High school and studying

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I am a junior in high school and am taking 2 AP classes and the rest honors. I have always gotten stressed with this kind of load, but felt the need at the time because I was fixated on Ivy League schools. I had very good grades before (mostly or all A's) except for a few elementary school hiccups. Now, I feel like my grades are slipping. They haven't dropped a lot yet because I often do well on homework, but I have failed at least half of the tests and quizzes this year. It seems like I can't remember anything because it is boring. The easier the topic is to others, the more I don't understand it. My mom thinks I am having trouble now that I do all my notes and schoolwork on my iPad and laptop, because I get distracted. However, many things have to be typed and I stopped taking ink notes because my handwriting is too sloppy for anyone (including me) to read, and my teachers can't stop and repeat info or PowerPoint slides all the time just for me so that I can write slow. Also, it often seems like I know what I have been learning when at home, but when it is time for the test, even if I go to the counselor's office, I still can't remember. I also have poor study skills because I used to remember everything, but now I don't. I hate school to begin with and I just want to stream music/TV all day and sleep over 10 hours. I am on lots of mess and they don't help anymore.

Exercise/accomplish/ do anything to improve your self-worth.

Take pills for concentration and the mental stuff.

Will improve loads...I think.

I think that maybe (?) I have some help for you.

We have a son in high school, and I don't think he is quite as academically gifted as you are (he has one honors class -- pre-calculus) but he probably has the same problems with studying, concentrating, taking notes, etc.

He has problems with concentration, so he has to take large amounts of add medication to help with that.

OTHER than that, though, we have discovered a few things that help. I do think that it helps my son if we use technology as much as possible. I see that you use your laptop and iPad, so you are probably already pretty well hooked into using technology as much as possible. My son uses the following on his iTouch:

1) iStudiez Pro - it's an app that you input homework/project/test/report information, so that you can view what your daily responsibilities, as well as long-term projects that come due weeks away. You can keep track of teachers, classes, and assignments, and add priority status to each assignment. This is your basic app to replace a planner.

2) Flashcards -- the app is just what it says -- you enter info that you will review later for tests. At first I thought it would just be useful for languages (which it truly is), but my son now uses it for most classes -- history, chemistry, a little pre-calculus, english, etc. You can get online on Quizlet.com to upload your flashcards, but also to check and see if OTHER PEOPLE have made flashcards for your very subject, and you can just download THEIR stuff. You can input your textbook, and usually something will come up if you also include the chapter you are currently on.

The flashcard app has been the most useful thing, and we have learned time and time again that if my son prepares this way, he will do well on tests.

The MOST IMPORTANT THING, and something my son rarely does, is to input info into flashcards daily, as you receive that info in class. My son has packets in most of his classes -- so this week we are having him input stuff as he receives it daily from the packet, rather than all at once the night before the test. If you do a daily input habit, you can review each day as you go along -- and by test day, you don't even need to review, because you've been doing the review EVERY DAY.

If every student could get into the above habit, it would save them a lot of grief and, in your case, STRESS.

My sons ability to take notes isn't very good -- again, it's the speed thing -- but most notes in his classes are done by the teacher, are very specific, and are up on a white board -- so all he has to do is write them down.

Having said that, the notes part of school is hit and miss for my son. But if he has a packet or a textbook chapter to refer to, and can make flashcards based on those, he generally does pretty well.

Also, your schedule seems REALLY HARD. I can understand why you wanted to have AP and honors courses in preparation for applying for Ivy League schools, but there has to be a balance. If you have a course that you can ACE, then do AP or honors. If not, suck it up and do the regular ed classes because that way you keep your sanity (don't have to work incredibly hard) but also you need to get A's, and that's how to do it. It's my impression that if you have some AP and honors courses along with regular ed, but you have extra-curricular activities and/or volunteer work, you would be better off and more impressive to colleges.

Sorry, this seemed to go on forever! Hopefully there's a tidbit of good information for you!

Go to resource or spec Ed if they can offer any help like learning strategies or different teaching method and get extra time in evaluations.
For remembering the info and memorizing, I heard from some NTs that they rewrite the stiff they learned and that's how they memorize. Don't worry about your handwriting being sloppy just rewrite and it should stick to your brain.
What I do to memorize, though, is I look at the page and picture it in my head until I got the whole page down.
I understand it's hard for you cuz that's how I feel in English class since to me it is very boring, but rote memorization helps me a lot

Other than that try to engage yourself in whatever that subject is, for example. Like physics so I engage on that subject and spend hours studying even if I do not need to.

Also if you have a specific narrow interest, I assume you do since your an aspie, use that to learn. So if you like tv learn by watching a video or something or use that as anreward if you've memorize everything you need

Hi. I am 21 and currently am in my fourth year of college. I’d like to make some suggestions that were inspired by my personal experiences from both high school and college that may help.

The first suggestion I have is talking to the teachers. I have found that often, when I have expressed concerns directly to them, they are willing to listen and help. This is not something to do in the middle of class while they are teaching, though. At this point, you are one of many students whom they have to give their attention to and whether they can see that you are struggling or not, they cannot give you their undivided attention at this time. Consider trying to see them during lunch, study hall or afterschool to discuss your concerns. This could also be an opportunity to get another look at their power points because, although they couldn’t go back while they had to worry about the rest of the class, they might be willing to do that when dealing with you one on one.

Also, try to continue with the habit of taking notes by hand, if you have the time. I have always found that I remember things better when I write them out, rather than type them up. Some of my professors have actually spoken of studies that show that simply the act of writing material makes the information stick better than typing does. A trick that I came up with once I started having trouble keeping up with the information was to create my own shorthand. Think about how, in math, instead of writing out length times width equals area, they simply use a formula l x w = A. If every equation was always described word for word, a math book would not be big enough to support all the information a student needs to learn in one year. If creating a short hand like this allows you to write slow enough to make your writing legible enough that you can read it that is all that matters. Another trick for writing, use different colored ink on different days. It sounds weird, but I have found that, when I swap between blue and black ink on a daily basis, my mind organizes the information better.

One more tip that I have is that even though distractions can bad, so can being overly focused. I have found that there is a certain point where I cannot do any more productive work, no matter how hard I focus. At this time, I will go and draw, listen to music, surf the internet for ten minutes or go for a walk. It may seem counterproductive on the surface but the reason it works so well is that, despite working on something else, my mind will still be processing the information that I just studied. Once I have taken this “break” though, I come back refreshed and able to study the next piece of information.

I hope that my advice proves to be of some help. Good luck with your studies and have a nice vacation.