CuriousKitten
Velociraptor
Joined: 19 Mar 2012
Age: 66
Gender: Female
Posts: 487
Location: Deep South USA
11 Sep 2012, 1:40 pm
vortex wrote:
Callista wrote:
Ouch... Seriously, ouch. Two years is really too long. Have you considered going to the disability services people and explaining the problem?--that you won't have an assessment for two years, but you're in school now and may need help? I don't know how much they can do for you, but they must have some things that they do to help regular students who are having trouble. At my school, new freshmen can take a class about how to succeed in college--it teaches you things like scheduling your time and keeping your homework in order. And there's a tutoring department, where the upperclassmen get paid a small amount to teach other students who are having trouble in class. Many professors don't mind your going to their office and asking questions. Perhaps you can put together a support system from those things, even without a diagnosis.
Yeah, it really sucks. Don't really know what to do.
I'm actually taking a class which is just called an "introduction course". There they give us a lot of information and teach us a little bit about scheduling our time etc. It makes me feel even worse though because I feel like I'll never be able to manage school.
Callista wrote:
I doubt you're lazy or stupid. I think you probably have the same trouble I have--you don't know where to start, the work seems overwhelming, so you don't start; and then you feel anxious because you know you're procrastinating, and that makes it seem even more overwhelming. That's not laziness; that's your brain freezing up on you. Pick the smallest possible task that doesn't seem overwhelming to you. I'm talking stuff like just getting your textbook and putting it on your desk. Very simple things, one step at a time. Write a list if you have to. When you start getting that anxious, overloaded, I-don't-wanna feeling, ask yourself why. Are you tired? Not sure where to start? Do you need a break or some recreation; or do you want to switch to another subject? Is there a question you can't answer that's frustrating you? Work around your mental quirks; figure out ways to work with your brain instead of just concluding that you're lazy. You aren't lazy most of the time; and everybody's lazy sometimes. Lazy implies you don't care. You seem to care quite a bit.
That sounds about right. The work seems overwhelming, so I don't start, then I feel anxious because I know I'm procrastinating and that makes it seem even more overwhelming etc. Don't know how to handle it. I really don't know.
I've got another question if that's okay (it's about something different). Something just happened and I sort of want to discuss it. We were just having a "corridor meeting" and when waiting for the meeting to start I was sitting in the sofa watching TV. Other people watched TV as well and they talked to me a little bit. That was quite ok. I didn't feel too awkward and uncomfortable. It made me really confused. Most of the time I feel really socially awkward and I think social interaction is complicated and difficult. But then I have these moments from time to time when I can almost feel "normal" and I'm able to talk to people quite well etc. Is that common? Does that happen to you? It makes me really confused and it makes me worry that maybe I'm "faking" the social awkwardness. Am I? Or am I "faking" being social? I don't know and I don't understand what's going on with me.
The best way I've yet found to break the brain freeze/anxiety cycle is to just pick up the reading material and browse through it. The focus being to just read it, without worrying about retention or learning. Once started, the task almost always becomes much easier.
I usually do ok with ordinary casual conversation such as you described -- when the situation differs from what I've experienced, and am prepared for is when I run into big trouble.
_________________
If it don't come easy . . . .
. . . .hack it until it works right
Aspie score: 142/200 NT score: 64/200
AQ Score: 42
BAP: 109 aloof, 94 rigid and 85 pragmatic
