

I could only ever learn well in class when the teacher was very strong and able to control disruptive behaviour. In many lessons it was impossible to focus or concentrate because of how the other students were behaving.

Group learning can also be very stressful and overwhelming for people with Autism, especially when we were made to sit on large square shaped tables and had to face the other students (eye contact, distraction, anxiety etc) I hate, hate, hated that. I could focus so much better in the classes where we had our own desks and could face the teacher at the front. Until the 1960s this layout was normal in my country (Britain) It's a shame group learning became fashionable.

This seems like a hard question to answer as school was a difficult place for many who didn't actually get the help needed and had to endure a lot of bullying that took away from learning.

Maybe a better question to pose is, what do you wish your teachers had known about how you learn and think (pretending this is some kind of bully-free, total compassion from teachers and peers utopia)? Including what do you excel at that maybe wasn't able to come out in a traditional school setting, but could have if only someone took the time to listen to you?

Yes, this is the trend now. It helps some people learn, but not all. It should be a choice. Thanks for pointing that out.

Incorporating special interests into the lesson plans

That would be ideal!

That's the only thing that worked for me. My mom refused to because real life wouldn't be so accommodating...and wondered why I had panic attacks and meltdowns when she tried to work with me. (I was homeschooled since the fifth grade) I had undiagnosed dyscalculia at the time and she was always telling me I could never be a veterinarian because I'd never be able to pass the college math requirements.

I had a tutor who would use animals and my desire to be a veterinarian in order to motivate me. I started volunteering at a real-life animal hospital and my math skills started to improve. I was actually pretty good at algebra and found it pretty easy once my tutor had explained what was expected of me (A LOT of the teachers I had had in public school would just throw questions at the kids and expect the kids to know how to figure them out). It was just basic math I had trouble with.

I should've been in a small class or by myself. I'm sure being alone would've caused me to become more introverted, but I would've learned more and not have been disciplined so much. I had way too much free time in class because the other kids took forever to learn. Homeroom for me was often the vice-principals office. I never got student of the week in all my years of school, even though I got straight A's when I felt like it and a perfect score on the math portion of the mcas.

You were lucky to have someone who helped so much! Do you remember how exactly your tutor made it make sense for you? I struggled so much until one day I noticed it was just finding the pattern to match units on the top and bottom.

I hate things like this. It makes doing well in class a competition, and usually ends up being a popularity thing. Doesn't everyone deserve recognition for their work?

I gave up on school. I dropped out of HS, went to the library, and then lectured to graduating engineers. Two huge mistakes the school made:
Due to a error on the 1st science exam I took, I had the only correct answer in the whole grade, but I got nothing for it. I pretty much gave up on my school. My math teacher, who was a counsellor half-time, told me he'd talk about cars with me if I'd improve my math scores. He should have asked math questions about cars.
Mark Twain said that God made an idiot for practice, and then he made a school board. In grade 9, I had to go to school on the morning shift, because a new high school had not been built for all the baby boomers in elementary school. Maybe they expected most of grade 8s to repeat??
Schools are designed to produce 19th century clerks using 19th century technology. I hope you can find a few minutes to help direct the education the kids are getting on their own. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wX78iKhInsc