Is this due to my AS or am I just lazy?
Everything you just described was basically exactly how I felt at university. Other people have told me I am just being lazy. At the time I thought they may be right, but now I realize that I was definitely not being lazy. I tried making schedules and planners, like everyone told me was the answer to all my problems, and it made it all worse. First of all, I took hours and hours making the dumb things, planned out every minute of every day, but things would come up and mess up my schedule, and my brain would just shut down. It wasn't that I was being whiny because things aren't going my way, like my dad seems to think. I literally couldn't think, and it was extremely frustrating.
So anyway, to answer your question, I don't think it's laziness. Unfortunately I don't have any really helpful advice though, considering I failed most of my classes at university.
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AardvarkGoodSwimmer
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You are a worthwhile person whether you pass this test or not.
Practice retrieval methods. Be attune to your high energy periods a la the circadian clock. Try and keep study periods short and sweet.
On National Public Radio here in the U.S., a guy talked about how the retrieval method helped him with medical school. An example is a penny. The average American has seen a penny thousands and thousands of times, but if he or she was to try and draw it out, where the parts are, they may not get it right because they have never practiced retrieval.
And can you comfortably afford a tutor starting early Monday? And I'd recommend keeping it short and sweet there, like half-hour sessions, and then you take it from there, then another half-hour session, etc.
Maybe tonight do something both fun and productive, and then come back to the studying refreshed, and then underdo it, but then you're ready for another session later on.
PS For example, another science class you might take a blank piece of paper and see if you can write the steps to the Krebs Cycle. And if you don't get them all, ease back away, do something else, one or two might come to you, sit back down, look at the answer, okay, there it is. Then do other things and maybe try again an hour and a half later.
Norny, have you dealt with perfectionism for long? For me it's deeply ingrained and my whole sense of self-worth is connected to it. So, if I fail on Friday (which I probably will) I will even start thinking that I don't deserve to live. And yes, even though I see/hear how ridiculous that sounds, I can't stop it. I can't let it go.
It's unfortunate that you have not been able to study. It reminds me of myself.
To be honest, I wouldn't exactly say that I am perfectionistic in the true sense of the word. My OCD has manifested itself with rituals/compulsions that constitute perfectionism (such as need for exactness, symmetry etc). It has affected me even through the most trivial of things, such as video game base (in an RTS etc.) designs and categorizing my movies to the point where I cannot continue as there is an un-surpassable logical inconsistency.
I don't have my sense of self-worth ingrained within in, but that's probably because I feel I have an innate detachment to myself (of which I do not know the cause).
I just 'shutdown' when I cannot achieve what must be achieved. It is highly black or white, all or nothing.
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Unapologetically, Norny.
-chronically drunk
There is still some days till Friday so you will get it done, don't worry.
I was exactly the same a week ago. I have had a hard test that I somehow FORGOT to study. I was sick for a whole week before so that explains it but well... enough self pity, I should have been studying more and thats it. My fault.
Anyway. Two days before the exam a friend called, asking me if I am prepared. My reaction was: WTF, what exam?
I started to read about the subject but I couldn't get anything done. It was all too much. I couldn't believe how possibly could I remember any of that. I didn't know where to start. Everything was totally mixed. I was sure that even if I learn something it will all mix in my head and I am going to fail.
But what choice did I have?
I decided I must at least try to learn something. I got my notes in front of me and started to read them, page after page. It was total mess but I was reading. And every time I got stuck on a information that I "COULDN'T POSSIBLY REMEMBER" I was writing it down on a side paper. It took me a few hours to read all the notes. My mind was totally blank, I was sure I didn't remember anything. But I went to sleep, it was late.
Next day I read my notes again and then started to read my "impossible to remember" side notes over and over. I also made a piece of paper with the difficult information and put it to my pocket, just in case. If it ended up I really can't remember nothing the piece of paper could help me - but I didn't plan to use it if I could pass without it.
Then the exam day came. I was still sure I don't know anything. I was telling "I am surely going to fail this one, I know nothing, I forgot to study" when people asked me if I am prepared. I was trying my best not to break down.
When the exam came... I looked at the questions and my reaction was... I KNOW THAT! I READ ABOUT IT!
I answered everything, pocket piece of paper was not needed at all (but I was happy I have it, it was somehow making me feel save). I even ended up remembering the 'impossible to remember" information. Apparently my brain was getting the knowledge while I was too stressed out to realize it. I was thinking I know nothing but ended up knowing everything.
I got an A.
ASPartOfMe
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^^^
THIS
In the official papers from my assessment it says I've got problems with regulating my activity level (that's translated from Swedish so I'm not even sure you call it that in English). That I sometimes hyperfocus on things (when motivated and/or interested) and that I sometimes just can't get anything done. Is that executive dysfunction and are the things I wrote about in the first post related to my problems with regulating my activity level?
Very much Yes
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DSM 5: Autism Spectrum Disorder, DSM IV: Aspergers Moderate Severity
“My autism is not a superpower. It also isn’t some kind of god-forsaken, endless fountain of suffering inflicted on my family. It’s just part of who I am as a person”. - Sara Luterman