Paying attention

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This was a big reason why I did so bad in high school with classes I had no interest in. I find it impossible to pay attention and be patient when someone talks a long time about things that are boring, or things that aren't exactly my interests. It makes me feel like a selfish jerk, like people have to put up with my telling long stories about stupid things all the time, but I can't do the same for them. If any of you have this problem how do you deal with it? A lot of times I end up getting really irritated and snapping at people. I know its not fair but I feel at a complete loss of control.

i get exactly the same as you!! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !
i know how it feels!

My problem is that I haven't found a way to deal with it, and I'm in uni. I have lots of problems staying interested in my subjects. What seems exciting when the application date runs out in March is no longer fun in December, and then I still have 5 months left.

I can relate to what you're saying. I zone in and out a lot, regardless of whether it's boring or not.

I know exactly what you mean, but I haven't really had to deal with it outside of school, so I'm afraid I'm little help outside the realm of education.

Yes, I have always gotten in trouble for not paying attention. My imagination was always more interesting than what was going on around me.

I think it's common for kids not to pay attention in class, but I have trouble paying attention to movies and stories that people tell. The problem is that human emotions often bore me. I have no interest in dramatic stories, unless they're part of a story I'm writing.

what?? sorry. I was distracted.

But, yeah.... And the above quote (zoning in and out) pretty much covers it.

I try to find some aspect of everything I learn that I can tie into one of my special interests.

And when that doesn't work, I bribe myself with things like dinner and restroom breaks.

Yea i know how u feel, i wonder off everytime somebody is talking to me unless its interests i like, other then that, be better off talking to a wall hahaha. There are sometimes though i can keep my self entertained in that situation though. In classes, nope no attention at all, i remember literally just drifting off in my own little world one time, then the teacher started talking about heiroglifics(yea i think i should just change my username to miss error haha) and i was like huh what? thats when i actually got an A for once haha.

I found it difficult 2 pay attention in a skool classroom as i had no feelings 4 other pupils emotions n secondly i lacked patience.

I agree completely. I've never been able to keep my attention focused in a classroom setting when the subject wasn't interesting to me. I always ended up just not going and receiving an F for the course. This was in college. I ended up just stopping school altogether and have never received a degree because of it.

It's too bad you can't just go to school and learn the stuff that interests you. I got A's in all of my major classes and C's and below for anything that was outside my major and didn't hold my interest.

I really like that idea.

I also sometimes zone in and out whenever someone else is talking for a long period of time, both inside and outside of school. But I'm still able to pay enough attention to be an all A's student in high school. Yesterday, when I was at the Annual Autism Confrence at the University of PA in Philadelphia, I was zoning out so many times that if this topic didn't exist, I would've been inspired to start a topic just like this one!

i often lock in class and its embaressing when teacher shakes me to get me react