Is this Autism?

Post Reply New Topic

It doesn't sound like autism to me...but I am basing that on more than just the one sentence you gave. I am basing it on all of the explanations you offered thereafter.

As for me, I don't have a debilitating inability to stop learning and start doing. What I do have is an inability to stop focusing on my obsession du jour and get to work on my school assignments. Focusing on my obsession CAN include learning new things, but it doesn't have to. It can also include repetitive reading/watching something I have seen dozens of times.

DEMONSTRATING what you've learned takes effort. This is why we have school... and I'm a teacher.

If a student told me that he sat in front of the computer all night and read everything there is to know about butterflies, I would say, "That's no different than sitting in front of a computer playing WoW all night. Now, if you can write me a twelve-page paper on butterflies, I'll say you've done something that takes effort."

Learning takes TIME, but to claim it takes effort is to say that you get a good workout by reading about aerobics.

I guess it depends on your definition of "learn". In my world, if you can't demonstrate your knowledge, you haven't learned it. Then there is the receptive/expressive issue with autism. Some autistics can assimilate knowledge much easier than express what they know.I lean in that direction though the older I get the better I am at it.

I wish I could change the title of this thread to "Is this Autistic thinking?"

Although this presupposes there is such a thing as autistic thinking.

You can, and I would probably still give the same response (no).