AS and learning barriers

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I have AS. I find that if I am interested in a subject (especially if it's my current obsession), I can learn huge amounts of facts about it and I get the "professor syndrome"

However if I am not that interested in the subject (example: I am revising for a cell biology test), no matter how hard I try, I cannot learn anything about it. I know that NTs get this too, but I get it to the extreme

I am doing pharmacology in uni (psychopharmacology is my obsession), but I have to get through the first year of "builidng foundations" in my knowledge before I can get to proper amounts of pharmacology. Right now my units are biochemistry, chemistry, physiology and pharmacology. I can't wait until the second year when I can choose a psychopharmacology module. The subejcts I'm doing now are compulsory; I don't get a choice in the first year

Do you get this problem too?

Your post isn't interesting to me so I can't think of anything to say.







Yeah. I know what you mean. It's as if when something in in my mind that I find intrinsically uninteresting, I can't hold it in focus. The interesting things are in the background clamoring for attention.

lol



It's irritating, isn't it. Sometimes I just wish that I could study a uni course that is 100% my obsessions, but unfortunately there's always the dire stuff to learn too....I'm going to fail this test

Yes. I always wonder what the difference is in between us and none ASD's who have a hard time learning something they are not interested in.

I don't learn anything, period. It's even hard to study or concentrate if I am not interested. But if it catches my interest, then I am eager to learn and I find it easier to learn. I remember having a fit about having to learn about WWII when I was 15 but then it got interesting so I started to learn. But I learned nothing in World History but I did in US History because I found things interesting. I always find the past fascinating and what people had then or how things looked, how people spent their free time and what people did before there were TVs and video games. Same as looking at the prices of how much things cost like food or gas or items. I learned in high school even though you may not be interested in something, something just something in it might catch your interest and you'd be eager to learn.

That makes senese. Although my brain's rule seems to be: if it's not interesting I'm not learning a single smegging thing

I dont have that. i can learn anything, wether it interest me or not, but i do require a special kind of learning technique in order to actually remember stuff detailed.

Like when i read a book, i cannot remember the facts or anything much. Its too much info. However, whenever i link the information to a concrete situation that i've been in and whilst reading or listening i ask questions about it that i want answered, then i can pretty much literally remember the text. Then it just fits in my mind.

I have a hard time learning things i know very little about. Though i love technic/physics/chemistry/math and all that, i really cannot manage to remember all the stuff i read because i don't have many concrete situations and i cannot practice. Unfortunately. People have told how electricity works for over 30 times, but i still dont know jack about volts, watts and ampere All i remembered is "dont stick your fingers in the socket"

I have a strong memory, but not for that stuff.

Lol. I agree with you that it is hard to learn long lists of facts. I need to connect things together and picture it in my mind. Although if I'm reading psychopharmacology or meteorology, I can recite sentences from the books lol

I am obsessed with math and logic but I can only concentrate on the problem solving aspect of math. I never liked geometry because that involved more memorization of postulates and theorems than actually solving problems.

This is exactly why it took me three extra years to graduate high school.

I just didn't care. I actually used my intellect mostly for instigating high school drama and winning the respect of the faculty members.

After a couple years of running things behind the scenes, I got bored and earned 7 credits in a single semester so I could graduate.

i also have a learning disability. more like mental block, or cheese brain? haha. ahem,
I guess you could say my brain is holy

I wonder that, too. Maybe some of them have the same problem ... maybe others are just lazy. What about people with ADD/ADHD?

Usually when I try to read something I'm not interested in, it's like my brain won't even turn on. I tell my brain to start working and it just gives me the finger and does its own thing. (Not really ... figuratively.)

But if I encounter something in the reading that relates to something I'm interested in, even tangentially, then suddenly my brain turns on and I can understand what I'm reading again.

My brain has a mind of its own. Wait, it IS a mind.

The stimulants help.

No really. I can start out not interested but after I take my dose and I spend a few minutes getting into a certain boring topic and can start to hyperfocus on it. Then I'm pretty much involved in it until my brain gets another idea and decides to jump to another task.

Speaking of....I was meant to read a certain boring book 25 minutes ago.