College Study Tips with Asperger's and Dyslexia

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I have dyslexia and Asperger's, as the title states. I have to study longer and harder than the next student due to this. I am taking multivariable calculus, which needs a lot of practice, and intro to Sociology, which needs a lot of reading, in fall. Does anyone have ideas for study techniques that can help me juggle two classes? I'm not sure how I'm going to keep up, but I know it's going to be hard. I really want this degree, though, and have 44 credits behind me already. My end-goal is a Bachelor in Environmental Engineering. Not willing to give up, though.

Just to add to my original post. I took VARK in another post and discovered I am a strong kinesthetic learner. I scored 7 on visual and 13 on kinesthetic. Would like to incorporate this into my studies, but am not sure how. No wonder I don't like to sit for long periods and just read or do math problems.

You have 44 credits under your belt.

Why don’t you use the techniques you’ve been using previously.

As far as study techniques: never been a good studier....what I do is to emphasize what I don’t know, for rehashing what I do know is redundant.

I have been taking 1 class all this time and now I must take 2 to qualify for financial aid because the tuition is higher. I am going to start with Multivariable Calculus and Intro to Sociology, combining a hard and an easy class. I'd be studying all the time if I did that. The classes are not as easy as they used to be. The Math is going to get more complicated, meaning that more practice is required to learn it. Reading takes me forever, but the Sociology class will have a lot of reading in it. It's going to get more challenging to juggle the needs of both classes and get the homework done for each. I'm in the sophomore level now; I am no longer a freshman.

Intro the Sociology, like you said, will probably be a relatively easy class, especially if a competent professor teaches it. Make sure you follow the syllabus.

You’ll have to ask someone else for advice about studying mathematics. I never went beyond algebra.

One idea I have seen is to take a tray (like a lunch room tray) and cover it with shaving cream - and use your finder to trace out calculus equations - this engages your sense of touch. You can then smooth it over and try another. I saw a grade school teacher call this her "always works when nothing else does" trick for multiplication tables. If you have time to create materials you can make letters and numbers and symbols of sand paper and then you can arrange them so you can feel the equations. Even tracing out equations with a finder or eraser on a desktop would add tactile.

You might benefit from a "physical" memory palace - Many books by Tony Buzan on this topic. I liked reading the book "Moon Walking With Einstein" (which is available as an audio book). You could ask any good reference librarian to help you find these.

The idea of a memory palace is to encode everything you need to memorize as an image of a person, action or object and then "place" these things in a "palace". One guy I read about had his favorite part of London as his "Palace" (the palace can be any place it doesn't have to be a building). He would start in his favorite booth at his favorite pub and "place" each memory in a specific location in his mind, then he would move his whole body to the next location and do it again. The things he needed to remember and the order they needed to be remembered in were encoded in things and locations.

Different parts of the brain are used for this kind of memorizing so it is a big help if you are a "different" learner.

A variation on the memory palace is a "mind map" - you still place the things in places, but your places look more like a fancy "family tree" and you use the position in the "mind map" to help recall the order and relationship of things.

You should also have someone help you learn how to use the free Anki software.

I used to "walk and read" for classes that had a lot of reading. It helped me a lot.

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