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Skilpadde
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17 Aug 2010, 5:28 pm

I know the DSM criteria state that aspies stick to their interest and strongly prefer them to any other task. But all that says IMO is that we prefer to do our own stuff. The criteria says nothing about reactions to boredom, as opposed to ADD where boredom/concentrating on boring tasks is part of the criteria.

I'd like to know how other aspies react to boredom so I have something to compare with.

An example: One of the dullest things in my life were maths lessons. I had no motivation whatsoever, and I have always been unable to focus for more than a couple of minutes at the very most. Usually it wouldn't even take me that long before I started spacing out.
I don't just mean when I was a kid; the last time I tried to get through maths I was 27.

I can't even find words to describe how bad those lessons were. It was literally mind numbing, like a brain freeze, I couldn't focus, I felt like I wanted to escape my own skin (bad image, but the best I could find) just to get away.
When other pupils said they hated maths and that the homework s***ed, their words would be followed by them sitting down to do the math without hesitation once the complaining was done, while I usually found myself unable to even start, not to mention being anywhere near finishing it. So their version of boredom was far from mine.
I pretty much counted the seconds to the lesson was over. When class started after the recess, I always made sure to be 5 minutes late, so I was among the last to sit down. Then the teacher would often have announcements to make during which I brainstormed myself for questions to ask to put off the maths a little more. When we were done with the messages, I would waste as much time as possible in getting the books and the pencils from my rucksack to the desk, leaving me with about 30 minutes that felt like 30 years.

Dyscalculia didn't help but it's not just an issue about it being hard for me. I was told I was skilled in some other subjects like norwegian and english, but since the topics there were boring I was as mindnumb in classes there as I was in maths. I did well in spelling forinstance but when the tasks were lame I wasn't able to write well at all, and got way lower grades.

So I'm wondering: If you feel certain that you only have AS, how does boredom feel for you? Are you able to concentrate despite being thoroughly bored with a topic?
Or are you like me?

If you have ADD or suspect you do, is it like it is for me?

And if you're NT, what is boredom like for you?



There is a book called "All dogs have ADHD". I read a review of it by a person with ADD only who wrote that alot of the things listed there were true for ADD as well as ADHD. These hold true for me:

Quote:
Sleeping less than peers (“not sleeping as much as his parents would like”)
Impatience Knows what he wants and he wants it now
Easily disoriented
Always losing things (ONLY TO SOME DEGREE AND MORE AN ISSUE OF MISPLACING THEM. I'VE LOST VERY FEW THINGS)
Often can’t find what’s in front of his nose
In play, having difficulties with taking turns, sharing, and can be rougher than intended (OKAY, THIS ONE AND THE NEXT 3 ARE TRUE FOR AS TOO)
May be distracted by things other people don’t notice
Priorities may differ from those around him
Sensory overload
Goes from one task to the next without finishing anything
Books can be hard to understand and things learnt hard to remember (True yet I'm not dyslexic)
Doesn’t know where to start and even if there are instructions he may not know how to follow them
Even though he tries hard, those in charge are often not impressed by his behaviour
Easily bored, and then the mind fogs
Dreams of escaping things that don’t interest
Doesn’t always notice the passing of time
Can get in trouble without knowing why
Gets told that he can do better if he tries harder, but it simply isn’t true
May tantrum
Concentration is fierce when interested and dedication is wholehearted
Can find solutions others don’t see
May not worry about his looks
Has his own way of doing things


I know ADD (or ADHD-PI as it's actually called now) is not an uncommon comorbidity for us aspies, but it's hard to find out more facts on the differences between normal aspie reaction and ADD reaction on this issue.


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frag
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17 Aug 2010, 5:41 pm

Can't really help you much but would want to jump onto this because I also want to know more.

I'm DX AS and was just screened for ADHD (result unknown).

I used to claim I don't get bored. But then I think of my life now. I can decide what to do and when. But when I was a kid it was different. If I wasn't interested in schoolwork (and usually I wasn't, either it was the topic or the presentation, I much preferred to read books not aiming to teach, because the style and because being oppositional LOL), I just couldn't read. When I tried I found I had no idea what I had just read, and then I stopped. I couldn't make myself read and understand. If it was a non school book and an interest that I had, I could get absorbed. This I understand might be an ADD trait.

I still have a hard time doing "boring" things. They can almost make me feel physically ill.

I remember always scribbling in class. I think it kept me less bored. I've taken classes as an adult too and it even helps me with actually focusing on what is being said, then I think it was more focusing away from the boring stuff.

So... left to myself with just pen and paper you could probably lock me into a cell for a year and I'll be fine. Give me a book I don't want to read and have me read it I would feel so bored I would feel sick.



Skilpadde
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18 Aug 2010, 4:10 pm

Yes, that sounds very much like it is for me too, frag.

I hope you'll post the ADHD result.


_________________
BOLTZ 17/3 2012 - 12/11 2020
Beautiful, sweet, gentle, playful, loyal
simply the best and one of a kind
love you and miss you, dear boy

Stop the wolf kills! https://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeact ... 3091429765