Any solitary learners here?

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I prefer to read and look at visual diagrams rather than listen to a lecture in class. Anyone else the same way? My pattern of learning is also different from the average person. I prefer to hyperfocus on a subject then take a long break vs learning in small chunks throughout a longer period of time.

Last edited by timeisdead on 12 Jan 2010, 4:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Yep, me Lectures are teh boring and I prefer to study on my own.

I think it is common for us Aspies to prefer to study on our own and in our own way. At university one of the biochemistry lecturers was incredibly dull and boring and I stopped going to his classes. I got hauled up before the head of department and warned that I was going to fail that unit unless I started going to his lectures. I still didn't go. Instead I hyper-focussed on the subject for a week before the exam and came in top place in the exam list table! It did feel very good I must admit - smug.

These two sentences almost exactly fit me (the part that doesn't is the hyperfocus bit)! Whenever I do revision I usually type for about fifteen minutes, have a cup of tea and go back to it in about ten minutes. I think this freaks my NT mum out who I think expects me to work for at least half an hour at once. Overall I can do quite a lot of work in one day, even with my regular breaks. Often I do a big chunk of work with no breaks I start to lose concentration/become really bored.

i am an autodidact and prefer solitary learning.
I find learning in groups to be hideous.
I also have mild ADHD. I do indeed hyperfocus, but because of the ADHD my mental processing can be a little more scattered than someone who is AS without the ADHD.

When learning in groups, I can't really focus as much, especially if the group is excessively noisy. Same goes for when a person is orally giving directions. It causes me to lose focus. I prefer written words or visual diagrams.

Good deal. I sometimes wonder what's the point of attending certain class lectures. One thing I can't stand in a class is excessive reptition unless the subject captures my interest. However, in some cases in which a teacher captures my interest, I can listen for hours upon hours and never get bored.

It was many years ago when I was at Uni, but one thing that I found useful when in a classroom situation was to sit in the middle of the front row directly facing the lecturer. General noise was less disturbing if it was behind me instead of all around. Sitting there also felt like I'm the only one in the room and I'm getting the full attention of the lecturer. It is also a bit easier to monopolise the lecturers time and ask/answer questions too.

Hey timeisdead, we haven't spoken in a few days. I hope you're not mad at me.


I don't do good with group projects and I can't listen for long periods of the time in class. I notice I can learn on my own by reading things I am interested in or things I find interesting. I used to read through my History book in history class.

I even prefer to have things explained to me one on one, not have things explained to me when the teacher is talking at everyone than to me. It's weird because I do better if I am told directly, than told at. Then I would get accused of not paying attention or not listening.

Is there any other way to learn? I read and memorize, plus process, and end up learning what I want to. I survived public school and university by simply memorizing textbooks and classroom materials, not based on group work, lab partners, or team projects, all of which I avoided (I'd willingly be a solo person if the class had an odd number of people, or work with the person who tended to be absent from class).

Large lecture halls were the most difficult for me to deal with. Too many distractions, too much sensory input, and this was years ago, before cell phones and handhelds made the world much noisier.

Most class lectures cannot hold my attention, even if I really enjoy the subject my mind still wanders. I had a teacher who would outline his lecture and then put it on the overhead projector and read it aloud. He would then put it online. I quit going to class, read the outline online and then went to class to take the tests.

I do learn best on my own, and as others have said, tend to do it in spurts of obsessive focus.

I prefer to learn to do things on my own, in my own way, and on my own time.

+1. lately it's been sign language here and there.

I am another autodidact here. I love to learn by myself. I do not intend to come off as some sort of intellectual elitist, but I am well ahead of the learning curve. I used to read some off my dad's college textbooks almost religiously when I was younger and I also read whatever else I could get my hands on. I love watching the History Channel, the Discovery Channel, the Military Channel and the Investigation Discovery channel. As a result, I accrued a large amount of information. I also naturally learn fast (Interestingly, this is despite the fact that I scan textbooks as snail's pace and often re-read paragraphs). I am often lessons ahead in most of my classes.
Everybody seems to think this is a good thing, but it's not totally. In 8th grade, I was bored in Algebra (ended up failing the class in 2nd semester), so I decided to teach myself calculus. My current Calculus teacher seems to understand and he works with me and only gives me things he perceives as challenging for someone of my level. I don't have to do as much classwork for him. In return, I tutor and assist him in class. The guy whom I will take for Algebra said that he would give me the same bargain.
I don't think I tutor really well though because my way of thinking tends to be extraordinarily complex and I tend to confuse students (teachers tend to point that out a lot). Then when they get confused, I get frustrated. They seem to think I do a good job, so yeah...

SAME HERE!

Same here, too!