Are most people on the Autistic spectrum quick learners?

Page 1 of 2 [ 30 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2  Next

Acteon25
Tufted Titmouse
Tufted Titmouse

Joined: 9 Aug 2019
Gender: Male
Posts: 44
Location: UK

11 Aug 2019, 4:38 pm

I was recently diagnosed with Autism (Aspergers).

I’m not a fast learner. It takes me a bit longer than most for information to go in. I’m better at learning when i’m at home with no distractions, but sometimes it can still take a while for me to understand what to do. It’s so frustrating and it was one of the main reasons why I was fired from my graduate job.



darkwaver
Velociraptor
Velociraptor

User avatar

Joined: 30 Jun 2019
Age: 55
Gender: Female
Posts: 458
Location: Southwestern US

11 Aug 2019, 4:49 pm

It depends on how interested or motivated I am.



livingwithautism
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 9 Sep 2015
Age: 34
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,337
Location: USA

11 Aug 2019, 10:03 pm

It depends on the topic. But I'm generally a slow learner.



Last edited by livingwithautism on 11 Aug 2019, 10:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.

EzraS
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 24 Sep 2013
Gender: Male
Posts: 27,828
Location: Twin Peaks

11 Aug 2019, 10:06 pm

Generally I am a slow learner.



jimmy m
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 30 Jun 2018
Age: 76
Gender: Male
Posts: 9,153
Location: Indiana

11 Aug 2019, 10:17 pm

One of the characteristics of an Aspie is that that they can take longer than normal doing a simple task. But they often can do a tasks their own way, a very unique way and achieve good results. It is a function of the way our brains are wired with more interconnections. I will give you an example.

When I was growing up, I never enjoyed reading for reading sake. I only associated reading with schoolwork. The only exception to the rule was comic books. But when I entered high school, the requirement to read efficiently became extremely important. My school must have recognized my limitation and placed me in a strange type of special class during my freshman high school year. The training was a type of reading comprehension training. The closest I could describe this was a class in Speed Reading. They would flash a paragraph or two of information for a very brief period of time and then measure my comprehension. They tried to teach me tricks on absorbing written material quickly and effectively.

My ability to learn was hindered by my lack of short-term memory. I would read the first sentence of a paragraph and then I would read the next. But by the time I finished the second sentence I forgot what the first sentence was about; so I would reread it. Then off to the third sentence but part way through that I forgot what the first two sentences were about, so I reread them. So it might take me an hour to read one paragraph - a single paragraph. What speed- reading taught me is to quickly identify one or two key words in a paragraph. This was the essence of the paragraph. Once I found them, they would anchor the entire paragraph around those couple words. So instead of reading linearly, I would read information from the inside out. I learned to comprehend meaning by drilling down from those key words to frame the entire paragraph.


_________________
Author of Practical Preparations for a Coronavirus Pandemic.
A very unique plan. As Dr. Paul Thompson wrote, "This is the very best paper on the virus I have ever seen."


Oraq
Tufted Titmouse
Tufted Titmouse

Joined: 4 Jun 2019
Age: 70
Gender: Male
Posts: 29
Location: France

12 Aug 2019, 9:08 am

Acteon25 wrote:
I was recently diagnosed with Autism (Aspergers).

I’m not a fast learner. It takes me a bit longer than most for information to go in. I’m better at learning when i’m at home with no distractions, but sometimes it can still take a while for me to understand what to do. It’s so frustrating and it was one of the main reasons why I was fired from my graduate job.


Whatever your diagnosis, a bell curve of IQ applies, and some are just smarter than others. Then there's motivation; I was a sponge for knowledge during my early schooling, but being treated badly by two headmasters on the trot (they both assumed anything that went wrong anywhere near me was my fault) cured me of that!



ConverseFan
Blue Jay
Blue Jay

Joined: 14 Jul 2019
Age: 23
Gender: Male
Posts: 89
Location: West Coast

12 Aug 2019, 12:04 pm

I don't know about other people but I am a very slow learner. I have to be shown things multiple times. I also get really frustrated because of this. I also have behavior issues that make learning difficult. I get more focused on anxiety and other things that are bothering me. School is challenging because of it. I am behind in school. I am at an elementary school level in math, around grade 8 level. I feel stupid



Roboto
Deinonychus
Deinonychus

Joined: 22 Jul 2019
Age: 49
Gender: Male
Posts: 336

12 Aug 2019, 12:10 pm

I learn slowly, but much more deeply and this helps me teach and articulate the areas of my focus pretty well. I used to think I was a quick learner in some areas but I recently decided that I probably learn at the same rate it's just that some things stay in my mind for weeks straight without breaking thought and I probably just put more time in to learning and understanding those things.



Last edited by Roboto on 12 Aug 2019, 12:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Mountain Goat
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 13 May 2019
Gender: Male
Posts: 14,696
Location: .

12 Aug 2019, 12:28 pm

Depends with me. If I don't latch onto a subject, it is hard work for me. I am therefore either an average, or a slow learner. However, if I can get to latch onto a subject, I can be a very quick learner.
Generally my mind does not think quick, but it doed think deep and very precisely. In other words, don't expect an instant bright intelligent quick thinking answer, but give me time and I will surpass expectations as long as they are of a subject nature which I can latch onto.
The latching onto is very off or on for me. I either latch onto a subject or I don't.



Sam64
Tufted Titmouse
Tufted Titmouse

Joined: 29 May 2019
Age: 41
Gender: Male
Posts: 30
Location: UK

12 Aug 2019, 12:38 pm

Only if it's something I'm very fascinated in, otherwise I'm a slow learner.



Noca
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 9 May 2015
Gender: Male
Posts: 3,932
Location: Canada

12 Aug 2019, 2:48 pm

Not a quick learner here.



dyadiccounterpoint
Velociraptor
Velociraptor

User avatar

Joined: 31 Jan 2019
Age: 33
Gender: Female
Posts: 464
Location: Nashville

14 Aug 2019, 10:38 am

I can learn quickly if in a state of fascination or obsession. I can also cram rather well, but there isn't much retention from cramming.

Generally, I will be slower than others until a sufficient amount of repetition. I'm like this with math, for instance.

Let's say you gave me tests examining how fast I can solve arithmetic and/or algebra problems. I'll be slow at first. I might even struggle with efficiently calculating what might seem to be basic arithmetic computations. However, if I continue to run through these tests, I will eventually start solving them with lightning efficiency as I internalize the patterns and processes.


_________________
We seldom realize, for example, that our most private thoughts and emotions are not actually our own. For we think in terms of languages and images which we did not invent, but which were given to us by our society - Alan Watts


kraftiekortie
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 4 Feb 2014
Gender: Male
Posts: 87,510
Location: Queens, NYC

14 Aug 2019, 10:41 am

What Dyad said happens to me----I'm very slow at the beginning of anything I do--so slow that people get frustrated with me.

But then....when I finally "get it," I thoroughly "get it," and work relatively fast afterwards.



Nydcat
Pileated woodpecker
Pileated woodpecker

Joined: 30 May 2019
Age: 44
Gender: Female
Posts: 187

14 Aug 2019, 10:54 am

If it's something that interests me, I'll be a fast learner. Very quick to understand, a bit slower to memorise. Otherwise, it depends; something linear will be easy, but the more non linear the harder it will be. I.E. Science math: easy, applied math: much harder than it should. It think it has something to do with switching gears; if I we switch subject many time in a class, I'll have to regain my momentum every time.



JustFoundHere
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 13 Jan 2018
Age: 61
Gender: Male
Posts: 2,152
Location: California

14 Aug 2019, 3:30 pm

Sam64 wrote:
Only if it's something I'm very fascinated in, otherwise I'm a slow learner.


Oh yes, I was a fast-learner when it came to special interests. More often than not I'm a slower learner - the dichotomy of the Autism Spectrum.

Personally, the term (or label) 'slower-learner' was applied before the Autism Spectrum was understood.



League_Girl
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 4 Feb 2010
Gender: Female
Posts: 27,254
Location: Pacific Northwest

14 Aug 2019, 4:12 pm

That depends on what I am learning really.


_________________
Son: Diagnosed w/anxiety and ADHD. Also academic delayed and ASD lv 1.

Daughter: NT, no diagnoses. Possibly OCD. Is very private about herself.